iPhone 15 Pro Review: enter the era of USB-C

iPhone 15 Pro Intro

Apple has done two very important things with the iPhone 15 Pro: first and foremost, the phone weighs less and for the first time in a while feels compact without being too small, and second, the 15 Pro has gotten a brand new A17 Pro chip that is not only slightly faster, but enables some truly impressive new camera features. But it’s not perfect and battery life has not only remained the same, but under more stress it drains faster.

What’s new about iPhone 15 Pro

Table of Contents:

iPhone 15 Pro Specs

The main highlights include the 3nm A17 Pro chip and the new USB-C port

The iPhone 15 Pro keeps the familiar compact 6.1-inch form factor, but while the overall shape and size remain similar, it is not quite the same as the previous 14 Pro model.

The first and most notable change Apple makes is a switch to titanium: a new more durable and lighter-weight material used for the railing of the phone (the internal frame is still aluminum). Titanium replaces the shiny stainless steel rails we had before, and the weight alone makes it worth it. The darker models still catch fingerprint smudges, but the lighter models do not, so keep that in mind.

The other big change is the new USB-C port on the bottom. To that we say: finally!

(Image Credit – PhoneArena) The new Action button

In terms of buttons, we have the familiar power (on the right) and volume (on the left) physical keys, but instead of the Mute Switch above the volume buttons, we now have the new Action Button.

It is programmable and while there are a few suggestions that Apple gives you such as using it to launch the camera or immediately start a voice memo, you can literally set the Action button to anything via the Shortcuts app. Some clever suggestions are to set it to start Google Assistant, or to start your Spotify music playback. Let us know in the comments what have you set the Action button for.

iPhone 15 Pro Display

(Image Credit – PhoneArena)

The iPhone 15 Pro sticks with a 6.1-inch screen size just as previous models, but the borders around the screen are now slimmer by one third. This is subtle but it helps achieve a more modern, edge-to-edge look.

The screen technology has not changed much: it’s OLED, it’s Retina, and it supports 120Hz ProMotion for buttery smooth scrolling. And yes, the Always-On feature from the previous model is of course also available.

Display Benchmarks

You can see that the maximum brightness level on the iPhone 15 Pro remains about the same as on the previous model, and the one improvement we hoped to see – a lower minimum brightness for more comfortably night use – has not made it. Interestingly, the color balance is a bit worse on this new model, the difference is not huge but we were surprised to see this.

And for biometrics, no change: we still have Face ID built in the Dynamic Island.

iPhone 15 Pro Camera

A familiar triple camera system with tweaks and tune-ups!

(Image Credit – PhoneArena)

The iPhone 15 Pro comes with a very familiar looking triple rear camera system with a main 1X shooter, an ultra-wide camera and a 3X telephoto lens.

However, thanks to the new A17 Pro chip and a new processing pipeline, the iPhone 15 Pro now supports sensor crop at 1.2X and 1.5X zoom, aka 28mm and 35mm focal lengths. Apple says these are practically two new “lenses”, and we can indeed confirm that the quality is very similar to that of a dedicated physical camera lens. Best of all, these new “lenses” are perfect for everyday photography. The standard 24mm 1X camera is just a bit too wide and we have immediately changed the default setting on the iPhone 15 Pro to 1.5X which is so much better.

Another new processing trick that makes a huge difference for quality is what Apple calls Super High Res picture mode. Essentially, this is a new default resolution: the iPhone 15 Pro now shoots pictures in 24-megapixel size, up from 12MP on previous models. This is a great middle ground between low-detail 12MP shots and high-detail but very large 48MP files. With this new image format, the excessive over-sharpening from the 14 Pro is now also fixed. This is great news and it elevates the camera quality of the iPhone 15 Pro so much higher than before.

The iPhone 15 Pro retains the familiar 3X zoom lens, so it is good at shorter range zoom, but when you go to 5X or 10X zoom you see detail deteriorate a bit and the iPhone 15 Pro Max with its new 5X zoom lens is definitely a step up there.

There are no big changes to the ultra-wide camera and it still takes photos at the same 12-megapixel resolution as before. This is one lens we expect Apple to upgrade next year on the iPhone 16 Pro series.

There are subtle tweaks to front camera images with improved skin tones and HDR, but detail remains the same and the changes are exactly that: subtle.

Low Light Camera Quality

Images from the main camera at night look clean, but there is still flaring when you point the camera at brighter lights.

The ultra-wide camera captures good looking shots at night too.

Video Quality

Video quality on the iPhone 15 Pro is a bit better than before and it remains easily ahead of the competition.

The main camera records up to 4K60 footage with clean, crisp detail and excellent video stabilization. You also have smooth transition between the various cameras.

But if you are a professional you know the one feature you are coming for: ProRes video. And yes, you can record to an external SSD super easy, just plug it in and you see a USB-C signage appear that indicates that the footage goes directly to the SSD. Keep in mind that those files are gigantic, but the quality is really something else and it gives all the freedom to edit in post.

iPhone 15 Pro Performance & Benchmarks

World’s first and finest 3nm chip inside

Apple launches new chips with every iPhone release, but this year is special: the new Apple A17 Pro processor inside the iPhone 15 Pro makes the jump to a more advanced 3nm technology, which is a bigger leap than your average yearly upgrade.

Better yet: Apple has booked practically the full manufacturing capacity of TSMC, the only foundry capable of making these super advanced chips, so it has a big advantage over the competition.

This new manufacturing technology is cutting edge, and here are the exact improvements that Apple says we get:

• 10% faster performance cores, fastest mobile CPU
• 4-efficiency cores with unmatched with three times the performance per watt compared to competition
• Neural engine 2X faster with 35 trillion ops per second
• Dedicated engines for Pro features – ProRes codec, Pro Display engine, AV1 decoder for more efficient video experience

Let’s see our real-world testing to see if Apple’s claims are indeed true.

Performance Benchmarks:

As you can see, the iPhone 15 Pro really delivers with big improvements in CPU speeds. The GPU also does better for long-term use and scores nearly 30% higher in our testing. Impressive!

However, at the same time, we also notice the iPhone 15 Pro tends to get warmer than we are used to.

While Apple is not officially saying how much RAM you have in the new iPhone 15 Pro, leaks suggest we get 8GB RAM, more than the 6GB RAM used in previous models, but the same LPDDR5 technology.

And here are the iPhone 15 Pro storage options:

128GB — $999

256GB — $1,099

512GB — $1,299

1TB — $1,499

Apple is not saying much about connectivity, but we now know it uses the new Qualcomm X70 modem, which helps it get better and more consistent signal.

Another thing to remember is that the iPhone 15 Pro only work with eSIM in the United States, so you won’t be able to just pop in your physical SIM card. International models, however, still use a regular, physical SIM card.

iPhone 15 Pro Software: iOS 17

And remember, iOS 17 is making its way to even older models, going back to the iPhone XR.

The best part of owning an iPhone is the software update support. Apple typically deliver five or even six years of software updates, so this means an iPhone 15 Pro will get the following:

Talk about a future-proof device!

iPhone 15 Pro Battery

No changes and you may even see a downgrade

(Image Credit – PhoneArena) Now, with a USB-C port

The iPhone 15 Pro comes with a 3,274 mAh battery, which is ever so slightly larger (+2.3% larger) than the previous model.

However, the actual iPhone 15 Pro battery life remains the same as on the previous model, at least according to the official iPhone 15 Pro battery life numbers by Apple:

But let’s put this phone to the test and see if this is indeed the battery life you will see in real life.

PhoneArena Battery Test Results:

In our testing, the iPhone 15 Pro scored lower than the previous model, and chances are that this is because of the higher clock speed of the processor that puts an extra strain and you can feel the phone getting a bit warmer than usual. For just regular use, without much multitasking, you should see similar battery numbers on the 15 Pro as on the 14 Pro, but with more intense use, the newer 15 Pro would probably last you a bit less than before.

This is a bigger deal than it may sound. USB-C on iPhones means we get closer to that one-cable-for-everything future, and we get far less cable clutter. But it also opens a world of possibilities. You can now easier connect an external drive directly to your iPhone or an SD card reader to transfer pictures from your DSLR or mirrorless camera to name just a few prospects.

One bright spot however are the faster USB 3 transfer rates that go up to 10Gbps, nearly 20 times faster than before. Keep in mind, though, that you need a special cable for that and that cable is not included in the box.

iPhone 15 Pro Summary

(Image Credit – PhoneArena)

The iPhone 15 Pro is a bigger change than it might seem on the surface.

The lighter weight is a bigger upgrade than you might think, and Apple has upgraded the camera in all the right places. The big technological breakthrough of the A17 Pro chip is behind the new camera magic, and it is also a bit faster than before, but it can also run a bit warm and can tax the battery a bit more.

Other changes like the new USB-C port make life so much easier, and so does the new Action button. All of that also comes at the same starting price in the US, while in the UK and Europe Apple is even slashing the prices.

So at the end of the day, if you want a powerhouse compact phone that makes improvements across the board EXCEPT for battery life and charging, well, they don’t get any better than the iPhone 15 Pro.