Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro touts marginal but meaningful updates

After months of rumours, Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are finally here.

From the introduction of USB-C to the new titanium design, the Action button and camera upgrades, there’s a fair amount to unpack this year with Apple’s high-end iPhones. Ultimately, these subtle changes may only be meaningful to Apple’s most dedicated fans.

Let’s get into it.

A subtle new look

The standout feature for me is the new titanium design, resulting in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feeling notably lighter than their iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max. Despite the decrease not seeming that substantial on paper, the phone felt noticeably lighter in person. It was great to see this change as someone who has found the ‘Pro’ iPhones weighty for the last few years.

Along with the weight decrease, the titanium build also results in the iPhone 15 Pro offering a brushed matte finish instead of the stainless steel design we’ve seen with Apple’s Pro iPhones for the last few years. It’s a subtle shift, but in my brief hands-on time with the iPhone 15 Pro, I found it gives the smartphone a more premium feel (I’ve always preferred iPhones with matte aluminum designs, anyways).

Sticking with the look, Apple claims to have reduced the iPhone 15 Pro’s bezels, but I didn’t notice a substantial difference in my time with the smartphone. Maybe this will change when I spend more time with the device (I have a feeling it will be more noticeable when watching videos).

What I did take note of is the slightly curved edges, giving the overall design a rounded feel that reminds me of the iPhone 11’s look combined with the 90-degree edges of the iPhone 12 to iPhone 14 series. It’s a welcome shift that gives the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro and 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max a unique feel that stands out from other recent iPhones.

Regarding colours, the iPhone 15 Pro/iPhone 15 Pro Max comes in ‘Black Titanium,’ ‘White Titanium,’ ‘Blue Titanium’ and ‘Natural Titanium,’ with Apple discontinuing the ‘Gold’ Pro that’s been around for the last few years (Natural Titanium looks particularly cool).

A call to Action (button)

Going into Apple’s ‘Wonderlust’ event, I was on the fence about the iPhone 15 Pro’s rumoured Action button. I assumed that it might be easy to press accidentally, so I’d end up un-muting my phone by mistake or randomly launching my flashlight in my pocket. Thankfully, in an effort to prevent false triggers, you need to hold down on the Action button for it to activate. This also means that it takes a bit of time for whatever you have the button set to launch, which made it feel slightly jarring compared to the simplicity of the Mute switch.

Say hello to the Action button. Image credit: Bradley Bennett

In the demo area, Apple allowed the iPhone 15 Pro to be set to the following: Silent Mode, various Focus Modes, Camera, Flashlight, Accessibility features and Voice Memos.

Unlike the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button, it can also be set to work with third-party apps through Shortcuts, making it far more helpful than the wearable’s take on the same button concept.

The Action button in action.

Overall, the new Action button is a subtle change to the iPhone’s design that makes the real-estate the mute switch once used more useful. I’m looking forward to testing it out myself and creating my own shortcuts when I review the smartphone later this month.

USB-C is here

Apple has finally made the switch to USB-C. Image credit: Bradley Bennett

Yes, Apple really switched the iPhone line over to USB-C with the iPhone 15 series, a move it should have made several years ago, especially since most of its other products take advantage of the universal port. We’ve also known this was coming for several months thanks to impending European Union (EU) regulations.

Is this a game changer for the average Apple user, though? It really depends on how you look at it. Some iPhone users will likely be a bit bewildered by the new port, especially if they have several Lightning cables lying around at home.

Image credit: Bradley Bennett

On the other hand, tech enthusiasts who have been urging Apple to make this shift for years will be thrilled that they only need to carry one cord around, especially if they own other USB-C Apple devices like the MacBook Pro or iPad Pro. Additionally, anyone who moves a lot of data off their iPhone (high-resolution photos, for example) will be happy with the new 10Gbps USB 3.0 transfer speeds the port offers. You can even transfer photos and shoot 4K video directly to external storage, which is a nice touch on Apple’s part.

What will be interesting moving forward is that the introduction of USB-C essentially slowly kills off Apple’s MFi certification program since it’s an open standard, unlike its Lightning port. I’m also curious to see what new USB-C accessories Apple releases that take advantage of the faster data transfer speed USB 3.0 offers (maybe they’ll release some sort of optimized external SSD case?).

5x optical zoom

For the first time in several years, Apple is differentiating between the Pro and its Pro Max counterpart. The iPhone 15 Pro offers the same 3x zoom as its predecessor, while Apple has pushed the iPhone 15 Pro Max to 5x zoom. This focal length still lags behind Samsung’s S23 Ultra, but is respectable nonetheless and, to some extent, arguably more useful (I often find that 10x zoom is a little too close for most use cases).

In my brief time testing the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x optical zoom in the almost perfectly lit hands-on area, 5x optical zoom worked well, but I’ll need to spend more time with it when I get my hands on a review unit.

It’s also worth noting that the new main camera system is capable of switching between 24mm, 28mm and 35mm focal lengths, with the ability to set a default focal length. It’s a subtle change, but one I appreciated because I snap a lot of photos with my smartphone and jump between the different zooms often.

I didn’t get the chance to test out the new Portrait Mode feature that allows you to add the effect after you snap the photo, but as someone who rarely remembers to turn the mode on when I’m taking pictures, I think I’ll find it very useful if it works well (this is feature is also coming to the iPhone 14). I’m hoping post-production Portrait Mode makes its way to older iPhones since it’s likely not entirely tied to the A17 chip, but given Apple’s track record for keeping at least some features exclusive to newer devices, it’s unclear if that will happen.

A17 Pro overkill

Apple already has the top chip in the smartphone world, and similar to years past, the A17 Pro is poised to blow away everything currently out there thanks to its 3-nanometer (3nm) chip design. According to Apple, the A17 Pro’s new CPU is 10 percent faster than its predecessor, its new Neural Engine is 2x faster, and its new GPU is 20 times faster thanks to its 6-core design.

The new titanium build looks great under light. Image credit: Patrick O’Rourke

In practice, this means that it should be able to handle anything you throw at it, including high-end games with support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and even 4K60 video output over USB-C. During its keynote, Apple showed off an impressive demo featuring what looks like the full version of Assassin’s Creed Mirage running on the smartphone.

I’m still skeptical that this is truly the full console version of the game and not a parred-down port, but I’ll be more than happy to be proven wrong (full versions of Resident Evil 4 remake and Resident Evil Village are also on the way, according to Apple). I’m hoping that behind the scenes Apple is encouraging developers to bring more full-fledged console gaming experiences to the iPhone.

Useful new features, depending on how you use your device

Overall, this year’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are incremental steps forward for Apple’s Pro iPhone line. There are several cool new features, but whether they appeal to you will depend on how you use your iPhone. Those still rocking an iPhone 14 Pro likely won’t find much to be excited about here, but if you’re using the iPhone 12 Pro or even an iPhone 13 Pro, there might be enough new features with the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max to warrant an upgrade.

Hopefully, more console-level experiences come to the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max. Image credit: Bradley Bennett

The iPhone 15 Pro starts at $1,449, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,749. Both phones are available for pre-order on September 15th and release on September 22nd.

All of our Apple fall hardware event content can be found here.

Header image credit: Bradley Bennett