iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro: Everything that’s different and buyer’s guide

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are Apple’s latest and greatest devices. While the iPhone 15 Pro is naturally more feature-rich and powerful, it may be overkill for many. And the iPhone 15 has gained pro features of its own this year like the Dynamic Island, 48MP main camera, and more. Follow along for a deep dive into the iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro for all the differences and advice on which to buy for yourself or someone else.

iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro

Screen sizes and design

The iPhone 14 lineup was the first time Apple launched the exact same display sizes across the standard Pro devices. That continues for the iPhone 15 lineup with 6.1 inches for the 15 and 15 Pro displays and 6.7-inches for the 15 Plus and 15 Pro Max.

A big change for the more affordable 15 and 15 Plus this time around is getting the Dynamic Island which was a Pro exclusive. And the screen brightness is now the same across all iPhone 15 models.

However, the 15 Pro and Pro Max still keep exclusivity for Always-On and ProMotion. Here’s the full look at the display specs for iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro:

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Size	6.1-inches	6.7-inches	6.1-inches	6.7-inches
Resolution	2556 x 1179 pixels	2796 x 1290 pixels	2556 x 1179 pixels	2796 x 1290 pixels
PPI	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi
Super Retina XDR OLED	✅	✅	✅	✅
Dynamic Island	✅	✅	✅	✅
ProMotion – adaptive refresh up to 120Hz	❌	❌	✅	✅
Always-On display	❌	❌	✅	✅
Typical brightness	1000 nits max	1000 nits max	1000 nits max	1000 nits max
HDR brightness	1600 nits max	1600 nits max	1600 nits max	1600 nits max
Outdoor brightness	2000 nits max	2000 nits max	2000 nits max	2000 nits max
True Tone	✅	✅	✅	✅
Haptic Touch	✅	✅	✅	✅
Wide color (P3)	✅	✅	✅	✅

While the displays have reached parity for the iPhone 15 lineup when it comes to specs like resolution and brightness, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max do have slimmer bezels.

Size, weight, design

Overall, the design of iPhone 15 and 15 Pro remains very similar to the 14 and 14 Pro, but Apple has given the 15 lineup more rounded edges for a more comfortable feel.

And for the first time, Apple has used titanium for iPhone with the 15 Pro and Pro Max. That means new brushed finishes, high strength and durability, and lighter devices too.

The other major update for the 15 Pro and Pro Max is the change of the side switch to the new Action Button that offers customization.

• Here’s what you can do with the iPhone 15 Pro Action button

For size, weight, and materials, here’s iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro:

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Height	5.81-inches (147.6 mm)	6.33-inches (160.9 mm)	5.77-inches (146.6 mm)	6.29-inches (159.9 mm)
Width	2.82-inches (71.6 mm)	3.06-inches (77.8 mm)	2.78-inches (70.6 mm)	3.02-inches (76.7 mm)
Thickness	0.31-inches (7.80 mm)	0.31-inches (7.80 mm)	0.32-inches (8.25 mm)	0.32-inches (8.25 mm)
Weight	6.02-ounces  (171 grams)	7.09-ounces (201 grams)	6.60-ounces (187 grams)	7.81-ounces (221 grams)
Durability	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes
Ceramic Shield front	✅	✅	✅	✅
Back material	Color-infused glass	Color-infused glass	Textured matte glass	Textured matte glass
Edges	Aerospace-grade Aluminum	Aerospace-grade Aluminum	Aerospace-grade Titanium	Aerospace-grade Titanium

Because the 15 Pro and Pro Max have slimmer bezels than the 15 and 15 Plus, the Pro models are ever-so-slightly more compact.

Of course, the new iPhones also come in new colors, we’ll get into that in detail below. And here are some great case options to protect iPhone 15:

• Nomad leather and sport cases
• Mujjo leather cases
• Speck clear and hardshell cases
• ZAGG clear and hardshell cases
• OtterBox clear and hardshell cases

Performance – A17 Pro vs A16 Bionic

This marks the second year that Apple is putting the latest A-series chip in the Pro models and giving last year’s chip to the standard models.

Year-over-year performance improvements are becoming more minor but Apple says the A17 Pro is the “fastest mobile CPU.”

Here’s a breakdown of the iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro chip specs: 

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
SoC	A16 Bionic	A16 Bionic	A17 Pro	A17 Pro
CPU	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency
GPU	5-core	5-core	6-core	6-core
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core	16-core	16-core
RAM	6GB	6GB	8GB	8GB

In real-world use, both the A16 Bionic and A17 Pro are more than powerful enough for almost everyone. But here are a couple more A17 Pro stats:

• Up to 20% faster GPU than A16 Bionic (with AV1 decoding, Pro Display engine, ProRes codec, hardware-accelerated ray tracing)
• Up to 10% faster high-performance CPU cores than A16 Bionic
• Up to 2x faster neural engine, up to 35 trillion operations per second

And game developers like CAPCOM say the new A17 Pro GPU has made it possible for console-exclusive games like Resident Evil 4 to come to iPhone.

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, the iPhone 15 lineup has the same ratings as the iPhone 14 devices. We’ll have to wait and see how real-world results compare but here are Apple’s ratings for video and audio playback:

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Video playback	20 hours	26 hours	23 hours	29 hours
Audio playback	80 hours	100 hours	75 hours	95 hours

For how that compares to iPhone 13 and 12 and more details, check out our full post on iPhone 15 battery life:

• iPhone 15 battery life: What you’ll get and how it compares to iPhone 14 and more

Cameras

Rear cameras

Some of the main new features Apple highlighted for the iPhone 15, and specifically the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are the new camera system capabilities.

All the iPhone 15 devices come with a 48MP main rear camera, next-gen portrait with Focus and Depth Control, Smart HDR 5, and more.

But the 15 Pro and Pro Max stand out with the most powerful camera systems. And in a change this year, the 15 Pro Max gets the most capable camera with the telephoto lens getting a 5x optical zoom (3x for 15 Pro like the 14 Pro).

The 15 Pro and Pro Max main cameras also have more powerful sensors even though all iPhone 15 devices have 48MP sensors. And all the new models support shooting 24 and 48MP “super-high-resolution photos.”

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Main lens	48MP, ƒ/1.6 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.6 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.78 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.78 aperture
Main lens sensor	2 µm quad pixel	2 µm quad pixel	2.44 µm quad pixel	2.44 µm quad pixel
Main lens focal length	26 mm	26 mm	24, 28, 35 mm	24, 28, 35 mm
Ultra Wide lens	12MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture
Telephoto lens	❌	❌	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization
Optical zoom	0.5x, 1x, and 2x	0.5x, 1x, and 2x	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x
Digital zoom	Up to 10x	Up to 10x	Up to 15x	Up to 25x
Flash	True Tone flash	True Tone flash	Adaptive True Tone Flash	Adaptive True Tone Flash
Photonic Engine	✅	✅	✅	✅
Deep Fusion	✅	✅	✅	✅
Smart HDR 5	✅	✅	✅	✅
Next-gen portraits with Focus and Depth Control	✅	✅	✅	✅
Portrait Lighting with six effects	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode portraits	❌	❌	✅	✅
Photographic Styles	✅	✅	✅	✅
Macro photography	❌	❌	✅	✅
Apple ProRAW	❌	❌	✅	✅

More new features for the Pro models include the option to quickly change (and set a default) for different focal lengths for the main camera – 24, 28, and 35 mm.

And capabilities like macro photography and Apple ProRAW support remain exclusive for the Pro models.

Video recording

While improvements in still photography are more plentiful, there are some improvements in videography for the iPhone 15 Pro devices.

USB-C 3 support on the Pro models means the ability to shoot ProRes directly to external drives – now at 4K60.

And there’s now support for log video recording, the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES), plus the ability to capture Spatial video that can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
4K recording	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps
1080p recording	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps
Action mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
HDR/Dolby Vision recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps
ProRes recording	❌	❌	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording
Log video recording	❌	❌	✅	✅
Academy Color Encoding System	❌	❌	✅	✅
Macro video recording	❌	❌	✅	✅
Spatial video recording	❌	❌	✅	✅
Slo-mo recording	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
Time-lapse with stabilization	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode Time-lapse	✅	✅	✅	✅
QuickTake video	✅	✅	✅	✅
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video
Audio zoom	✅	✅	✅	✅
Stereo recording	✅	✅	✅	✅

Selfie camera

Apple’s TrueDepth front camera on the iPhone 15 devices gets a range of upgrades found on the main rear camera. Really the only feature missing from the iPhone 15 is ProRes support.

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
TrueDepth front camera	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture
Retina Flash	✅	✅	✅	✅
Photonic Engine	✅	✅	✅	✅
Deep Fusion	✅	✅	✅	✅
Smart HDR 5 for photos	✅	✅	✅	✅
Next-gen portraits with Focus and Depth Control	✅	✅	✅	✅
Portrait Lighting with six effects	✅	✅	✅	✅
Animoji and Memoji	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Photographic Styles	✅	✅	✅	✅
4K recording	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps
HDR/Dolby Vision recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps
ProRes recording	❌	❌	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording
Slo-mo recording	✅ –1080p at 120 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps
QuickTake video	✅	✅	✅	✅
Cinematic video stabilization	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p

iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro I/O

The major change for iPhone 15 I/O is the switch from Lightning to USB-C. All four models feature the universal connector, but the Pro and Pro Max offer much faster transfer speeds with USB 3 support at up to 10Gbps.

USB 3 on the Pro models enables some neat new capabilities like shooting video straight to an external SSD and more.

• iPhone 15 Pro supports 10Gbps USB 3 speeds, and it brings lots of cool features to the table

More differences between the iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro include WiFi and Thread.

	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro Max
USB-C	✅ – USB 2 up to 480Mbps	✅ – USB 2 up to 480Mbps	✅ – USB 3 up to 10Gbps	✅ – USB 3 up to 10Gbps
WiFi	6	6	6E	6E
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3	5.3	5.3
UWB Gen 2	✅	✅	✅	✅
NFC with reader mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Thread	❌	❌	✅	✅
Cellular	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA
5G	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO
GPS	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and NavIC)	Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and NavIC)
Audio playback	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos
Video playback	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG
SIM	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries
MagSafe	✅	✅	✅	✅
Qi and Qi2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro colors

iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in these five colors:

• Black
• Blue
• Green
• Yellow
• Pink

And iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are available in:

• Natural titanium
• Blue titanium
• White titanium
• Black titanium

Storage and pricing

iPhone 15/15 Plus comes in these storage options:

• 128GB – $799 / $899
• 256GB – $899 / $999
• 512GB – $1,099 / $1,199

iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max comes in:

• 128GB – $999 (only 15 Pro available in 128GB)
• 256GB – $1,099 / $1,199
• 512GB – $1,299 / $1,399
• 1TB – $1,499 / $1,599

What’s in the box?

All of the iPhone 15 devices just come with the iPhone and a USB-C cable in the box.

If you need a power adapter, go with at least a 20W so you get fast charging for your iPhone. Good options include:

• Anker 20W Nano Pro (super compact)
• Nomad 20W power adapter (black finish and compact)
• Apple’s official 20W adapter

iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro: Which should you buy?

All of the new iPhones are powerful and capable devices, but which one is best for you will come down to how you want to use your iPhone and what features you see as meaningful.

Reasons to buy iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max

• Most powerful and capable cameras for photos and video
• Titanium build with very slim bezels
• USB-C with 10Gbps speeds, WiFi 6E support
• Fastest chip, most powerful GPU for mobile gaming
• Always-On display and ProMotion refresh rates up to 120Hz
• Storage up to 1TB

Reasons to buy iPhone 15 or 15 Plus

• If the six features above aren’t compelling for you, save some money and grab the iPhone 15, which includes great new cameras, USB-C, the Dynamic Island, A16 chip, and more
• And if USB-C isn’t that important to you, you could also consider grabbing an iPhone 14 Pro or 14 if you currently have an iPhone 13 or older (14 Pro is no longer available at Apple, but can be found elsewhere)

Thanks for reading our guide on iPhone 15 vs 15 Pro!