On September 12th, Apple unveiled the iPhone 15, which includes many changes, some of which weren’t even mentioned at the event. So, before purchasing the iPhone 15 at the starting price $799, here are 23 things you must know.
Read Also: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max
23 Major Changes on iPhone 15?
1. Frosted Glass
Number one: frosted glass. For the first time ever in a non-pro model, we have a frosted glass back, which looks amazing on top of this apple. We are using a new process for coloring the glass by infusing the color directly into the glass instead of painting it on the bottom, so it should look quite nice in person.
2. New Pastel Color
Number two, we also get some new pastel colors, and yes, these colors are very pastel; they’re very washed out. Although some of them look really nice, the black one is by far my favorite, especially since this is the first matte black iPhone ever since the iPhone 7. and that’s because we get both matte black sides and a matte black frosted glass back, which just looks amazing. The green color looks awesome too; the pink looks pretty good too; the yellow is okay; and the blue is very muted; it almost looks like white, probably because we don’t actually get a white this year.
3. Product (Red)
If you’re wondering why we don’t have a product red version anymore like we’ve had in all the recent years, well, that’s likely because Apple will be introducing it in March as the new color. This is what they’ve been doing for the past few years as well as adding some new colors in March.
4. Rounded Frame
Apple hasn’t really talked about this that much, but the frame is more rounded towards the edges now, like we’ve seen leaked, which does make it more comfortable to hold in the hand.
5. FineWoven Cases
Interesting enough, the leather cases are entirely gone, and Apple is using a material called Finewoven. Essentially, this is more like a synthetic fiber; it’s more eco-friendly, and it kind of looks like Apple’s cleaning cloth material, so it seems to be very soft, but of course we’ll confirm this once we get the cases in store.
6. Brightest iPhone Display
Something I’m very glad to see is Apple increasing the display brightness on the standard models, so now the standard models can go as bright as the pros up to 2 000 nits in direct sunlight from 800 like we had before, so this is a huge increase, which means that really aside from the promotion technology, the displays between the standard models and the pros are now essentially identical.
7. Dynamic Island
We also get the same Dynamic Islands as the iPhone 14 Pro from last year, which means that more and more apps will support it and it will be used a lot more than it is currently.
8. A16 Chip
Then, at number eight, we get the Apple A16 chip, which is actually the chip that Apple launched last year, so yes, the standard models do not get the latest chip like we used to in the past, but they get the Pro chip from the year before.
9. 48MP Camera
The standard models do get a brand new 48 megapixel camera, but Apple hasn’t actually mentioned this at the event. This is not the same camera as the 14 Pros from last year or the 15 Pros from this year, despite having the same megapixel count. This is actually a smaller 48 megapixel sensor if you take a look at the pixel sizes. The iPhone 14 Pro and 15 Pro have 2.44 microns, compared to two microns on the iPhone 15.
10. 24MP Photos
The good news, however, is that the new default resolution is now 24 megapixels as opposed to 12 like we had before, even on the 14 Pro, which was also 12 megapixels despite having a 48 megapixel sensor. You could only do 48 megapixels in raw, but now you can do 24 as well, which means that on the iPhone 15, the images that you take will be twice as sharp, which is awesome, and this is the default now at 20 megapixels.
11. SmartHDR5
The best thing for me by far is that we also get smarthdr5. So smarthdr4, which was Apple’s HDR processing engine, was found on the iPhone 13 and 14, and it wasn’t great, like we’ve seen from our previous camera comparisons. Those iPhones had blown out highlights constantly, and based on the images that we’ve seen, it seems like smarthdr5 finally fixes those issues. If you find out how the iPhone 14 Pros, despite having the exact same chip and also a very similar main camera, and that is actually better, do not get smarthdr5 through a software update, instead they stick with smarthdr4.
12. 2X Zoom
Just like the 14 Pros, the standard models also get that 2x sensor crop zoom, so essentially a 2X lossless zoom, kind of like having a third lens in that case, which is awesome, and yeah, we now have a zoom optical zoom, so to say, on the standard models too.
13. Automatic Portrait Mode
Then we also get a big upgrade when it comes to portrait mode photos, so now whenever you take regular photos, it will detect if that photo can be taken in portrait mode and automatically switch to portrait mode, so essentially it’s just automatic now that you don’t have to manually switch it. Not only that, but you can also change the focus on the subject after you’ve already taken the shot, and on top of that, you can also use that 2x sensor crop to take your portrait mode shots. Before, you could only use the main lens.
14. No Macro
We have another option now, even though the cameras do seem to be quite similar to the 14 pros and 15 pros, they’re actually not, especially the ultra wide. The ultra ride on the Pro Models has the ability to shoot macro photos, and it is also superior in other ways like low lights. Um, and you just don’t have this on the standard model, so do keep that in mind.
15. No ProRes or ProRAW
And we also lack prores and pro raw; these are also exclusive to the pro model, so if you need the extra editing flexibility, a proraw, especially for photos, would indeed make a pretty substantial difference.
16. USB-C 2.0
Something that is not exclusive to the Pro Models is USB-C, which we finally get, but on the southern models, this is restricted to USB 2.0 speeds of just 480 megabits per second. These are the same speeds as before, and in fact, this is the slowest USB-C connector that you can have on any phone right now. There are no slower speeds than USB 2.0, and fun fact: the only reason why Apple actually switched to USB Type-C this year is because they were forced by the EU to do so.
17. Connect USB-C Direct
Something cool about USB Type-C is that now you can connect to USB-C displays directly without the need for an adapter.
18. Charging Accessories
and you can also charge your Apple Watch and your AirPods Pro directly from the USB-C cable from the iPhone, which is pretty cool now that it doesn’t work wirelessly, sadly, so there’s still no reverse while discharging despite us having the tech inside the iPhones to do that with the Magsafe battery pack, but yeah, there’s no way of actually charging those wirelessly like you can on other phones like Samsung phones.
19. Braided Cable
Number 19 The cable is braided, which is awesome, but sadly, it is not color-matched like it was initially leaked.
20. U2 Chip
We also get the brand new U2 chip, and no, this doesn’t have anything to do with YouTube, which Apple kind of pre-installed a few years ago, so if you have an Apple Watch series 9 and an iPhone 15 or 15 Pro, you can locate it just like an air attack with Precision Finding, and you also get three times the range compared to the U1 chip. But the weird thing is that we didn’t really get the Precision Finding before with the E1 chip at all on an Apple Watch and an iPhone, despite already getting this functionality with the Air Tag, which also comes with the U1 chip, so I do find that quite weird.
21. Roadside SOS
We also got a brand new feature called roadside SOS, which will also work with the 14 Pros, by the way, and the 14s. Essentially, when you don’t have any solar signal and your car broke down in the middle of nowhere, you can now request some roadside help to pick up your car and tow it, for example, if you have any issues, whereas before you would have to literally call 911 for that.
22. Charging Limitations
Now there are some charging limitations, so we still get the exact same charging speeds, so up to 50 in 30 minutes despite getting USB-C, so we don’t really get any faster charging speeds in the same place as Pro Models, and the wireless charging is still the same 7.5 Watts using non-maxafe chargers, so despite that having been leaked, we don’t actually get any faster wireless charging space.
23. No Wi-Fi 6E
We also don’t get Wi-Fi 6E; only the Pro Models get Wi-Fi 60 this year, which offers two times the Wi-Fi speeds compared to Wi-Fi 6, up to 2.4 gigabits per second from 1.2 if you have a Wi-Fi 6E router, but yeah, I do find it a bit of a shame that the iPhone 15 models stick to Wi-Fi 6.
Conclusion
Apple iPhone 14 Pro, 128GB, Space Black – (Renewed Premium)
If you’re planning on getting an iPhone 15, I would honestly suggest getting an iPhone 14 Pro refurbished instead, which you can probably get for about the same price. Apple will be selling one too in a few months, and the thing is, you also get a lot more extra features. You get 120 hertz, which is literally the biggest feature on the Pro Models. You get the always-on display, you get a 3X-level photo module, and you get the macro mode. Ultra wide Pro Raw, the stainless steel frame if you like that, and so on. The only downside is that you get lightning instead of USBC, but I think that trade-off is worth it in favor of all the advantages and extra features that you get.
