Apple iPhone
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: a surprisingly tough choice
The iPhone 15 lineup has been a huge success for Apple, with the refresh to its product line tempting many people to update to a newer model or to switch over from an Android. Apple has also be re-jigging the available iPhone options, and if you’re after a large-sized iPhone then your luck is in as you now have more options than ever. In older generations, there was just one choice for a larger sized iPhone, which was the iPhone Pro Max. But since the iPhone 14 generation, Apple introduced a iPhone 14 Plus option, and that trend has continued with 2o23’s iPhone 15 generation.
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: specs
| iPhone 15 Pro | iPhone 15 Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 146.6 x 70.6 x 8.25mm (5.77 x 2.78 x 0.32 inches) | 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8mm (6.33 x 3.06 x 0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 187 grams (6.60 ounces) | 201 grams (7.09 ounces) |
| Screen | 6.1-inch always-on Super Retina XDR OLED with 120Hz ProMotion | 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED |
| Screen resolution | 2556 x 1179 pixels at 460 pixels-per-inch | 2796 x 1290 pixels at 460 pixels-per-inch |
| Operating system | iOS 17 | iOS 17 |
| Storage | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
| MicroSD card slot | No | No |
| Tap-to-pay services | Apple Pay | Apple Pay |
| Processor | Apple A17 Pro | Apple A16 Bionic |
| Camera | Rear: 48-megapixel (MP) main camera (wide), 12MP Ultrawide, 12MP telephoto, LiDAR ScannerFront: 12MP TrueDepth | Rear: 48-megapixel (MP) main camera (wide), 12MP ultrawideFront: 12MP TrueDepth |
| Video | 4K at 24/25/30/60 frames per second (fps)1080p HD at 25/30/60 fps HDR video with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60fps Slow motion 1080p at 120/240 fps ProRes video recording up to 4K at 60fps with external recording Macro video recording | 4K at 24/25/30/60 frames per second (fps)1080p HD at 25/30/60 fps HDR video with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60fps Slow motion 1080p at 120/240 fps |
| Cellular | 5G mmWave (U.S. models only) 5G (sub-6GHz), Dual eSIM with Physical SIM on non-U.S. models only. | 5G mmWave (U.S. models only) 5G (sub-6GHz), Dual eSIM with Physical SIM on non-U.S. models only. |
| Bluetooth version | Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Ports | USB-C | USB-C |
| Water resistance | IP68 | IP68 |
| Battery | Video playback: 20 to 23 hours Audio playback: 75 hours 20W fast charging | Video playback: 20 to 26 hours Audio playback: 100 hours 20W fast charging |
| App marketplace | App Store | App Store |
| Network support | All major carriers | All major carriers |
| Colors | Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium | Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Black |
| Price | Starting at ₹ 1,27,469 | Starting at ₹76,999 |
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: display
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The iPhone 15 Plus gets two significant display improvements over its 2022 predecessor. The first and most noticeable change is that the Dynamic Island that debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro is now available across the entire iPhone 15 lineup.
What you may not notice right away is that the iPhone 15 Plus is also much brighter. The display can now hit 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness and 2,000 nits outdoors.
This puts the iPhone 15 Plus display much closer to the iPhone 15 Pro, which retains those same peak brightness levels from last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and still features the same Dynamic Island. Other than the obvious size difference, you’ll have a hard time telling the two screens apart at a glance. Both use Apple’s Super Retina XDR (OLED) screens with the same 460 pixels per inch (ppi) density, wide P3 color gamut, and True Tone display.
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: design
The name of the game for Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro lineup this year is titanium, with both premium models gaining a more brushed metallic look and shedding quite a bit of weight over their stainless steel predecessors.
In practical terms, this means that the iPhone 15 Pro now comes in lighter than the iPhone 15 Plus. As odd as it seems in light of their size differences, last year’s iPhone 14 Pro weighed slightly more than the iPhone 14 Plus. However, this year, the iPhone 15 Pro is 14 grams lighter than the iPhone 15 Plus, which is as it should be.
Beyond the weight are a few other aesthetic differences. The iPhone 15 Pro comes in an array of rather staid colors that keep with Apple’s titanium theme: Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium. By contrast, the iPhone 15 Plus features an aluminum construction with a palette of pastels — blue, pink, green, and yellow — joining basic black.
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: performance and battery
If you’re looking for top performance, there’s no contest between the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Plus. That’s because Apple now uses its best chips each year only in its most expensive iPhone models. This started with last year’s iPhone 14 lineup, which adopted the A16 Bionic for its Pro models while leaving the standard ones on the 2021 A15 chip from the iPhone 13 Pro.
However, that separation was nothing compared to what Apple has done this time around. This year, the iPhone 15 Pro takes a giant leap forward over the iPhone 15 Plus thanks to a new A-series chip that’s souped up to the point where Apple has dropped the “Bionic” designation used for its chips since 2018 and given it a new name: the A17 Pro.
The new A17 Pro has been fabricated using a new 3-nanometer process and features a significantly redesigned GPU with features like hardware-accelerated ray-tracing that promises to turn the iPhone 15 Pro into a gaming powerhouse. Exclusive console titles like Resident Evil Village have already appeared on the App Store that run only on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and more are on the way
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: cameras
For most flagship smartphones, the rule of thumb is that if you want the best camera system, you need to go for the premium models. That’s still just as true with the iPhone 15 lineup, but this year, the iPhone 15 Plus gets much closer to the iPhone 15 Pro in its photographic capabilities.
For one thing, the iPhone 15 Plus gains the 48-megapixel sensor quality that was the exclusive domain of last year’s iPhone 14 Pro, which not only improves the quality of the photos you’ll be able to take with it but also provides a virtual 2x optical zoom — a first for Apple’s non-Pro iPhones.
Although you still only have two physical cameras, the new 2x mode uses the center 12 megapixels of the 48MP sensor to provide the same focal length you’d get from a third lens. This also powers improved Portrait mode photography and allows for continuous zoom in 4K Cinematic mode. Apple calls this its “advanced dual-camera system” to distinguish it from prior models. The downside is that even though the iPhone 15 now shoots 24MP photos by default, photos taken with the 2x zoom will only be captured in 12 megapixels.
Mind you, the same is also true when shooting in 2x on the iPhone 15 Pro, which uses the same technique of cropping the 48MP sensor to produce a virtual optical zoom from the main lens. However, the iPhone 15 Pro compensates for this by offering a third camera with an optical 3x zoom lens. It also includes a lidar sensor for faster and more accurate Portrait mode depth mapping, the ability to take portrait shots in Night mode, and faster autofocus in low-light conditions. You also get macro photography and support for saving images in Apple ProRAW for more powerful editing capabilities after the fact.
Despite the more powerful A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro, both models offer the same computational photography features, including Apple’s Photonic Engine and Deep Fusion technology and Smart HDR 5 for photos. Every photo taken on an iPhone 15 also gets depth data stored with it, even if you’re not using Portrait Mode. This lets you apply a Portrait mode effect to photos after the fact.
The Smart HDR 5 and other image signal processing improvements result in photos that are dynamic, colorful, and much more true-to-life than the iPhone 14 lineup, which tended to lean toward clinical. Under ideal lighting conditions, the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro produce impressively similar results, but the iPhone 15 Pro edges it out in low light conditions thanks to improved sensors with better optical image stabilization and the adaptive True Tone flash that remains exclusive to the iPhone Pro models, plus the 3x optical zoom that provides more creative versatility.
While all those things make the iPhone 15 Pro a clear winner, we don’t think anybody but the most serious photography enthusiasts will be disappointed by what the iPhone 15 Plus can deliver, especially with the camera improvements Apple has packed into it this year.
Winner: iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: special features
Although Apple has finally adopted USB-C across the entire iPhone 15 lineup, only the iPhone 15 Pro gets faster data transfer speeds. The iPhone 15 Plus may have a new port, but it’s capped at the same speeds as last year’s Lightning port.
To put that in perspective, the iPhone 15 Pro supports USB 3.1 Gen 2, which translates to transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Plus only offers the same 480Mbps USB 2.0 speeds that have been delivered through the Lightning port since it was introduced in 2012.
How much this matters in a world where most people rarely plug their iPhones into a Mac or PC is another question, but if you regularly transfer videos, photos, and music to your computer the old-fashioned way, there’s no doubt that the iPhone 15 Pro will go much faster. You’ll have to supply your own USB 3 cable, though, as the one Apple includes in the box is only certified for USB 2.0 speeds.
The faster data transfer on the iPhone 15 Pro is mostly a nod to the ginormous files the Pro models can capture. While a 48MP photo or a clip of 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps) isn’t going to be small, that’s nothing compared to ProRAW photos, which come in a 75MB per shot, or 4K ProRes video at 30fps, which can easily run 5GB per minute. The iPhone 15 Pro can also now record 4K ProRes video at 60 fps, but only to an external drive using the USB-C port with an appropriate USB 3 cable, and will soon be able to capture Spatial Videos that can played on Apple’s new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.
However, the most unique feature of the iPhone 15 Pro for everyday use is the new Action button in place of the classic ring/silent switch on the side. This multi-function button can do much more than mute your alert sounds, including triggering custom routines in Apple’s Shortcuts app.
Winner: iPhone 15 Pro
