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iPhone 15 Pro What phone did you upgrade from and have you noticed a difference?

Risco

Risco

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jul 22, 2010
1,957
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United Kingdom
Personally I had an iPhone 13 128gb and have chose the iPhone 15 Pro.

The camera is night and day and I do really notice the smooth scrolling from the 120hz display.

AOD is pointless imo, but I like the dynamic island. Also my eyes don’t feel as jaded reading in dark mode at night.

Battery is better, but that’s more because my iPhone 13 had 91% health I guess.

When I got my 13 the aim was always to get the pro next time around. My partner was happy as she got my old phone, she was coming from an iPhone SE 2, so it was massive upgrade.
 
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I went from a 13pro to the 15pro. Truthfully the only differences I have enjoyed is the ability to see the screen outside in sunlight and the USB-C charging port. My 13pro was down to 87% battery life but it worked great so the upgrade was not a huge jump for me.
 
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Went from 13 Mini to 15 Pro. Obviously, battery life is better than the Mini had even when it was new.

The first thing I noticed was the Pro Motion display. It just looks so much more fluid and smooth.

The next thing that jumps out at me is the fact that I can come back to an app or a web page I haven't looked at in a while and it doesn't reload from scratch. The 15 Pro has enough RAM, I guess, to keep more processes alive. I wouldn't have pegged that as a problem before, but now that I'm experiencing such fluid uninterrupted app switching, it really does add up to a much better experience.
 
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ignatius345 said:
The first thing I noticed was the Pro Motion display. It just looks so much more fluid and smooth.
Click to expand...
Came from a 12PM, to a 15PM and ProMotion was also the most immediate and noticeable improvement, which is strange because when I moved to an iPad Pro 11 with that feature several years ago, I struggled to see the difference. But it is VERY apparent on the iPhone.
 
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13 Pro to 15 Pro. All of the changes were physical. Lighter, smaller, new action button, overall better feel in the hand. I notice no difference in actual usage, software-wise.

The 13 Pro is still so good I debated even keeping the 15 Pro. But the new phone just feels so great in the hand, that pushed me to keep the upgrade. It’s surprising how the 13 Pro feels bigger after using the 15 Pro for a while. If the form factor was still the same this year like the 14 Pro was, I probably would’ve skipped another year.
 
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From a XS Max:
120hz screen is so awesome I hate every 60hz display now.
The battery is nothing but amazing, 10% every hour consistently.
I did not have high hope for the camera but the photos come out actually very usable.
The overall speed and fluidity of the UI is a joy to use over my old phone.
I know 27W charging is not amazing in this day and age but it get to 80% in an hour, that more than 8 hours of screen on time, couldn’t ask for more.
 
From 13 Pro.

Battery life is better but I’m rarely between chargers so that’s an academic change.

Screen obviously is bigger and the only reason I can do that this time is because of the improvements to the weight and balance in the new 15 Pro Max.

I do notice the improvements in the Camera … the 24 mp shots and 5x zoom and better processing can be felt pretty quickly. Main reason I upgraded … kid photos. 😄
 
From 6 yr old iPhone X to 15 ProMax. I see improvements in every aspect and couldn't be happier with the upgrade. I used to upgrade every two years and I wasn't noticing much of a difference between devices.. Waiting 6yrs may have been a little too long but I definitely got my money's worth out of my X and it was a wonderful device.. Hopefully my 15PM will be just as reliable
 
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Anyone else on a 6yo iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, SE or older iPhone that jumped to the iPhone 15 Pro?

00XK89eWyIC94invt66wuEv-4.fit_lim.size_1600x900.v1569486766.png


Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-2-year-mobile-phone-upgrade-cycle-is-mostly-dead
 
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13 Mini to 15 Pro. I like the 120hz display and battery life. AOD is pretty cool, not life changing but useful at times. Seems like message alerts get buried quicker in my notifications, could be an iOS 17 issue as I was on 16 with my old phone. Hate that it’s bigger than my mini, but apparently the world has decided all phones are for two-handed use only. I love the titanium, haven’t had any overheating issues, and the added ram is nice - I don’t notice apps closing for no reason in the background and needing to reload much anymore.
 
I went from a 13 Pro, 256 Gig to a 15 Pro with 512 Gig. I did not notice any major differences. The new phone seems faster and that my be a combination of the display refresh and the speed of the processor.

I do like the always on display and the brighter display. USB-C is not a big deal as I use wireless charging. The camera is better.

The island will take some getting used to and in my opinion is neither better or worse than the notch. Except for applications that actually use the island for notifications and alerts in which case the island is a clever way to hide the cameras and other sensors.

And speaking of cameras, if the phone is being used to take video I highly recommend the Blackmagic Design video application. Much better than the iPhone video camera. The application is free, highly recommended.
 
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ignatius345 said:
Went from 13 Mini to 15 Pro. Obviously, battery life is better than the Mini had even when it was new.

The first thing I noticed was the Pro Motion display. It just looks so much more fluid and smooth.

The next thing that jumps out at me is the fact that I can come back to an app or a web page I haven't looked at in a while and it doesn't reload from scratch. The 15 Pro has enough RAM, I guess, to keep more processes alive. I wouldn't have pegged that as a problem before, but now that I'm experiencing such fluid uninterrupted app switching, it really does add up to a much better experience.
Click to expand...

Same boat as you, 13 mini to 15 pro. I tried the 14 pro last year, and it still felt a little too heavy for my liking. I am absolutely loving the 15 pro. As you mentioned apps not reloading is a big perk. I use an access key on my phone, and on the mini I would have to open the app for it to work. With the 15 pro, it stays running even when my phone is locked. It's little things like that, that are actually quality of life improvements.
 
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12 Pro Max 256GB to 15 Pro Max 512GB

It's honestly not a huge upgrade. I could've stuck with my 12 PM for another year or two. The biggest differences are how much smoother and snappier it is to use thanks to the combination of a 120Hz screen and faster processor/more RAM. The battery life (my 12 PM was at 88% health) is much better and I don't need to charge as much or carry my portable charger with me. The camera also takes much better photos I think.

The phone feels lighter but more off balance? I'm still getting used to size and location of the dynamic island (I actually quite liked the notch) and the camera bump is noticeably larger which makes it wobble more on a flat surface but when holding it gives my finger something to grip onto. The phone might be too light because the other day it nearly blew out my hand with the wind lmao.

The storage is extremely overkill for me. On my 12 PM is never used anymore than 50GB and I have only used 39GB so far on the 15 PM. I'm never going to get close to filling it up but I generally tend to go for the largest storage capacity I can reasonably afford so I don't need to worry about it and to get that little extra value when I want to sell/trade it.

I only upgraded because I had an itch for something new, I could afford it, and Apple were offering a good value for my 12PM. In total I paid £1,024 or £1,263 with AC+ theft & loss. I'm lucky that I don't miss the money but I appreciate for a lot of people that it's most likely not worth the upgrade.
 
I upgrade every year and have since the original iPhone, it's just a fun annual tradition at this point.

I went from a 14 Pro to a 15 Pro Max and I have to say, I'm very pleased with how this thing feels in the hand. It truly feels lighter and more comfortable to hold despite being actually heavier than my 14 Pro. It is so much more balanced, that's the trick of it.

To me that's more than enough of a improvement for one year.

Haven't had much chance to test the camera yet, but the couple shots I've made with the regular wide camera have been noticeably better in low light. And I really like that I can now take a regular shot and change it to Portrait later.

As far as USB-C goes, the only experience I've had with it yet was getting in the car and realizing I only had a lightning cable for CarPlay.

My only complaint is that I needed to put a crappy case on this really nice-to-hold iPhone because Apple still can't make one that can be dropped on the floor.
 
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BugeyeSTI said:
From 6 yr old iPhone X to 15 ProMax. I see improvements in every aspect and couldn't be happier with the upgrade. I used to upgrade every two years and I wasn't noticing much of a difference between devices.. Waiting 6yrs may have been a little too long but I definitely got my money's worth out of my X and it was a wonderful device.. Hopefully my 15PM will be just as reliable
Click to expand...
sack_peak said:
Anyone else on a iPhone X, 8, 8 Plus, original SE or older iPhone that jumped to the iPhone 15 Pro?



Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-2-year-mobile-phone-upgrade-cycle-is-mostly-dead
Click to expand...
Yep. You can see a couple of comparative photos here:


AbieloAltair said:
My only complaint is that I needed to put a crappy case on this really nice-to-hold iPhone because Apple still can't make one that can be dropped on the floor.
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t say it like that. However, I did end up pairing my iPhone with the iPhone 15 Pro Max Clear Case with MagSafe. It does add bulk and a little heft, but it (mostly) helps me not be concerned what surface I set my phone on. I mainly worry about any surface rough enough to scratch the screen or camera lenses — and with those camera bumps...
 
I went from a 12 Pro to a 15 Pro Max.

Obviously the screen size and battery life are “bigger.”

The sharper 5X zoom is nice.

The biggest improvement for me by far has been low light and night time photos and video. Honestly it has been a jaw dropping improvement.
 
I went from an iPhone 11 Pro to an iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Besides everything being faster and generally better all around, things in particular that I've noticed that matter to me:

  • I finally have a phone with 5G cellular support!
  • My WiFi speeds got a huge boost for some reason; not sure why, from the specs. Sitting in my normal desk spot, about 6 feet away from my main eero, I've seen speed test runs go past 900Mbps. With my 11 Pro, never saw it go past 600Mbps from the same spot. My eeros only have WiFi 6, not WiFi 6E, so it's not due to 6E. Speeds around the house, while of course a lot slower, are similarly boosted vs. the 11 Pro.
  • This screen sure is a lot nicer for reading books in the Kobo and Kindle apps. Physical Kobos and Kindles are naturally still a lot better, but I'm amazed at how pleasant the reading experience finally is on this pocketable device that I always have with me.
  • I love having magnetic charging. I don't have any actual MagSafe chargers at this point, but even with non-MagSafe magnetic chargers, it's just nice having something that securely locks into place, vs. my old Qi mats where it's too easy to knock the phone just barely out of position, stopping charging.
  • I like the AOD.
  • I like the Dynamic Island... although I sure haven't really seen it get leveraged much so far by the apps I run. Actually, I'm not sure I've seen any non-built-in apps use it on my phone yet.
  • The 15 Pro Max feels a lot better in the hand than my old 11 Pro. I think this is a combination of materials, size and shape, etc. I don't think it's any one single difference that does it. And besides being nicer to hold, I find it's also easier to hold.
  • Naturally, USB-C along with the much faster data transfer is very welcomed, for both connector and speed. But we all knew that already.
 
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Upgraded from a 14 Pro Max 512GB to a 15 Pro Max 512GB.

Just picked up last night.

So far, fast and smooth performance as well as better battery life. No overheating or any other issues.
 
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13 Mini>15 Pro.

It's freakin' massive and honestly feels like I have a Plus or Max lol. Despite that it does feel great in the hand and somehow it even masks a lot of the weight increase. 120Hz feels amazing, display looks noticeably nicer, cameras are brilliant (that better focus distance is fantastic), speakers are surprisingly good and so far AoD is nice.
 
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