Apple just finished its September Wonderlust event and this usually means new iPhones! Lo and behold, we got four new iPhones: the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, and the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. All of these new iPhones rock the Dynamic Island and get a 48MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 12MP front camera. What are the features that separate the Pro models from the regular ones? Find out right here.
The Island of Relevancy is on the iPhone 15
As mentioned up top, the whole iPhone 15 lineup gets the Dynamic Island. While this feature amazed me in my first impressions of the iPhone 14 Pro, I questioned its longevity. It relied upon app developers to take advantage of both the Island and Live Activities. Glad to see third-party apps like NBA and Grab using the Dynamic Island to show the latest score or the status of my food delivery.
Seeing this feature across the whole iPhone 15 lineup makes it easier for app developers to justify updating their apps.
USB-C on the iPhone is Now a Reality.
After the European Union forced Apple to use the USB-C port on all of its devices (AKA the iPhone), the whole iPhone 15 lineup now uses USB-C. I personally never thought we would see the day it would happen, but here we are. While all the phones in the lineup use USB-C, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max get USB 3. This allows for transfer speeds up to 10Gb/s!
A16 Bionic vs A17 Pro
An interesting thing that happened with the iPhone 14 lineup is the difference in the processors. This is also happening this year with the iPhone 15 lineup. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus get last year’s A16 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 14 Pro.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max get the new A17 Pro chip. The A17 Pro is the first chip to use the 3 nanometer manufacturing process. Theoretically, this means that we get a bump in performance while hopefully not taking a big hit on the battery life. This chip also contains a new USB controller which enables the Pro models to use those USB 3 transfer speeds.
Pro is Titanium!
While the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus use color-infused back glass which makes those phones durable, the Pros go all in on titanium! (Yes yes, go sing that song.) While Apple did use a titanium alloy (a mix of aluminum and grade 5 titanium), it retains the strength that the Pros got with stainless steel but make the 15 Pro and Pro Max lighter.
48MP Cameras Across the Board
Unlike last year where the 14 Pros got the shiny new 48MP main camera, we now get a 48MP main camera on all iPhone 15 models. The Pros still get an extra telephoto camera (more on that later), but being able to take advantage of a sensor with high megapixel count makes a big difference in photos.
A neat feature also coming to all iPhone 15 models is automatic portrait mode. These new iPhones are able to capture depth information every time you take a photo. This means that even if you didn’t use portrait mode, you are able to turn any photo into portraits after the fact! It’s really useful especially if you took a good photo that would have been nice as a portrait.
An Even Better Zoom!
The iPhone 15 Pro Max gets an exclusive camera: a new 5x telephoto camera with a 120mm focal equivalent. This means that you can get up to 5x optical zoom and take photos and videos from even far away! Both Pros can also shoot ProRes video up to 4K 60fps with external recording.
A Customizable Button on an iPhone?!?
Another new feature unique to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max is the new action button. It replaces the tried-and-true mute switch, but still does that functionality by default. You can also c
Colors and Pricing
In case you need all this information, here are the available colors and how much these new iPhones cost!
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in five colors: Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, and Pink.
Pricing is shockingly the same as last year’s 14 and 14 Plus: it starts at $799 for the 128GB iPhone 15 and $899 for the 128GB iPhone 15 Plus.
- iPhone 15 Pricing
- 128GB – $799 (US) / P56,990 (PH)
- 256GB – $899 (US) / P63,990 (PH)
- 512GB – $1099 (US) / P75,990 (PH)
- iPhone 15 Plus Pricing
- 128GB – $899 (US) / P63,990 (PH)
- 256GB – $999 (US) / P70,990 (PH)
- 512GB – $1199 (US) / P82,990 (PH)
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max come in four colors: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium.
While pricing is almost the same as last year’s 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max, we lose the 128GB option for the Pro Max. Pricing starts at $999 for the 128GB iPhone 15 Pro and $1199 for the 256GB iPhone 15 Pro Max.
- iPhone 15 Pro Pricing
- 128GB – $999 (US) / P70,990 (PH)
- 256GB – $1099 (US) / P77,990 (PH)
- 512GB – $1299 (US) / P89,990 (PH)
- 1TB – $1499 (US) / P101,990 (PH)
- iPhone 15 Pro Max Pricing
- 256GB – $1199 (US) / P84,990 (PH)
- 512GB – $1399 (US) / P96,990 (PH)
- 1TB – $1599 (US) / P108,990 (PH)
All the new iPhone 15 models will be up for preorder in more than 40 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the UAE, the U.K., and the U.S., on Friday, September 15, 2023. They will then be available on those markets on September 22, 2023.
A week later, September 29, 2023, these new iPhone 15 models will be available in Macao, Malaysia, Türkiye, Vietnam, and 17 other countries and regions.
What do you think of these new iPhones? Was it worth the wait for those who are looking to upgrade? Are you convinced to get these over many Android flagships? Sound off in the comments.
