Here’s how the iPhone 15 Pro line compares to the iPhone 14 Pro series

Apple revealed its latest iPhone 15 series earlier today at its fall Wonderlust event. The stars of the show, like always, were the Cupertino-based company’s Pro-series flagships with the updated A17 Bionic chipset.

Both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be available to pre-order on Friday, September 15th, and release on Friday, September 22nd.

Before you decide to pre-order the new devices, you might want to compare them to their predecessors, and determine if the changes warrant you shelling out anywhere from $1,449 to $2,349.

For starters, the new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max have undergone a significant design change. The devices are made of “aerospace-grade” Titanium, reportedly making them more durable and lighter than their predecessors. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are Apple’s lightest Pro models ever. For reference, the iPhone 14 Pro models were made of stainless steel.

Further, as it was long-rumoured, Apple had switched the mute slider in favour of the Apple Watch Ultra-like Action button. The button essentially allows users to personalize their iPhone experience by assigning shortcuts to it.

Other than the build material and Action button change, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max largely look identical to the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. The display sizes on the new devices are the same as before: the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro have a 6.1-inch OLED display,  while the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro Max have a 6.7-inch OLED display. The bezels around the new iPhone 15 Pro series’ display appear slimmer than predecessors, though not by much.

The other notable difference, and the one that has divided opinions, is that the new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have ditched the lighting cable in favour of USB-C for charging and data transfer. Apple says the switch will provide faster charging and data transfer speeds, as well as compatibility with more accessories.

Internals

The iPhone 15 Pro series is powered by the all-new A17 Bionic chipset for powerful performance. The chip sports 19 billion transistors. There’s a six-core CPU with two performance cores, four high-efficiency cores, and a 16-core neural engine that can process 35 trillion operations per second. For reference, last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max featured an A16 Bionic chipset with 16 billion transistors, two high-performance cores and four efficiency cores. According to Apple, the 3nm process chipset delivers up to 30 percent faster performance and up to 40 percent lower power consumption than the A16 Bionic chip.

According to Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro line is the “next generation of mobile gaming.” The device is designed to offer the best gaming experience, when compared to other Apple iPhones.

“A17 Pro is an entirely new class of iPhone chip that delivers our best graphics performance by far,” reads Apple’s website. According to the company, the new chipset will make games look and feel immersive, with incredible detail and realistic characters. The chipset will allow for ray tracing accelerated by hardware with MetalFX upscaling.

Some of the AAA games that are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro later this year are Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage.

The iPhone 15 Pro is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TG storage option, the same as the iPhone 14 Pro, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max is available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage options. The difference, however, is that the new iPhone 15 Pro series features 8GB of RAM, compared to the iPhone 14 Pro series’ 6GB RAM.

The iPhone 15 Pro series also triumphs when it comes to battery. For reference, the iPhone 15 Pro Max runs on a 4,852 mAh battery, while its predecessor ran on a 4,323 mAh cell. Similarly, the iPhone 15 Pro features a 3,650 mAh battery, compared to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 3,200 mAh battery. The increased battery size, paired with the A17 Bionic chipset’s efficiency means that the new iPhones should be one of the longest lasting ones we’ve seen from Apple.

Cameras

The new iPhone 15 Pro Series sports upgraded rear cameras. As revealed by Apple, the iPhone 15 Pro series has a new coating to reduce lens flare. According to Apple’s the iPhone 15 Pro line’s cameras can capture more light and details and shoot super-high-resolution photos.

The iPhone 15 Pro features a 48-megapixel primary camera with a ƒ/1.78 aperture, a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide with ƒ/2.2 aperture and 120° field of view and a telephoto camera with 2x and 3x capabilities.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max features the same camera setup. However, it can shoot telephoto in 5x, 120mm, and has a periscope lens that enables a 5x optical zoom.

The main camera on the iPhone 15 Pro line allows users to switch between three popular focal lengths — 24 mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm. Users can also choose the default one that they use the most. Further, Apple states that Portraits are getting even better with the iPhone 15 Pro line. Users wouldn’t have to switch to portrait mode when clicking photos as the phone will detect humans in the viewfinder.

Additionally, Apple said that iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max users would be able to record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro sometime later this year, allowing users to record moments in three dimension and with “incredible depth.”

Both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro series have:

• 4K video recording at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
• 1080p HD video recording at 25 fps, 30 fps, or 60 fps
• 720p HD video recording at 30 fps
• Cinematic mode up to 4K HDR at 30 fps
• Action mode up to 2.8K at 60 fps, and more.

Colours and pricing

The 2022-released iPhone 14 Pro line was available in ‘Deep Purple,’ ‘Space Black,’ ‘Silver,’ and ‘Gold’ colours. The iPhone 14 Pro came in at $1,399 for the 128GB model, $1,549 for the 256GB model, $1,819 for the 512GB variant and $2,089 for the 1TB storage model, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max came in at $1,549 for the 128GB model, $1,699 for the 256GB model, $1,969 fir the 512GB model and $2,239 for the 1TB model.

This time around, Apple is charging a little extra for the iPhone 15 Pro line, likely due to the use of Titanium, which is more expensive than Stainless Steel. The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $1,449 for the 128GB model, $1,599 for the 256GB model, $1,899 for the 512GB model and $2,199 for the 1TB model. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, starts at $1,749 for the 256GB model, $2,049 for the 512GB model and $2,349 for the 1TB model.

Upgrade or not?

Unlike the last few years, the iPhone 15 Pro line actually does feature significant upgrades over its predecessor. For starters, the switch to USB-C means faster charging and data transfer speeds, as well as compatibility with more accessories. Ditching the mute slider in favour of an Action Button means you can customize shortcuts according to your needs, while the A17 chipset and its gaming performance prowess means you can play AAA console games like Assasin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil 4 Remake right on your device.

If you’re rocking an older iPhone, upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max is a no-brainer. If you’re rocking last year’s iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, upgrading to the new devices is worth it if you’ve got the extra cash to burn.

I am currently using the 2020-released iPhone 12 Pro and will be upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro soon. Stay tuned for a ‘three-gen jump’ story soon.

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