Having both 14 Pro and 15 Pro in front of me, I would say the 14 Pro looks more of a premium product. The stainless steel frame says it all. Having said that, I still go with the current offering especially same display, better performance, and most importantly a lighter weight device.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Other (Un)popular opinion: iPhone 14 Pros felt much more premium than 15 Pros
- Thread starter Mity
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Jony Ive must be going through some heart wrenching withdrawal not being at the filmed iPhone event (or Apple) last week to pretentiously annunciate 'tit-ah-nee-um'
Gotcha. You mean the aluminum model and not the actual aluminum material save for the bevels.
I agree with you 100 percent.
The Titanium feels like plastic and much more like the non-Pro phones.
The stainless steel, the shine, heft, and coldness to it felt great in the hand.
Unfortunately, the phones were getting heavy / big, and next year with the even bigger models, it probably wasn't sustainable to keep doing stainless steel.
It felt / looked nicer to me, but I think the change was probably one they had to do to get the weight down.
Smh..... not that you're not entitled to your opinion, but Apple just cannot win, haha. Can't feel too sorry for a multi-trillion dollar company though. And I guess this is Macrumors. I just replied to another guy about mis-centered cutouts on a case that doesn't have mis-centered cutouts at all unless you look really, really, really closely. Makes me wonder how people get through life!
I like the 15 Pro Max, it's a very nice phone. I'm keeping mine. The stainless steel simply felt more premium to me. It felt like jewelry.
I also agree that people complain A LOT! haha
Apple was already winning ... and for years. There was nothing wrong with SS. All they needed to do was add USB-C and 3nm and it would've been a great upgrade. If you go back back and watch reviews of the 14 and older iPhones, no one was complaining about SS. So, why start bad mouthing the 14 PM all the sudden?
I think I've already alluded to this and more importantly, my post was not some treatise on what I consider to be premium. My post was about how the 14 Pro specifically looked better and felt more premium than the 15 Pro.
By way of example, compare a SS Apple Watch with an Aluminum Apple Watch. Which of these are more premium? I think most people would say SS. Because I stated that Titanium looks a lot like Aluminum, I think it's reasonable to conclude that an SS iPhone looks more premium than a Titanium one. Titanium just doesn't feel as nice as SS to me. That's all I'm saying.
Stainless Steel
Aluminum
Titanium
Sauce: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/show-off-your-apple-watch.1872015/
In the pics above, I would say that SS looks the best followed by Titanium and last Aluminum. The Titanium watch above looks pretty nice but the blue and black Titanium 15 Pros don't really look like it at all. Only Natural Titanium looks close. But if I had to choose, I'd go with SS.
Last edited:
Couldn't agree more, and I'm not trying to tear down the 15 pro - I have one on order.
When I was at the Apple store the other day the titanium frame felt very similar in touch and feel to the aluminum on the regular 15. While I was not the biggest stainless steel fan the phone felt much more premium even looking at it at a distance while next to the non pro.
I never liked SS, for watches or phones. Too shiny and scratch prone, and too heavy. I like a lighter product whenever possible. The natural finish Titanium is really lovely and nicer than Aluminum with a really nice warm glow.
There's no way that the Al scratches less easily than SS, especially for watches. I say that from experience owning both. But I've never owned a silver AW so if you're saying only for the non-colored watches, perhaps, since the silver finish is close to the natural Al finish.
The darker colored Ti finishes are already showing scratches, as mentioned in the official Macrumors unboxing:
It seems the Natural Ti or White Ti is the way to avoid scratches (and smudges), unless you get a case.
In normal use, both the titanium and stainless steel will have fingerprints, smudges, and scraps and dings with out a case on them.
I have to take a wild guess... Canon EF 50mm f/1.8?
It's wild how one of the cheapest and flimsiest-feeling lenses Canon makes also makes some of the sharpest photos with the most amazing bokeh. It's a freaking legend.
My most-hoped-for upgrade is that the new cell modem is not just faster but has better reception, and not just on paper (haven't seen any test results so far) but in my own real-life use.
As a hardware and user sample of one, I really like the whole look and feel experience of the 15PM compared to the last several generations.
14 pro max feels way more premium. I’m going to return my iPhone 15 pro max. Should have been called a 14s if I’m being honest
Mine is in a case so I can't feel anything. I'll take the more premium usb-c port over that lightning nonsense Apple kept around.
I agree, was in the store today and had the same impression - stainless steel feels more premium. I also prefer the higher friction between skin and polished steel. The Ti brushed sides felt like aluminum.
This is similar to feeling a downgrade from iPhone 4s glass-steel sandwich to iPhone 5 slim aluminum body.
I’ll stay with my 12 pro for now (no case), hope Apple goes back to stainless steel in any future model.
it’s only a matter of time when someone puts a mirror polish on the titanium and everyone’s jaw drops and says it’s super sexy and premium looking
I personally don’t understand the whole SS feels more premium. For me, premium is the features rather than the feel of a very small part of the phone, the sides! The weight reduction is very welcome because my phone is an everyday tool.
If a shiny sparkly heavier phone is your idea of premium, and that’s what is important in a mobile device to you, give the 14 pros a go. If not, and like me, you have it in a crappy looking case all day and want the latest and greatest apple tech, give the 15 pro’s a blast. Or, you may just love the look and feel of the brushed titanium.
If a shiny sparkly heavier phone is your idea of premium, and that’s what is important in a mobile device to you, give the 14 pros a go. If not, and like me, you have it in a crappy looking case all day and want the latest and greatest apple tech, give the 15 pro’s a blast. Or, you may just love the look and feel of the brushed titanium.
Well, to paraphrase Steve Jobs; Apple at its core is not about speeds and fees, or MIPS and megahertz 😉
It’s funny, because when the Pro’s were heavier than the standard aluminium versions, it was extremely common on this forum for posters to state the weight added to the ‘premium feel’. I never agreed with that personally as the aluminium Apple use is very premium but it was a very common misconception on here.
Indeed, on the surface of things Aluminium and titanium look very similar. It’s amusing when so many people here have criticised aluminium to looking and feeling ‘cheap’ in the past, but are now fully behind a similar looking titanium framed phone. Titanium an odd choice of material for me in the iPhone due to this very reason, it’s quite a bit stiffer than aluminium which goes in its favour, but has a soft surface finish and I doubt many people would truly tell the difference.
I remember when the Apple Watch first launched with a black titanium at doubly the price of the sport model, yet visually they looked very similar.