This year’s standard iPhone, the iPhone 15, seems puzzling. Apple hails it as a “huge leap,” but it offers only minor improvements over the iPhone 14, which was already quite similar to the iPhone 13. Given the significant $200/€250/£200 price difference between the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro, we have reservations about suggesting the basic iPhone 15 as a smart choice.
Here Are the Key Reasons for Not Buying an iPhone 15:
Not So Great Display
The iPhone 15 has a few improvements, like a better cutout and brighter screen, but most of its display remains unchanged. It’s still a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED with the same resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. If it had a 90Hz refresh rate, some criticisms might disappear.
On the other hand, the 15 Pro stands out with its 120Hz LTPO OLED screen and an exclusive Always-On Display (AOD) feature. Additionally, the 15 Pro has slimmer bezels, making it look more modern than the regular iPhone 15.
Lacking Performance Benchmark
The A16 chip in the iPhone 15 is a small improvement over the A15 used in the previous two iPhones. It has a 6-core CPU (2 powerful cores and 4 efficient cores), a 5-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. Despite being built on a 4nm process (compared to the A15’s 5nm), the performance gains are not very noticeable, as we noted in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro review.
On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Pro packs a cutting-edge 3nm Apple A17 Pro chip, a first in the market. It promises 10% faster CPU performance and a substantial 20% GPU improvement. Apple is also upping its game in mobile gaming for the 15 Pro series, with titles like Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed Mirage slated to join next year, featuring hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing.
Notably, there’s a 2GB RAM difference between the standard and Pro models. The iPhone 15 has 6GB of RAM, while the 15 Pro boasts 8GB, which could mean better long-term performance and support for the Pro version.
Camera Quality Not Up to Mark
The iPhone 15 has a better main camera with a 48MP sensor, but Apple saves the top-notch camera features for its Pro models. The iPhone 15 Pro comes with a larger 48MP main sensor with improved pixel technology, a wider aperture, and advanced stabilization. It also exclusively offers ProRAW image capture, allowing you to maximize the camera’s potential and utilize Apple’s computational photography enhancements.
Thanks to the new A17 chip, the iPhone 15 Pro models can shoot 4K videos at 60fps in ProRes RAW, supporting the ACES colour profile. They also excel in capturing 3D spatial videos, perfectly compatible with the Vision Pro headset.
Also read:
Get Ready for Apple iOS 17 Which Is Releasing Soon: Get Ready To Explore The New Features
Type-C But Slow
USB-C is a nice addition to the iPhone 15, but it doesn’t offer a significant speed upgrade over the Lightning connector because it’s still USB 2.0 at its core. This means you’ll get the same 480 Mbit/s max transfer speeds. In contrast, the USB Type-C 3.0 connector on the iPhone 15 Pro is much faster, rated at up to 10 Gbps, which is over 20 times faster.
The faster speeds are especially handy for transferring big video files. Videographers will find it great that they can shoot 4K videos at 60fps directly onto an external SSD for larger projects. Just remember, you’ll need to get your own Thunderbolt cable because Apple provides USB 2.0 Type-C cables with all new iPhone 15 models.
