iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 35+ Differences Compared

[CarAnalogy]

These comments just reinforce that Apple made the right product segmentation choices, mostly. One commenter absolutely requires the things another commenter doesn't care at all about. Seems like mostly a good fit for everyone.

FWIW I intend to go from 13 Pro to 15 Pro Max for the battery, best display, AV1 decoder, basically everything listed in the table. Solid upgrade this year.

 

[CarAnalogy]

I keep hearing and reading about “price [points]“ and “design [language].” What makes the price pointy? And can someone write a love poem in design language? These two terms drive me up the wall. Why can’t Apple products just have prices and designs? All the reviewers and YouTubers assume that we are thinking about upgrading from iPhone Y to iPhone Y+1. They are, but we aren’t. While I’m at it, it is perfectly legal to post a YouTube video in which you do not say, “without further ado.”

This guy wants to give you LoveFrom his design language. All of his prices have rounded corners, though.

 

[Billybigb]

Why. Why pro destitute of style and personality?
Beautiful colors this year but stuck on the lower feature list. Considering giving up the fancy camera and “always” on display for a phone with a little pizzazz. Instead of the bleak gray landscape of “professional”.

 

[Kung]

I keep hearing and reading about “price [points]“ and “design [language].” What makes the price pointy? And can someone write a love poem in design language? These two terms drive me up the wall. Why can’t Apple products just have prices and designs? All the reviewers and YouTubers assume that we are thinking about upgrading from iPhone Y to iPhone Y+1. They are, but we aren’t. While I’m at it, it is perfectly legal to post a YouTube video in which you do not say, “without further ado.”

I can write a price-pointy haiku:

15 Pro's too much
15 price is just right, so
I'm buying that one.

 

[xalea]

#1 most important: 15 comes in pink and 15 Pro does not.

No further information necessary! 💕💓💝

 

[lJoSquaredl]

Will probably snag a Pro Max now that it has USB-C, been wanting to get back down in size so it's less gaudy/heavy in my pocket but I just can't quit that long battery life. If they ever put the battery life of a Pro Max in a smaller model tho...probably exactly what I'm looking for.

 

[xalea]

Why. Why pro destitute of style and personality?
Beautiful colors this year but stuck on the lower feature list. Considering giving up the fancy camera and “always” on display for a phone with a little pizzazz. Instead of the bleak gray landscape of “professional”.

Exactly! Pink can be professional, too. Did they not see Barbie?

 

[B4U]

Patiently waiting for the article about 15 plus vs 15 pro max.

 

[4odomi]

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are among Apple's newest iPhone models and follow last year's iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, but how different are the two latest 6.1-inch iPhone models, and what exactly does a "Pro" device give you?

Last year, the biggest new differences between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro were always-on functionality, the Dynamic Island, three hours of battery life, and rear cameras with different apertures. With iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, both devices share new features like the USB-C port, second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, and next-generation portraits, but Apple's "Pro" and non-Pro iPhone models are more different than ever.

Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhone models is best for you, and serves as a way to clearly see what additional features and upgrades the iPhone 15 Pro brings to the table.

iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Pro
Aluminum and glass design	Titanium and glass design
	Slightly smaller due to slimmer borders around the display
Weighs 171g or 201g	Weighs 187g or 221g
Ring/Silent switch	Action button
	ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz
	Always-on display
A16 Bionic chip (5nm)	A17 Pro chip (3nm)
6-core CPU	6-core CPU (up to 10% faster)
5-core GPU	6-core GPU with with hardware-accelerated ray tracing (up to 20% faster)
16-core Neural Engine	16-core Neural Engine (up to 2x faster)
	Dedicated AV1 decoder
6GB memory	8GB memory
"Advanced" dual-camera system	"Pro" triple camera system
48-megapixel Main camera with ƒ/1.6 aperture	48-megapixel Main camera with ƒ/1.78 aperture and larger sensor
12-megapixel Ultra Wide camera with ƒ/2.4 aperture	12-megapixel Ultra Wide camera with ƒ/2.2 aperture
	12-megapixel Telephoto camera with ƒ/2.8 aperture (unit with larger sensor, folded tetraprism design, and autofocus 3D sensor-shift module on Pro Max model only)
0.5x, 1x, and 2x optical zoom	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, and 5x optical zoom (5x on Pro Max only)
Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	Second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization
True Tone flash	Adaptive True Tone flash
	LiDAR scanner
	Night mode portraits
	Macro photography
	Apple ProRAW
	Shoot and instantly transfer 48-megapixel ProRAW images to Mac via USB 3
	Record video directly to an external drive
	ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps (60 fps with external recording)
	Macro video recording, including slo‑mo and time‑lapse
	Log video recording
	Academy Color Encoding System
	Record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro
USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480Mb/s)	USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster)
	DisplayPort support for up to 4K HDR video output
Wi‑Fi 6 connectivity	Wi‑Fi 6E connectivity
	Thread networking technology
20- or 26-hour battery life	23- or 29-hour battery life
128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage options	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options (no 128GB on Pro Max)
Yellow, Blue, Pink, Green, and Black color options	Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium color options
Starts at $799	Starts at $999

The iPhone 15 Pro offers a large number of upgrades over the standard iPhone 15. With just $200 difference to obtain a display with ProMotion and always-on functionality, the Action Button, and longer battery life, many customers will be able to justify getting the iPhone 15 Pro over the iPhone 15. Other differences, such as the A17 Pro chip and 2GB additional memory are notable, but most significant are perhaps the devices' fundamentally different rear camera setups. The iPhone 15 Pro unlocks 10 additional camera features and offers four additional or different pieces of camera hardware. Due to the scale and breadth of the iPhone 15 Pro's improvements and features, most customers will... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 35+ Differences Compared

It never ceases to amaze me how people can justify $200 saving on the standard 15, considering it's limitations and the lack of premium materials compared to the Pro's 🫨

 

[crsh1976]

It floors me they insist so much on keeping the always-on display a pro feature in 2023.

 

[Camwin]

It floors me they insist so much on keeping the always-on display a pro feature in 2023.

There is more to it than that. Having AOD, but not having it be an absolute battery hog would necessitate the panel being able to go down to low hz, the lower the better. The only displays apple uses on phones/tablets that do that are PRO motion displays. It would make it tend to be a more expensive base model phone.

 

[Propine]

It’s really difficult to justify the Pro model this year. For me what still makes it more attractive is extra 2 GB of RAM and 3x zoom (I often use digital zoom on my iPhone 13). There are a lot prosumer features that are not attractive for the regular folk.

 

[4odomi]

I know the Pros get all the attention, and I went for a Pro Max because I don’t want to give up ProMotion, but I think the 15 and 15 Plus are really fantastic phones and a big upgrade from the 14 and 14 Plus. A16, dynamic island, 48mp camera, USB-C. If I were coming from anything older than my 13 Pro (so no ProMotion) I would consider the 15 Plus.

To save $200?
The saving is not enough to get a lower end phone, with all it's limitations, regardless of the fact it's a very good upgrade on the 14 😏

 

[4odomi]

Pro is uglier though, still can’t get on board with that camera bump. Weight distribution is probably even worse on the 15 pro than 14 pro and the colours are terrible (though they could have been better on the 15 as well but certainly miles ahead of the various shades of beige on the Pro

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🤣
Our tastes definitely differ....

 

[Biro]

Went for iPhone 15 Plus coming from a iPhone 12 Pro Max. I hope I’ll notice the weight difference of 25 Gramm and improved battery life.

I only got it because apple offered me 420€ for my iPhone 12, which I don’t think I’d get next year and will upgrade again next year for the „Ultra“

Same here. The 15 Plus is lighter than my 13 Pro and battery life is much better. Plus (pun intended) it’s a way for me to try out the larger screen format without paying the price of the Pro Max. And it preserves phone trade-in value for next year. If I end up loving the 15 Plus, great. If not, I can trade for a 16 or 16 Pro next year.

 

[BostonQuad]

iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Pro
Weighs 171g or 201g	Weighs 187g or 221g

When do these phones have the greater weight?

 

[crsh1976]

There is more to it than that. Having AOD, but not having it be an absolute battery hog would necessitate the panel being able to go down to low hz, the lower the better. The only displays apple uses on phones/tablets that do that are PRO motion displays. It would make it tend to be a more expensive base model phone.

It's an arbitrary business decision to keep this only available on "pro" products (iPhone Pro, iPad Pro, Macbook Pro).

I get it's an unwelcomed comparison, but adaptive refresh rate displays (aka ProMotion) are common place and the regular iPhone is probably the last device on the market going for over $500 without one.

 

[Xangelkiller]

I'm making the....er, side-straddle hop (lol) from a 14 Pro to the base 15. Justification:

1. ProMotion - I've had it turned off on my 14 Pro since I got it.
2. AOD - it's...nice....but I've found myself turning everything off but the time, and then found myself tapping the screen anyways to see other stuff when the screen is off. It's one of those things that's 'nice to have' but not at all necessary.
3. Telephoto lens - I've very rarely used it.
4. USB-C transfer speeds - the ONLY time I've ever plugged mine in was to do a DFU recovery. Don't exactly need blazing fast speeds for that.
5. Weight - the weight of the 14 Pro gets heavy when you're holding it for more than 15 minutes or so.
6. Cost - I can essentially almost do a straight across trade from the 14 Pro to the 15. With the 15 Pro, the best trade-in deal I can get is Apple's, which leaves me paying $450 or so.

TL;DR: Most of the stuff I actually USED in the 14 Pro is coming to the 15; and most of the improvements are things I didn't care about or use, so I'll be fine with the 15.

I’m right there with you. I’m kind of over the Pro models. Mostly due to the giant cameras on the back and the weight, but also the marketing claims that they are so much better than non-pro models. My 14 Pro photos are fine, but not so much better than regular 14 photos. Unless you’re printing them out, the difference doesn’t even matter. Most people upload them to social media and lose all of the benefits of the pro cameras.

The titanium weight reduction of the 15 pro still isn’t enough of a drop for me. The “premium materials” are pretty to look at for the .02% of the time it’s not in a case. Then, all you see is the screen and the giant camera on the back.

I will miss ProMotion though, but I can live without it.

 

[musicalrex]

Upgrading Friday to 512gb Pro Max from XS Max that still performs well after 5 years. I've justified the purchase based on the capability to shoot video directly to external drive. If it lasts as long as the XS that averages to $280 per year, 76 cents per day.

 

[SusieS]

I’m upgrading from an XS to a base 15. I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) that my XS has a 60Hz refresh rate, so I don‘t think I’ll miss pro motion, and I don’t need the better camera setup of the Pro. I was going to go for the 15 Plus but chickened out about it potentially being uncomfortable to handle, and canceled the order in favor of the smaller 15. And then there’s the fact that I could choose a real color (pink!), which I plan to use caseless, instead of the Pro colors that I personally find very unappealing. I’d have to use a case and add more weight.

 

[MrMister111]

I know the Pros get all the attention, and I went for a Pro Max because I don’t want to give up ProMotion, but I think the 15 and 15 Plus are really fantastic phones and a big upgrade from the 14 and 14 Plus. A16, dynamic island, 48mp camera, USB-C. If I were coming from anything older than my 13 Pro (so no ProMotion) I would consider the 15 Plus.

I'm making the....er, side-straddle hop (lol) from a 14 Pro to the base 15. Justification:

1. ProMotion - I've had it turned off on my 14 Pro since I got it.
2. AOD - it's...nice....but I've found myself turning everything off but the time, and then found myself tapping the screen anyways to see other stuff when the screen is off. It's one of those things that's 'nice to have' but not at all necessary.
3. Telephoto lens - I've very rarely used it.
4. USB-C transfer speeds - the ONLY time I've ever plugged mine in was to do a DFU recovery. Don't exactly need blazing fast speeds for that.
5. Weight - the weight of the 14 Pro gets heavy when you're holding it for more than 15 minutes or so.
6. Cost - I can essentially almost do a straight across trade from the 14 Pro to the 15. With the 15 Pro, the best trade-in deal I can get is Apple's, which leaves me paying $450 or so.

TL;DR: Most of the stuff I actually USED in the 14 Pro is coming to the 15; and most of the improvements are things I didn't care about or use, so I'll be fine with the 15.

Same, I’m on 14 Pro, and thinking 15 Plus. So in my thinking, I’m almost getting a 14 Pro but now with a bigger screen to try.

AOD, most wanted, but tbh, it shows the time constantly on mine.

ProMotion, not sure, can’t say I’ve noticed it really.

3x, yes is handy, but 15 now has 2x so not too bad.

What I am worried about is my 14 Pro had worst battery life, and the 15 has same A16.

 

[RoyalScam]

I’ll be coming from an XR when I make the switch. I don’t care about always on display, etc. What I really want is a lighter phone. So I’m leaning 15 over the Pro.

How is it that the Titanium 15 Pro is HEAVIER than the Aluminum 15?

 

[Kung]

It never ceases to amaze me how people can justify $200 saving on the standard 15, considering it's limitations and the lack of premium materials compared to the Pro's 🫨

You're simplifying it too much. I'd say that I can't justify the extra $200, given that the improvements it comes with are largely things I would never use or had disabled on my 14 Pro.

 

[Kung]

Same, I’m on 14 Pro, and thinking 15 Plus. So in my thinking, I’m almost getting a 14 Pro but now with a bigger screen to try.

AOD, most wanted, but tbh, it shows the time constantly on mine.

ProMotion, not sure, can’t say I’ve noticed it really.

3x, yes is handy, but 15 now has 2x so not too bad.

What I am worried about is my 14 Pro had worst battery life, and the 15 has same A16.

Exactly. My wife's 12 took good photos; and there's not a HUGE difference between the same pics I take on my 14 Pro and my wife's new 14. I just had AOD showing the time; I had ProMotion disabled, and the battery life on my wife's 14 has been more than enough to get her through the day, and she's on her phone more than I'm on mine.

Given all that, and the fact that there's a significant weight difference between the 14 Pro and the 15, AND it's $200 less...it'll be an easy trade for me.

 

[MrDexx]

I havent been able to find any official documentation, but with the USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster) and the ability to record directly to an external drive... will this mean the iPhone 15 Pro models should be able to be used as 4K webcams instead of just 1080p?