Verdict
There are upgrades across the board for the iPhone 15 – even if we ’ve see them on other iPhone models before . The television camera benefits from a higher - result chief sensor , the Dynamic Island is an obvious advance over the notch and there ’s even been a slight terms cut in the UK . Importantly , it stay a very good phone in the aspect of the iPhone 16 .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Another yr , another iPhone . But does the iPhone 15 do enough to make it a suitable upgrade , should you opt for the newer iPhone 16 ?
The iPhone 15 is an singular machine . It ’s full of rising slope over theiPhone 14 – which happen to be one of the little updates in iPhone history – yet nothing here is all that new .
Everything from the 48 - megapixel camera to theA16 Bionicchipset to theDynamic Islandhas been on an iPhone before . The iPhone 15 almost feels like aniPhone 14 Pro , just in a more sport body .
Then there ’s the neweriPhone 16to look at ; while there might not be many physical changes , the promote public presentation mean it can supportApple Intelligencein Io 18 – something that the iPhone 15 ca n’t , despite being just a year previous . However , the iPhone 15 is now also £ 100/$100 cheaper to excogitate this .
So , does the iPhone 15 do enough , or should you get the iPhone 16 ? Let ’s delve in .
Design
The iPhone 15 is all about refinement , there ’s been no significant renovation here . Instead Apple has tweak the soma that ’s been around since theiPhone 11 . This is n’t speculative as this nuance stimulate for a telephone set that feels thoroughgoing , nice to admit and use .
The smattering of tweaks make a notable difference . The smoother , frost back eschews fingerprints completely and feels much grippier than the level shabu of the iPhone 14 . There ’s also a underage curve to the bound of the screen , which helps make this an even more comfortable phone .
With a screen that measures 6.1 column inch , the iPhone 15 is one of the smallest phones around . It ’s not a diminished phone in the way theiPhone Miniseries was , rather one that has a similar footprint to thePixel 7aorGalaxy S24 . If you ’re after a crowing screenland , without splashing out on the Pro Max , there ’s theiPhone 15 asset . This has a 6.7 - column inch display , and a far powerful battery too .
Apple ’s aim changes made a bigger difference to the iPhone 15 Pro andPro Max , two phone which I felt had some usability issues in prior versions . That ’s never been an issue for the received iPhone , so the alterations here plainly make an already very well - designed speech sound even better .
A more obvious alteration is the new mint of colours . These hues are lighter , more quiet shade than before – plus a more traditional black choice . I wish the choices , with the dusty pinko and fern fleeceable particularly stand out to me . Apple said it has instill the color through the back Methedrine , and this adds a skillful contrast between the side of meat , photographic camera housing and rear .
I ’m trusted many will immediately whack a pillow slip on top , but these phones really should be appreciate for their overall intent . 75 % of the aluminium in the enclosure is recycled too , which is welcome , and the box the earphone comes in is free of single - use plastic .
The rest of the chassis of the phone is treading familiar ground . There’sCeramic Shieldon the front , anIP68rating for protective covering from a 6 - time ducking for 30 minutes and the ringer electrical switch stays on the side . This switch has been swapped for the far more useful , not to remark completely customisable , Action Buttonon the iPhone 15 Pro .
Importantly , the Action button is uncommitted on the newer iPhone 16 , along with the newCamera Controlbutton that not only map as a consecrate camera shutter button , but thanks to its hint - sensitive surface , you could practice it to switch between controls and even zoom without tip the CRT screen – though just how useful this is will likely be down to your personal manipulation - case .
Elsewhere , however , the iPhone 16 looks a lot like the iPhone 15 , aside from a slew of more vivacious color option and a vertically aligned camera housing akin to the iPhone X.
Screen
A lot of new features on the iPhone 15 have been stripped from previous Pro iPhones . The Dynamic Island , for case , first come with the iPhone 14 Pro and a twelvemonth later it has trickled down to the standard range .
This tab - forge cutout is a welcome replacement for the tired notch , acting as both a cover for the bevvy of camera and sensing element along with a secondary distance for notification to come along . Not all organization notifications appear in the Dynamic Island , rather it ’s reserve for apps that have carry out it and a few system apps , like the phone .
For sure apps , the Dynamic Island works fantastically well . If a call is playing in Spotify , Audible , Pocket - Casts or any app that uses the correct Now Playing API it will be seeable in the Dynamic Island . Long press down to open up playback controls , or tap to easily jump back to the app . Some third - party apps have added smart features , in FotMob you may immobilise the account of a live football match to ensure you ’re always up - to - day of the month even if you ’re in another app .
There ’s still an overall feeling that the Dynamic Island is a stepping Harlan Fiske Stone to the ultimate goal of an all - filmdom iPhone and I am sure we will eventually get there . For now though , it ’s nice to see the characteristic across the whole new iPhone 15 and hopefully , this will see more apps go through it .
The residuum of the screen is the same as the one on the iPhone 14 , and herein lie in my biggest issue with the iPhone 15 : it still lacks a fastProMotionscreen . The iPhone 15 is the only phone I can detect that cost this much and still has a 60Hz panel , making it feel perceptibly slower than the120HziPhone 15 Pro .
I often see people give the sack this criticism , claiming that the majority ca n’t even say the difference between a 60Hz panel and a 120Hz one . I can only think those making these claim have never used a fast screen for an extensive menstruation , be it on a Pro iPhone or even the budget Pixel 7a , as the difference is huge .
ProMotion makes the Pro iPhones feel so much faster , either through zippier animations or smoother scrolling , and going from the iPhone 15 Pro to this iPhone 15 bring out just how big the downgrade is . The iPhone 16 needs to include ProMotion – there ’s just no excuse anymore .
The quality of the actualOLEDpanel ca n’t be indicate with , though . It ’s brilliant this sentence around , up to 2000 nits in some very specific outside scenario , and remains an first-class blind for watchingHDRfootage and photos . Colours are fork out accurately too , and it ’s sharp enough to stave off seeing any pixels . It ’s a really overnice screenland , just a shame about the refresh rate .
significantly , aside from a boost in the brightness section , the iPhone 16 offers a penny-pinching - identical display experience with its 6.1 - inch 60Hz OLED panel . Instead , it ’s the Pro models that got the upgraded CRT screen handling with not only larger panels but much slimmer bezel for a premium look .
Camera
The big upgrades for the iPhone 15 ’s camera all revolve around the raw 48 - megapixel detector which finally replaces the 12 - megapixel detector we ’ve had for years .
This is n’t on the button the same as the 48 - megapixel sensing element found on theiPhone 15 Pro Max , which is larger , although Apple has widen the aperture slenderly here to f/1.6 .
By nonremittal , the iPhone 15 ( and 15 Pro for that matter ) shoot 24 - megapixel image which is an upgrade over the 12 - megapixel images the iPhone 14 Pro take . As a answer , even though they use the same crisp , I really opt the regular shots from this tatty gimmick .
The extra megapixels allow for a sharper , more detailed paradigm that can be zoomed in on without sacrificing as much particular . The photos look really unspoiled .
Shoot up close to a depicted object and you ’ll get a lovely natural bokeh effect that often depend more realistic than the software package edition , blurring the background and pull the foreground into sharp focus .
The iPhone ’s various consecrate camera software package features , includingDeep Fusionand Smart HDR , check that colours look vivacious without being oversaturated and this camera is very reliable , whether you ’re shooting a face or a colourful works .
I ’d give thePixel 8 Prothe upper handwriting at dark – the iPhone 15 still has a very reflective lens that makes itself too often known when shooting in dismal situation with piles of streetlights . you’re able to still shoot down well at dark though , and the consecrate dark mode helps for still shots where movement is minimum .
There ’s still no consecrated rapid climb photographic camera , with that third detector and lens single to the Pro . Instead , the iPhone 15 uses that 48 - megapixel sensor and quad - pixel tech to catch 12MP 2x zoomed photos .
The results are full , if not as ripe as those from the dedicated 3x sensing element on the iPhone 14 Pro . 2x just generally is n’t that useful , at least in my eyes .
The front television camera remains at 12MP and the ultrawide looks to be exactly the same as before . The iPhone 15 also misses out on the ‘ Pro ’ modes available on the 15 professional , including shooting ProRes and ProRaw . There ’s also no backup for log shooting , a flat colour profile ideal for those who will rank the colour of the video afterwards .
Even without a few of these Pro spear carrier , the videography attainment are impregnable . Cinematic mode(which tot some background blur ) goes up to 4 kilobyte 30fps , while Action Mode ( which keeps the camera unfluctuating during dissipated trend ) ferment up to 2.8k 30fps .
significantly , there are very minor updates to the iPhone 16 ’s camera setup , comprised again of a 48MP main and 12MP ultrawide , although the former is now a ‘ nuclear fusion reaction ’ camera to allow for better 2x carrying out . The upright alinement of the television camera also means it ’s better for spatial TV and pic capture , but that ’s only authoritative if you employ a headset like Apple ’s Vision Pro to view your content . I ’m going to go out on a limb here and say that ’s a pretty recess exercise case , but deserving noting nonetheless .
Performance
Powering the iPhone 15 is anA16 Bionicchipset , rather than theA17 Profound inside the iPhone 15 Pro . This is paired with 6 GB memory ( 2 gigabyte less than the Pro ) and either 128 GB , 256 G or 512 GB of interior storage .
The A16 Bionic is n’t unexampled , as it was at the heart of theiPhone 14 Pro , but holds up fantastically well in most wish . This is a supremely open cow dung for a £ 799/$799 speech sound , roil out man-made benchmark loads that outperform far pricier Android phone .
In day - to - daytime use of goods and services , I have n’t noticed any substantial deviation between the A17 Pro and the A16 Bionic in normal tasks . All the currently available high - end game onApple Arcadeand the App Store – even intensive titles like Genshin Impact – do perfectly on the iPhone 15 and there ’s no stutter or lag anywhere to be seen .
However , the use of the old chipset does mean the iPhone 15 ca n’t melt AAA titles , nor can it corroborate Apple Intelligence – something I ’ll get into very in short . The New iPhone 16 ’s A18 chipset negates these event , while also offering a 30 % hike to CPU focal ratio and 40 % in the GPU section , which could be a good rationality to opt for the new smartphone .
There ’s also no USB 3 support with the A16 Bionic , so theUSB - Cport here retains the same speeds as the Lightning port has done for a decade . No plugging in high - speed SSDs to record footage now onto here . Wi - Fi 6Eis predictably missing too .
US versions of the iPhone 15 continue to transport without a SIM one-armed bandit . Somewhat surprisingly , there has n’t been a groovy move to this for other neighborhood which all keep the physical tray and offereSIMas an alternative rather than a necessity . Just the way of life it should be , for at least the next few years .
Software
iOS 17 is install on the iPhone 15 , and it ’s available for all iPhones from theiPhone XRandXS . judge by that metric , the iPhone 15 will receive updates for many years to come – hopefully the same seven years Google is promising with the Pixel 8 .
lineament in this latest translation admit some very handy additions , a gang of welcome tweak and a general tidying up of many UI element .
big features includeStandBy – a slimmed - down view that derail into life when the headphone is horizontally point , ideally on aMagSafestand . This is great as a bedside alarm clock , giving gentle access to the time , weather condition and any resilient bodily function . The Phone has also receive numerous updates , include the transcription of incoming Voicemail subject matter and gracious contact posting that easy identify who ’s ringing .
Welcome tweaks admit a cleaned - up view in iMessage , synergistic widgets , FaceTime TV subject matter and various AirDrop upgrade .
All these above features are available on older iPhones too , but there are a few software tweaks undivided to the new phones . The UWB chip inside the phone improves its power to be accurately find oneself within the Find My app , while there ’s some fresh cancellation move on during phone song to reduce background audio .
There ’s also a clever camera software feature of speech that let you add in the portrait essence after a cracking of a person or animal has been take . This works very well , as the camera is now always capture the 3D astuteness data point in all painting . you could also go back to portrait shots taken with one-time iPhones and neuter the focus point in those photo .
The iPhone 15 will also get the Io 18 update once that ’s available , though with one huge caveat ; it wo n’t get one of the heavy feature , Apple Intelligence , despite being just a year quondam . The feature uses productive AI to put up a voguish Siri experience and top executive some pretty coolheaded Modern tech , from advanced range of a function editing capableness to produce custom emoji in the form of Genmoji . There ’s even integration with third - political party LLM like ChatGPT , massively boosting what you may do on your iPhone .
However , with the iPhone 15 using the older A16 Bionic chipset , Apple says that it ’s simply not powerful enough to deliver the Apple Intelligence experience . That could bethereason to opt for the iPhone 16 over the iPhone 15 .
Battery Life
The biggest change to the battery in the iPhone 15 is the cable that charges it . Likely owe to incoming EU lawmaking , Apple has ultimately made the switch from Lightning ( which has sit on every iPhone for over a decade ) toUSB - C.
This , in basic footing , is the same embrasure find onAndroid headphone , iPads , theNintendo Switch , legion cameras and a whole loading of other tech . The switch intend a undivided cable can shoot down anApple MacBook Pro 14,iPad 10th genand iPhone 15 and will be a blessing for those who detest the mess of carry multiple cables around .
ab initio , the alteration will irritate a lot of multitude . For instance , the cable I have in the elevator car to charge is Lightning – which want to remain for my partner ’s speech sound , but now I ’ll have to think back to leave a USB - C transmission line in there too . I also have a few Lightning docks and other accessories , including aBackbone Onecontroller , which I really like and these are mostly useless now .
Something USB - C has n’t improved is charge stop number . In my tests , the iPhone 15 flush from 0 - 50 % in or so 30 arcminute and to 100 % in just above 90 minutes . These are exactly the resultant role I got when I tested the iPhone 14 . This is much deadening than the Android competition you’re able to see below .
In a very Apple move , the USB - C connexion is colour - equal to the phone – a skillful touch you ’ll in all likelihood never notice . Wireless charging , both in standard Qi andMagSafeforms , remains too , so there is a way to charge both an iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 with the same overseas telegram .
In condition of how long the battery conclusion , everything in my tests show very little bm from the last few iPhones . There are no huge advance here . This is a phone most will want to charge every night , with lighter users getting , at most , until lunch period of day two .
An hour of Netflix streaming , the iPhone 15 ate through 8 % – that ’s the same result as the iPhone 14 and a percentile well than the iPhone 13 . In my iPhone 14 review , I said I could get through the day with 20 - 30 % left in the tank and it ’s the same here .
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Should you buy it?
Thanks to an inflow of features once reserved for Pro iPhones , the iPhone 15 is a very good earpiece that ticks legion boxes .
Apple Intelligence brings a whole host of feature to the Io experience , but despite being just a year old , the iPhone 15 does n’t support it .
Final Thoughts
Everything good about the iPhone 15 has been uncommitted on iPhones before . There ’s a want of anything genuinely new here , with all the headline additions plucked right away from theiPhone 14 Pro .
Yet , that does n’t stop the iPhone 15 from feeling like a good acclivity for anyone with aniPhone 12or13 . The minor tweaks make a great design even better , the camera is more versatile thanks to the extra megapixels and the Dynamic Island is a practiced result than the mountain pass .
However , the freeing of the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence in iOS 18 complicates things somewhat . Not only does the newer manakin bid handy new pinch in the form of the Action and Camera Capture buttons , but the A18 chipset allows for access to the overplus of Modern feature of speech that Apple Intelligence offers , as well as sustenance for the AAA games exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro chain – all for just £ 100/$100 more .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try every mobile phone we review soundly . We use diligence standard tests to equate features properly and we practice the phone as our main equipment over the recapitulation catamenia . We ’ll always tell you what we get and we never , ever , admit money to look back a production .
FAQs
There are five colouring material : black , gentle , pinkish , yellow , green .
There is no charging plug included , just a cable . Any USB - snow charger , ideally a 20w or high one , will work .
Test Data
Full Specs
