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Introduction
It's yet another year of incremental refinement for the vanilla iPhone. Not that anybody expects any major changes at this point. The iPhone 15 offers a few steps forward compared to the 14 without altering the formula in any significant way.
Still, there are a few changes worth noting. The vanilla iPhone finally gets the Dynamic Island from its Pro siblings. In fact, the display is all new this year with significantly improved max brightness. You also get a new 48MP main camera, again bringing the vanilla closer to the Pro models. This includes a new 24MP default resolution for photos, as well as next-gen portraits and 4K@60fps HDR video capture.
Apple iPhone 15 specs at a glance:
- Body: 147.6x71.6x7.8mm, 171g; Glass front (Corning-made glass), glass back (Corning-made glass), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 6m for 30 min), Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified).
- Display: 6.10" Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision, 1000 nits (HBM), 2000 nits (peak), 1179x2556px resolution, 19.51:9 aspect ratio, 461ppi.
- Chipset: Apple A16 Bionic (4 nm): Hexa-core (2x3.46 GHz Everest + 4x2.02 GHz Sawtooth); Apple GPU (5-core graphics).
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 6GB RAM, 512GB 6GB RAM; NVMe.
- OS/Software: iOS 17.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.6, 26mm, 1.0µm, dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.4, 13mm, 120-degree.
- Front camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.9, 23mm, 1/3.6", PDAF; Depth: SL 3D.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@25/30/60/120/240fps, HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps), Cinematic mode (4K@30fps), stereo sound rec; Front camera: 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@25/30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 3349mAh; Wired, 50% in 30 min (advertised), 15W wireless (MagSafe), 7.5W wireless (Qi), 4.5W reverse wired.
- Connectivity: 5G; eSIM; Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.3; NFC.
- Misc: Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer; stereo speakers; Ultra Wideband 2 (UWB) support, Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving).
The new iPhone 15 also brings about a new Apple A16 Bionic chipset. As is tradition, this is not the latest and greatest Apple has to offer and is shipping with the Pro models, but rather last year's flagship chip. This might be a blessing in disguise since the new Apple A17 Pro chip is currently amidst a thermal-throttling controversy. The A16, on the other hand, is tired and true. The iPhone 15 also gets a few other "minor" changes, like the inclusion of an Ultra Wideband 2 (UWB) chip for more precise precision finding for the Find My Friends feature.
Oh, and last but not least, Apple has finally moved to USB Type-C. Cupertino was kind of forced to do so due to mounting regulatory pressure, but regardless, the switch is finally a reality. So, if you are in the market for an iPhone 15 series device, you might also need to change out some cables you own.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 15 Plus
However, The real question is how popular the iPhone 15 will be and whether it is worth picking up. We recently ran a poll of our own and going by the numbers and comments, it seems that most of you are rather unenthused about the new Dynamic Island and lukewarm at best towards the new 48MP main shooter and Type-C port. Even so, in both relative and absolute terms, we still expect the iPhone 15 to sell very well. Perhaps not as well as its Pro Max and Pro sibling, but most likely better than the iPhone 15 Plus. So, without further ado, let's dive into the iPhone 15.
Unboxing
Apple pays plenty of attention to packaging, and rightfully so. Cupertino tends to focus on reduction and reuse in this department, which is always great to see. The boxes have become smaller still, allowing Apple to fit more units in any single shipment, saving on transport and carbon emissions. In terms of materials, the box is made entirely out of cardboard (even the sturdy phone cradle on the inside) and thus is recyclable.
Inside the box, you'll find a relatively short 1-meter-long USB Type-C to Type-C cable, a SIM ejector tool (outside the US, where the iPhone 15 is eSIM only and lacks a physical SIM tray) and some leaflets. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Apple started the whole "less accessories" trend and is not about to backtrack now. The good news is that if you already have a decent USB Type-C charger, you might only need to swap some Lightning cables and not actually purchase a new charging brick. You just need at least 20W of power to charge the iPhone 15 optimally, ideally a bit more, perhaps in the 30W ballpark just to be safe.
Design
In terms of overall silhouette, the iPhone 15 is identical to the iPhone 14, which is practically the same as the iPhone 13. While the overall shape and size of the body might be nearly identical to last year at 147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8 mm, with an almost identical weight of 171 grams, this year arguably brings about a more significant redesign in the inclusion of the Dynamic Island.
Gone is the imposing display notch of the iPhone 14, and the iPhone 15 now has the same imposing display cutout as its Pro siblings. Apple calls this the Dynamic Island, and there are a lot of visual elements in the UI specifically designed around "utilizing" this design trait, like notification bubbles.
The notch is pretty large, but it houses several hardware components of Apple's Face ID system. The selfie camera also has a rather large cutout relative to the size of the lens itself. Overall, the Dynamic Island is rather large and takes up a significant portion of the 6.1-inch display of the iPhone 15. Still, it's definitely a more modern look than the previously used notch.
Speaking of sizeable, the display bezels on the iPhone 15 are not exactly what we would call slim. They are perfectly reasonable for a modern device but definitely bigger than what you get on the Pro models.
Other than that, Apple is sticking to a flat display on all its models for another year. This is definitely a deliberate choice, going against the grain, so to speak and the ongoing curved display trend in the Android realm. Frankly, we personally appreciate the flat display surface, and some of us around the GSMArena office even prefer a flat screen to the alternative.
As we already said, the overall silhouette of the iPhone 15 is mostly unchanged. You still get very gently and round corners and a new contoured edge on the aluminum middle frame. The iPhone is still a glass "sandwich," with both the front and back panels laying perfectly flush with the middle frame without any lip. This is definitely a "slick" look.
There is nothing particularly new about the back side of the iPhone 15. We love the way the glass back surface and the slightly different materials and colors on the camera island complement each other.
Speaking of colors, Apple has a new lineup of color options for the iPhone 15. These include Black, Blue, Green, Yellow and Pink. We just love our pink review unit. It is a very soft and pastel pink shade that looks exquisite. Apple uses a special metallic ion process to infuse color into the single piece of back glass for great uniformity throughout the surface. In terms of feel, the surface is etched for a subtle matte finish.
Build quality
Apple devices are nothing short of excellent when it comes to the build quality. The iPhone 15 feels incredibly sturdy with no flex or hollowness to it.
Apple has once again sourced its toughened glass from Corning. There is no public information on exactly what Corning model is being used on the back, but they claim it's as tough as you'd find on any other phone.
Corning is supplying a more durable glass panel for the front, dubbed Ceramic Shield.
It should come as no surprise that the iPhone 15 comes with IP68 ingress protection. That means that it should be able to last in up to 6 meters of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. In more practical terms, it means that if you get your phone dirty, you could use water to carefully wash it. Just be aware that you might end up harming the oleophobic display coating if you overdo it. Apple has one of the best coatings around but is still susceptible to damage.
The tough middle frame that Apple calls the phone's "enclosure" is made out of 75% recycled aluminum on the iPhone 15. The battery uses 100% recycled cobalt, while the main logic board and Mag Safe charging coil use 100% recycled copper. All are part of Apple's 2030 carbon-neutral goal.
Controls
The iPhone 15 has a familiar set of controls. Let's start the tour with the top of the device, which is practically empty, save for the sole antenna line breaking apart the aluminum middle frame. There is no secondary mic here like you typically find on many other devices. Apple has a mic in the rear camera island instead.
The phone's right-hand side houses a rather large power button. It is conveniently placed height-wise, easy to feel out and offers a nice and satisfying "click" in terms of tactile feedback.
The same goes for the volume buttons on the opposite side of the iPhone 15. Apple has always made consistently great buttons, and these are no exception. The left-hand side also houses the SIM tray in regions other than the US, where the iPhone 15 is eSIM only.
Then, there is the familiar alert slider above the volume buttons. This year, Apple took a rather radical step and replaced the slider with a simple button on the two Pro models. The vanilla iPhone 15 and the 15 Plus still get the familiar slider, though, which we frankly appreciate.
The bottom side of the iPhone 15 is a bit busier. This is where the bottom-firing speaker (part of a stereo setup) resides alongside the main microphone, both hidden away beneath grills. All new this year, we have the USB Type-C port. We'll talk more about its capabilities in the following section.
There is no fingerprint reader on the iPhone 15. Apple relies on Face ID instead. Also, it should come as no surprise that there is no notification LED.
Also hardly surprising - Apple's haptic engine and feedback are industry-leading yet again. Even a mundane task like typing on the screen gets ten times more satisfying thanks to the excellent haptic feedback.
Connectivity
The iPhone 15 comes with a variety of network connectivity options depending on your region. The international version has a single Nano-SIM card slot and eSIM support for a second number. In the US, users get dual eSIM with multiple number support, whereas in China, the iPhone 15 has dual Nano-SIM slots. Regardless of region, you get dual standby and SA/NSA Sub6 connectivity. Certain models will also have mmWave.
In certain countries, Apple also offers satellite connectivity on the iPhone 15 for emergency pings outside of cell range and Roadside Assistance via satellite. The latter does require a subscription after an initial two-year grace period. Find My via satellite is also a thing, so you can update your location when outside of cell coverage and let your loved ones know you are safe. Emergency SOS and Find My via satellite do still have some regional limitations, though.
Apple promises clearer voice calls in this generation of iPhone. In fact, there is a new Voice Isolation toggle that you can manually enable during calls if your background is too noisy. We aren't quite sure why this neat feature doesn't get enabled automatically when needed, but we are still happy to see it present. In our testing, it works great to drown out surprisingly noisy environments.
For local connectivity, the iPhone 15 has dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (ax) as well as Bluetooth 5.3 with LE support. There is NFC on board for things like Apple Pay and Nade Drop contact sharing. The iPhone 15 also has a second-generation Apple Ultrawideband (UWB) chip. It enables precise Find My with directional arrows and has up to three times increased range compared to the original Apple U1 chip. You can also use precision finding in a crowd with Find My Friends. We should note that the UWB chip and its functionality are not available in every market and are disabled in some countries due to regulatory issues.
Naturally, there is no FM radio or IR blaster on board, though.
The new Type-C port on the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus is backed up by a USB 2.0 data connection, which means a theoretical max transfer speed of 480 Mbps. You have to go with a Pro model for a faster USB connection.
Video output is supported, however. It uses the Display port DP via Type-C Alt mode, which means that most standard Type-C hubs with a video interface should be able to get an image from the phone. By default, you get a mirror of the display without any other fancy options like a dedicated desktop mode or anything of the sort. In other words, it does a simple screen mirror for the UI.
In terms of resolution, the iPhone appears to output in 4K (2160p) or at least near that, but in a 19.5:9 aspect ratio to match the phone's display - the TVs we connected it to, reported a 2160p signal.
However, apps behave differently; some, like the Photos app and Netflix, offer dedicated casting of content to the display in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Other video apps, like YouTube, however, don't have said dedicated video casting behavior and are stuck at 19.5:9 aspect ratio and 4K resolution, leaving the image both letter-boxed and pillar-boxed. There is seemingly no way to control this behavior, and it is a bit of an inconsistent mess.
The iPhone does offer some display settings when connected to an external display, mainly dealing with the selection of HDR or SDR color mode where supported, as well as a toggle for the ability to automatically adapt and match the output resolution to the content being played.
The iPhone 15 also supports USB Host mode, and we successfully hooked up a mouse and keyboard to it. The keyboard started working instantly, but getting the mouse to pick up and actually show an on-screen cursor required enabling the Assistive Touch option in settings. USB thumb drives and hard drives work fine and automatically mount and appear in the Files app.
In terms of sensors, the iPhone 15 has an accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and barometer.
OLED display - brighter, but still 60Hz
The iPhone 15 has a gorgeous Super Retina XDR OLED display. Just like last year, the display is 6.1 inches in diameter with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio and, in typical iPhone fashion, a funky resolution of 1179 x 2556 pixels. That's just a bit higher than on last year's iPhone 14 and results in a screen-to-body ratio of around 86.4% and a pixel density of around 461 ppi. That looks perfectly sharp in person.
This all sounds quite similar to the iPhone 14. However, this year, the iPhone 15 is much brighter than the iPhone 14. According to Apple, it should be up to twice as bright. While our testing doesn't quite back up that claim, there is no doubt that the display on the iPhone 15 is extremely bright. We measured 806 nits of brightness on the slider and a whopping 1643 nits of maximum brightness when exposed to strong external light. In practice, the iPhone 15 is perfectly comfortable to use even in the sunniest of conditions.
Apple doesn't really talk much about color depth and color modes. The idea is that it all just works seamlessly, and the user shouldn't worry about it. From what we can gather, the iPhone 15 has a 10-bit color panel, but that info is not officially corroborated. The iPhone 15 offers no color modes or settings, unlike most Android handsets. What you get instead is automatic color mode switching from the OS. The UI itself and most apps seem to work in sRGB mode.
The iPhone 15 is extremely color-accurate against the sRGB color space. DeltaE values are low enough even for color-sensitive work. The iPhone 15 can also display in the DCI-P3 color mode, but an app must specifically request that mode to trigger. The system works surprisingly well and is indeed transparent to the user.
The only color-related toggle Apple does have in settings is True Tone. It is meant to keep whites subjectively white in various lighting conditions and has historically worked well.
Speaking of a seamless experience, the iPhone 15 offers such an experience with HDR. The display has support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision. In practice, however, you don't need to worry about anything like HDR hardware decoders and DRM certification. The iPhone 15 just works, and you can rest assured that streaming services such as Netflix will always provide compatible HDR content in enough resolution to saturate the display's resolution. Apple's HDR implementation is also a lot more flexible than most and the display can have just a portion operating in HDR mode for something like a windowed video.
Honestly, the only real letdown with the display of the iPhone 15 is that Apple is still sticking to a 60Hz refresh rate. Devices in the Android realm have long since pushed past this basic refresh rate, especially in the price bracket where the iPhone resides. If you want high refresh rate on an iPhone, you still have to go Pro. That's a real shame, and we really thought this would be the year when Apple finally trickled the feature down to the vanilla iPhone. It really does make a major difference in terms of perceived fluidity and speed of operation in the UI.
That being said, on a more positive note, we have to praise the pixel response times of the iPhone 15 panel. It is incredibly fast and doesn't leave behind any smears or halos, even on fine text in motion.
Battery life
The iPhone 15 has a 3349 mAh battery. That's a bit bigger than last year's iPhone 14 Pro model and its 3200 mAh pack, as well as the vanilla iPhone 14 and its 3279 mAh. Apple has apparently done some extra optimization work on software and hardware since last year as well.
In our proprietary testing, the iPhone 15 managed a solid 98 hours of total endurance. That's notably better than last year's iPhone 14 Pro, which is what we should probably be comparing the iPhone 15 against, seeing how the two phones have very similar batteries and the same A16 Bionic chipset.
The new iPhone 15 did notably better in the offline video playback test. So much so, in fact, that we had to re-run the test a few times just to confirm our findings. Perhaps the new display Apple uses this year is much more efficient. This would also explain the extra hour or so of Wi-Fi web browsing the iPhone 15 managed.
Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. More details can be found here.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we've tested.
Charging test
The iPhone 15 is not particularly fast to charge. Similar to previous iPhone models, the vanilla iPhone 15 can charge at up to 20W via standard Power Delivery (PD). We paired our unit with a well-overpowered and known good 65W charger, just to be safe, but even so, the charging rate never exceeded 20W. So, it is a hard limit of sorts. The Pro models can go a bit over that.
The iPhone 15 has a charging curve that starts off pretty strong with a long period of charging at the full 20W of power. This results in the phone going 0-32% in 15 minutes and then, to 58% in 30 minutes. You can get 85% worth of charge on the battery in an hour flat. That's not half bad at all.
Beyond that point in the charging cycle, however, wattage starts tapering off aggressively. After 95% of charge,. the iPhone 15 is only sipping around 4W of power or so, which explains why a full charge takes an 1 hour and 50 minutes. That's a bit slower than both the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13, but still roughly in the same ballpark.
The iPhone 15 supports MagSafe wireless charging at up to 15W and regular Qi wireless charging at up to 7.5W. There is also reverse-wired charging via the new Type-C port at up to 4.5W.
Loudspeakers
The iPhone 15 has a stereo speaker setup. The dedicated bottom-firing speaker handles one channel while the other is serviced by the amplified earpiece, pulling double duty. This is a so-called "hybrid" stereo setup - the most popular arrangement found on stereo phones nowadays.
The speakers support spatial audio and Dolby Atmos; we know we've said this before, but the output sounds exactly as promised - less directional and more spatial than other phones.
The new Dynamic Island display on the iPhone 15 might not be drastically different in size compared to the iPhone 14, but the move away from the display notch definitely left less space above the display for the earpiece. This is probably why the iPhone 15 is actually a bit quieter than its predecessors. It managed a "GOOD" score in our testing, while the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 both got "VERY GOOD" marks. The difference is not huge, though.
The audio quality is expectedly amazing - there is nice bass, the mid-tones are lovely, and the high-notes are superb as well. Indeed, the iPhone 15 has some of the best stereo speakers a smartphone of its size can offer right now.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Apple iOS 17
All new iPhones come with Apple's iOS 17 out of the box. The new iOS version is probably the most insignificant update ever, no matter what Apple may try to sell you. It brings a new Standby mode, highly customizable Contact Posters, Password sharing with friends, offline maps in Maps, updated Messages with automatic SMS code deletion, interactive widgets, among others.
Let's take a closer look at the iPhone 15's iOS 17 now. Naturally, it is almost identical to that of the Pro models, but there are some differences for once. Notably, the Pro models have the new Action key instead of the traditional alert slider, which necessitated a new customization interface.
The interface is still based on homescreens populated with apps and widgets, App Library for your less important apps, and Notification and Control Centers.
The lockscreen on iOS 17 follows a familiar logic - it's one with the Notification Center and houses your notifications (privacy options are available), plus shortcuts for the torch and the camera.
Don't bother looking for an always-on display option on the vanilla iPhone 15, though. While it does have an OLED display, it can't toggle its refresh rate down to 1Hz like the Pro models can. Apple apparently deemed always-on display at 60Hz too wasteful towards the battery. Hence, in typical Apple fashion, you don't even get the option to decide for yourself.
At least the new optional Standby mode is present on the vanilla iPhone 15. It activates during charging when the phone is put into landscape orientation. It is sort of a landscape Always-on with a bigger clock and calendar. It can show notifications, too. There is also a Night version with red colors.
Standby screen
You can get past the lockscreen via Face ID or PIN if you've opted for secure unlock.
You can customize your lockscreen by picking from some cool wallpapers and adding a row of widgets (up to four). There can't be more than one row of widgets. The neat thing is that you can build a couple of different lockscreens and switch them on the go (tap and hold, then swipe). This way, you can easily change the look of the homescreen/notification center depending on your mood or work.
You can also pair your homescreen look with the lockscreen and change both in one go.
Lockscreen and customization
Your apps usually populate the homescreen(s) and widgets. There are two specific screens - the leftmost is the Today page, while the rightmost page - App Library.
You can hide specific homescreens - you may have a page that's full of games and hide it when at work or hide a page of work/school apps when on vacation. You can't opt out of Today and App Library, though.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • Today • App Library • Hide homescreens • Task switcher
The Focus functionality is here to stay - you can assign a Focus mode on each lockscreen preset you create. And in addition to all other ways of switching between Focuses, now switching between lockscreens also changes the Focus mode.
There are different Focus modes like Work, Personal, Driving, Gaming, Do Not Disturb, among others, highly customizable at that. And you can create and automate your own, of course.
Focus modes
Widgets can be placed on any of the homescreens and the Today page and coexist with app icons. There are three widget sizes supported by iOS - 2x2, 4x2, and 4x4. You can stack widgets of the same size on top of one another, and, optionally, they can rotate automatically.
Widgets • Widgets • Widgets • Stacked Widgets
The widgets are now interactive - you can tap on some of them and change things without going into the app. For example, if you have a Home widget, you can turn on/off devices straight from the widget.
The App Library is an app drawer, which is always your rightmost homescreen pane. Apps are added automatically to the App Library upon installation. The sorting is also an automatic process, and you can't edit the categories or move apps in different categories. The app sorting depends on the App Store tags the developer has used upon uploading the apps.
App Library
The Today page is still alive. You can put the same widgets and stacks you can on your homescreens. Here, you can also use the old third-party widgets that haven't been optimized yet for newer iOS versions. The old widgets come right after the new ones, should you choose to use some new ones. It's a pity this Today page cannot be disabled, as we found it mostly useless.
The Notification Center is summoned with a swipe from the left side of the Dynamic Island. The pane was unified with the lockscreen in iOS 11, and that's why you can have different wallpapers on your homescreen and notification center.
The Control Center, which has customizable and (some) expandable toggles, is called with a swipe from the right side of the Dynamic Island. You can use a haptic touch to access additional controls. And the battery percentage is also here.
Today • Today settings • Notification Center • Notifications • Control Center
The Task Switcher hasn't seen any updates - you see app cards and swipe them for closure. You can also swipe on the gesture line for quick switching between apps.
The Dynamic Island allows for more convenient multitasking. Apple calls this the i-shaped cutout and its animations and convenience features. For all intents and purposes, Dynamic Island is a pill-shaped notch as Apple has blackened the middle part for aesthetic purposes. There, you will see the mic and camera indicators and nothing else.
The animations around the island always use a black background. There are three Island modes. Standard form - inactive island or just accommodating camera/mic indicators.
The active form is a longer pill-shaped notch with info on the left and right sides for certain events, alerts, and notifications. This long pill can also split into an i-shaped one if you launch another compatible app that can be minimized here, like the Timer.
A third form expands into a pop-up balloon - this can be invoked by a tap and hold on the small animation. A tap will open the respective app instead, though. We think these gestures should have been inversed or at least configurable, but as usual - Apple knows best.
Indicators • Dynamic Island • Dynamic Island expansion • Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island incorporates different things - starting with the Face ID animation, charging animation, music info (Music, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, Soundcloud), call info (Phone, WhatsApp, Skype, Instagram, Google), timers, etc. If you activate a second app that needs to use the Dynamic Island, you get a sweet animation that shortens the island and adds a small icon on the left side.
The supported system alerts include calls, AirPods and Watch connections, Battery and Charging, Focus changes, AirDrop, Face ID, AirPlay, NFC events, SIM alerts, and Silencer on/off.
Let's mention some of the new features.
FaceTime now supports leaving audio and video messages for when you're calling someone and they aren't available.
Messages now has a Check-In feature. It takes over the chore of checking in with family members when you are traveling. It works like this: once you've initiated a Check-In, a friend or family member will be automatically notified when you've arrived at your destination. If you're not making progress toward the destination, the selected contact will get your device's location, battery level, and cell service status.
Live Voicemail is an interesting new feature. Now, you don't have to pick up when a number you don't recognize is calling - the phone will do that for you and will display the live scrolling text of what the person calling is saying, so you can easily decide if it's worth talking to them. Calls identified as spam by carriers won't appear as Live Voicemail and will instead be instantly declined. The transcription is handled entirely on-device.
There is a new customizable call screen, which Apple calls Contact Posters. You can change how they appear and choose beautiful treatments for photos or Memoji, adding "eye-catching typography" and font colors. These work in third-party apps as well, and they're also used when you want to share contact details with someone through a new feature called NameDrop - it's as easy as tapping your phones together (or an iPhone and an Apple Watch), and the contact cards are swapped.
Contact Posters
The multimedia is handled by Apple's default apps - Photos, Music, TV.
The Photos app's library has four different views - Years, Months, Days, and All Photos. As usual, AI-powered search options and powerful photo and video edit modes are available. Visual Lookup is here to stay - you can smart crop an object or copy text from any photo.
The TV app is part of iOS 17, and it is your default video player for locally stored movies and shows you've added via iTunes. This is also the digital store for movies and TV shows, and it is also the place where you find the Apple TV+ streaming service. It's a bit overwhelming, but you get used to it eventually.
Music is the default player, and it relies heavily on Apple Music streaming service. But even if you decide not to use the streaming service, it can still do an excellent job if you have a few minutes to add your songs via iTunes.
Photos • Photos • Photos • TV • Music
Books are here for your documents, PDFs, and eBooks. Stocks and News are onboard. Safari is your default web browser, now upgraded with Face ID for the Private tabs, and Apple Maps is your default map client, which now supports offline maps.
Books • Books • Safari • Safari • Maps
All recent iPhone models support Emergency SOS via satellite (iPhone 14 and 15 series). This service is text-only and will be used primarily for emergencies, but it does support two-way communication, so you will be notified when rescue is on the way. The Find My app will also be able to share your location with friends so that they can keep an eye on you.
The new satellite messaging service • An emergency questionnaire • Find My reports location over satellite
You can compose custom messages to explain your situation, but when speed is life-saving, several specially prepared questions will let you send out a detailed SOS in just a few taps. The new feature added for this year is Vehicle emergency satellite services. It will initially require an active roadside assistance subscription with AAA in the US.
In locations with a clear view of the sky, a message can be transmitted in about 15 seconds, but if there are trees overhead, it may take a couple of minutes. iPhone buyers will be getting two years of free satellite services, after which a fee of some kind will be incurred for the feature. You should also check the feature availability within your country.
Crash Detection is also available on all iPhone 15 models, thanks to a new accelerometer that can detect up to 256G. If such an emergency occurs, the phone will automatically contact emergency services. This is a setting within the Emergency SOS menu called Call After Serious Crash. You can either turn it on or off; there are no other settings.
Crash Detection
Synthetic benchmarks
The vanilla iPhone 15 uses the same chip as last year's iPhone 14 Pro models - the Apple A16 Bionic. So, you are not getting the latest Apple A17 Pro (3 nm) from the 15 Pro models, but that might actually be a blessing in disguise since that chipset has been the subject of an overheating controversy since its release. The A16 Bionic tends to run a bit hot and throttle in its own right as well, but we'll get to that.
On a more positive note, the new 4nm A16 Bionic should offer a nice little bump in performance over the 5nm A15 Bionic in the iPhone 14. The A16 Bionic introduced on iPhone 14 Pro with a 5-core GPU has 50% more bandwidth than the A15 Bionic. Its CPU has two faster performance cores that use 20% less power than the A15 Bionic.
In terms of actual hardware configuration, the A16 Bionic has a Hexa-core (2x3.46 GHz Everest + 4x2.02 GHz Sawtooth) CPU setup and a 5-core Apple GPU.
This year, the iPhone 15 comes with 6GB of LPDDR5 RAM (compared to 8GB on the Pro models) and base storage is still set at 128GB (the Pro models come with a base of 256GB). In terms of storage options, you can get the vanilla iPhone 15 in 128GB, 256GB or 512GB of NVMe storage. Our review unit is the base 128GB one.
On to some benchmarks! Let's kick things off with GeekBench and some CPU runs. It comes as no surprise that Apple's chips are at the top of the CPU food chain. This has been the case for years now, and the rest of the ARM realm doesn't seem to be catching up effectively.
Even though it is a year old now, the A16 Bionic is still on top of the CPU charts, only outpaced by the new Apple A17 Pro inside the iPhone 15 Pro models.
AnTuTu is a much more compound benchmark that also includes GPU runs and memory tests, to name just a few. The iPhone 15 holds its own well in AnTuTu testing, scoring about on par with some Snapdragon Gen 2 devices.
Looking at 3DMark and its graphical testing, we start to get a hint of why the iPhone 15 and A16 Bionic might be lagging behind Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 devices a bit - a bit of GPU disparity. Generally, the Adreno 740 inside the Snapdragon seems to be a bit more powerful than Apple's 5-core GPU in the A16 Bionic.
The new 6-core GPU inside the Apple A17 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro models is pretty much on par with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 in graphical performance.
We would love to show you some GFXBench scores as well, but unfortunately, the app seems to be misbehaving on the new iPhone 15, likely due to some incompatibility issues with iOS 17. To be frank, the iOS version of GFXBench hasn't been updated in a while, to begin with, so this comes as no surprise. But currently, the app can't provide consistent results.
The iPhone 15 thermal-throttles quite aggressively. From what we managed to measure, the phone is subject to losing around half of its performance under prolonged load.
Thermal throttling
The good news is that thermal throttling is gradual and well-controlled. There are no sudden stutters and drops in performance, which would probably be felt inside a gaming environment.
We also tried to game on the iPhone 15 and went through more than an hour of Genshin Impact without really noticing any of the performance loss that was inevitably happening behind the scenes. On another positive note, even after prolonged stress testing, the iPhone 15 never got uncomfortably hot to hold. Warm, for sure, but never uncomfortably so.
Although it is rocking last year's chipset, the Apple 15 is definitely not strapped for power. It basically chews through anything and everything you throw at it. And it should come as no surprise that in typical Apple fashion, the UI runs extremely well and is perfectly fluid with some of the quickest, smoothest and most responsive animations and response times on any modern smartphone.
An all-new 48MP main camera
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus still stick to the same number of main cameras as last year's models - two shooters on the rear and one on the front. However, this year, there is a whole new 48MP, 26mm, f/1.6 main camera.
Apple is not really in the habit of sharing much about its camera sensor hardware. We've managed to gather that the 48MP camera on the vanilla iPhone 15 and the Plus models does not use the same Sony IMX803 sensor as found on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models. It is a different Sony sensor instead, likely a custom-order one, with a stacked design, which is supposed to help with readout speeds and low-light performance.
Other than that, we know that the main camera has 1.0µm pixels with a Quad-Bayer arrangement. Although, Apple is doing some computational and stacking magic to end up with 24MP stills by default. The main cam also has 100% focus pixels and PDAF. There is also sensor-shift OIS for stability and EIS on top of that for video capture. The camera sits behind an f/1.6 lens.
We don't really know a lot about the other camera hardware either. The iPhone 15 has a 12MP ultrawide that sits behind an f/2.4 lens. It lacks any fancy features like autofocus. That is only present on the Pro models, allowing the ultrawide to double as a macro shooter. On the other hand, the 12 MP, f/1.9 selfie camera does have PDAF. Not only that, but it can also leverage some depth data from the front-facing SL 3D sensor for better portraits.
Camera app and features
The viewfinder has stayed mostly intact since iOS 16. You can see outside of the viewfinder thanks to the precise calibration of the three cameras, allowing you to see what will be left outside the frame in real-time.
Apple's image processing includes all legacy features - Smart HDR, Night Mode, and Deep Fusion - and last year's Photonic Engine.
All enhancements but Night Mode are out of the users' control. The Night Mode icon pops up automatically when a low-light scene presents itself, and you will see the seconds suggested next to the Night Mode icon. You can choose longer exposure or altogether disable the Night Mode.
As usual, all cameras talk to each other, so they already know the correct exposure and tone mapping settings when you switch between them. This applies to both stills and videos. Since there is no autofocus on the selfie cam on the iPhone 15, there is no dedicated macro mode.
The camera interface has 0.5x, 1x and 2x toggles. You swipe between modes and have a couple of settings you can uncover with an upward swipe - flash, night mode, live photo, photo aspect, exposure compensation, and filters. In video mode, you can change the resolution and frame rate from the viewfinder.
Camera app UI
Portrait mode is available on the main and selfie cameras. RAW capture is not a thing on the non-Pro iPhones, though. However, what you can choose this year is to deviate from the new standard 24MP resolution of the main camera and capture in either 12MP or 48MP. The former is done through the camera app settings, while the latter is accessible via a JPEG Max toggle through the camera UI. We have samples of the different resolution modes below.
There is this feature called Photographic Styles, which automatically edits a photo, one element at a time (applying different corrections to the subject and background, for example). You can choose between Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool. You can tune each of these modes to your liking and set your preferred one as default. It's like filters but more permanent.
Camera options
Cinematic mode is also present and carried forward from previous iPhone generations. It does automatic rack focus, but the phone records a depth map alongside the video, so you can change the focus point manually after the fact. Editing such videos is possible in iMovie and Clips
Action mode is available on all iPhone 15 models and is carried forward from last year. It is an enhanced video stabilization mode meant for dynamic and action-filled scenes and situations.
Daylight photo quality
Straight off the bat, it is worth noting that in typical Apple fashion, the cameras on the iPhone 15 are extremely consistent in their output. There is so little shot-to-shot difference that we honestly had to double-check if we were looking at different files from time to time.
Also, it is hardly surprising that the main camera performs exceptionally well in good lighting conditions. Detail in the new default 24MP resolution is notably better than what you got from last year's 12MP iPhone 14 shots. In fact, detail is even more impressive compared to some Android flagships. Sharpness is also excellent, and so is dynamic range. Contrast is quite accurate.
iPhone 15: 24MP main camera samples
Most of what we don't personally like all that much about the iPhone 15 camera is largely subjective, like the color science. While colors are mostly true to life, they are a bit muted for our taste. That's not exactly new for Apple cameras, though. The sky and clouds came out looking a bit darker than they actually are, and the same goes for most shadows, resulting in a grittier overall look.
Here's how the main camera compares to the competition in our vast photo compare database.
iPhone 15 against the iPhone 14 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 in our Photo compare tool
The new main camera also offers quite a bit of resolution flexibility. While we don't appreciate the seemingly random location of the two different resolution modes - one in the camera UI and the other in settings, we can't fault the results that 48MP mode provides. Detail is still better than the 24MP stills, though at the cost of sharpness and some additional noise in shadows. That being said, dynamic range and color rendition look to be identical, which is an impressive achievement.
iPhone 15: 48MP main camera samples
Even though it is buried in the camera section within settings, Apple does offer the more traditional 4-way binning mode of the 48MP sensor that results in 12MP shots. These shots tend to have the exact same rendition as the 24MP ones, which is again impressive in its own right, but you do get notably less fine detail. It is especially noticeable in things like foliage.
iPhone 15: 12MP main camera samples
Unless you are really after some storage savings, we really see no point in opting for 12MP shots instead of the new optimized 24MP ones.
Apple stuck to a two-rear camera configuration with the non-Pro models for yet another year. That means that you don't get a dedicated telephoto on the iPhone 15. However, the new 48MP main camera has more than enough resolution to pull off 2x zoom shots, and it does so masterfully. You get plenty of fine detail from these 2x shots, though it does get somewhat hampered by Apple's decision to save these shots in 12MP resolution. Certain things like foliage can still look a bit fuzzy, but it's hardly a major complaint.
iPhone 15: 12MP main camera 2x zoom samples
These 2x zoom shots are also just a tiny bit noisier than the regular 1x photos. Other than that, however, the overall rendition is nearly identical to 1x shots, which is impressive.
The iPhone 15 can shoot portraits with its main camera at both 1x and 2x. There is now a new portrait feature called Automatic portraits. Basically, if the camera detects a scene suitable for a portrait shot, it pops up an "F" symbol in the corner, which can be used to quickly toggle a portrait effect right then and there from the camera UI.
The really clever bit, however, is that even when you don't actively press the "F" toggle, the iPhone 15 still captures a depth map and all of the necessary data to create a portrait after the fact. Then, you can simply go into the Photos app, edit the photo and decide to "convert" it into a portrait after the fact by choosing where the focus is and the intensity of the background blur. It is a really clever little system that works great in practice.
iPhone 15: main camera samples
1x portraits look great, with subjects very rarely appearing out of focus and almost always looking sharp. Skin texture and tones are excellent. Subject detection and separation are also great, even in the absence of the TOF 3D LiDAR scanner that the Pro models get. That remains true even with busier backgrounds and in dimmer lighting conditions.
You get a wide choice of portrait effects to choose from as well to really make your shots "artsy".
iPhone 15: 24MP/12MP main camera portrait samples
At 2x zoom, portraits look a bit worse than at 1x. Subjects tend to be out of focus more frequently, and faces come out looking just a bit softer. At least they don't get softer in dimmer environments. It is also worth noting that just like regular 2x shots, 2x portraits also get saved in 12MP resolution.
iPhone 15: 12MP main camera 2x portrait samples
Non-human subjects work surprisingly well for portrait shots. Particularly animals, which Apple seems to have paid special attention to in its detection algorithms.
iPhone 15: main camera non-human portrait samples
The 12MP ultrawide camera on the iPhone 15 is frankly rather disappointing. Stills come out looking a bit soft, lacking fine detail and with noise in some uniform or darker areas. Graininess can be spotted on occasion as well.
iPhone 15: 12MP ultrawide camera samples
Frankly, we expect more from a phone at this price point. At least, on a more positive note, Apple has done a great job matching the overall processing of the ultrawide to the main camera. That means that contrast and dynamic range are really not half bad. Also, we appreciate the extra-wide 120-degree field of view.
The selfie camera is solid. It captures sharp photos with pleasant skin features and tones. There is an abundance of detail, great contrast and dynamic range. Including PDAF on the selfie also goes a long way in ensuring everything stays focused.
Apple's processing once again shows its true self as some facial features come out a bit too pronounced by sharpening and micro-contrast enhancement. While we are not fans of the skin-smoothing algorithms used by other brands, Apple seems to be on the exact opposite side of the spectrum, which is not very likeable either.
iPhone 15: 12MP selfie camera samples
You can choose whether you want the full size of the selfie camera or a cropped-down version of your selfies at around 7MP resolution.
iPhone 15: 7MP selfie camera samples
Selfie portraits look really great with superb subject detection and separation and the same excellent and believable background blur effect.
And just like with the regular photos, you can add the Portrait effect after the photo has been taken.
iPhone 15: 12MP selfie camera portrait samples
Video quality
The iPhone 15 can capture video at up to 4K resolution on all of its cameras—60fps on the main and selfie and 30fps on the ultrawide. You also get Apple's Cinematic mode at 4K@30fps on both the main and selfie cams and HDR video capture. Action mode video is carried forward from last year as well. It is still captured from the ultrawide camera in around 2.8K resolution. That's a pretty rich feature set, but there are still some notable omissions compared to the iPhone 15 Pro models, namely ProRes and 3D (spatial) video. You can't do either on a vanilla iPhone.
In terms of format, the iPhone captures 4K video in a standard h.264 (AVC) video format at around 45 Mbps with a 48 kHz stereo AAC audio stream wrapped inside a MOV container. That last bit is an Apple-specific choice, but it is similar in terms of compatibility compared to MP4. Alternatively, you can save some space at the expense of playback compatibility in h.265 (HEVC).
It should hardly be surprising that 4K video from the main camera looks great. It is rich in fine detail and very clean, with no noticeable noise or shimmering. Dynamic range is nice and wide. Colors, while not as punchy as some popular Android devices out there, look great in their own right.
The tiniest bit of focus hunting is observable, but that is due to the extra-windy conditions we were having.
Our extensive video compare database shows how the main camera stacks up against competitors.
iPhone 15 against the iPhone 14 and the Samsung Galaxy S23 in our Video compare tool
At 2x zoom, 4K video remains looking consistently great. There is a bit of shimmering in very fine detail in motion, like leaves on trees, but that is to be expected. The same goes for the slight softness on some surfaces. Nothing too dramatic, though.
The ultrawide camera holds its own pretty well in video capture. Naturally, its footage is not nearly as detailed as the main cam's, but it is surprisingly clean, with little to no noise and shimmering. Colors look good and are pretty well-matched to those of the main camera.
There is a bit of corner softness, but that is to be expected from this caliber of camera.
4K footage from the selfie camera looks great, with a lot of fine detail and an awesome rendition of skin texture and skin tones. There is no noticeable focus-hunting, even while walking and shooting. Colors are well-matched to the rear cameras, and the dynamic range is quite decent, and so is the contrast.
For stabilization, the main cam has sensor-shift OIS, but additional EIS is available across all cameras for video capture. It works great and at full resolution, effectively smoothing out any major bumps and shakes without any obvious artifacts.
There is an Enhanced stabilization toggle in camera settings, which promises to improve stabilization further. It is on by default, and we saw no reason to disable it at any point in time.
Low-light camera quality
The main camera remains incredibly consistent shot-to-shot in low-light conditions. These shots can have some noise creep in darker scenes and areas. But other than that, they look excellent with great detail and sharpness, a pretty wide dynamic range and good contrast. The color rendition is nice and natural, although, just like with regular photos, shadows do tend to be a bit darker, which is not necessarily a bad look. On the other hand, highlights are handled masterfully without blowing up light sources or applying too much sharpness.
iPhone 15: 24MP/12MP main camera low-light samples
As has traditionally been the case, the iPhone 15 has automatic Night mode. You do get a hint when it triggers from a small indicator on the camera UI, and once it does, you can adjust the capture time manually or opt out of Night mode altogether.
That's all fine and dandy, but there is no way to manually force Night mode On; you can merely toggle it Off. And we did not like how the iPhone 15 handles its automatic Night mode detection and triggering. It is incredibly inconsistent and too conservative as to when it kicks in. We were honestly unable to identify a pattern of behavior here. In some cases, just a couple of lamps in the background were enough for the software to favor the standard Photo mode and in others, with plenty of light sources in the foreground, the camera app triggered the Night mode.
The best we can do in this circumstance is offer you a few shot-to-shot comparisons of the main camera with and without Night mode actually triggering. The actual Night mode shots from the main camera are easily recognizable since they are always saved in 12MP resolution.
iPhone 15: Night mode OFF • Night mode ON
Night mode cleans up most of the noise in shadows and generally sharpens up the images slightly, without going overboard. The same goes for shadows; they are brought up slightly, and there is a bit more detail in there, but without negatively affecting the overall still natural look of the photos. When there's a big enough tonal contrast in the scene, that's when the Night mode usually kicks in to balance out the highlights and shadows by fixing the clipped highlights and lighting up the darker areas of the image.
Low light 2x shots are quite impressive. They almost look as good as stills from a dedicated telephoto camera. Of course, there is a noticeable disparity in sharpness and detail compared to daylight 2x photos, especially 1x ones, but it is still not that drastic. Even so, it is understandable that Apple's camera algorithms tend to favor and toggle Night mode a lot more often on 2x shots compared to other camera modes.
iPhone 15: 12MP main camera 2x low-light samples
Just like for 1x shots, Night mode brightens up the entire frame in 2x mode, particularly bringing up the exposure in darker areas and salvaging more detail by applying finely-tuned sharpening. Light sources get handled slightly better, too, and certain surfaces have less noise.
iPhone 15: 2x Night mode OFF • 2x Night Mode ON
The ultrawide camera struggles quite badly at night. There are no two ways about it. Its shots are very noisy and grainy, with blown-out highlights and light sources. This is the first time we saw a major discrepancy in color rendition, too, with the ultrawide going for noticeably warmer colors at night.
iPhone 15: 12MP ultrawide low-light samples
Night mode does not seem to help much either, and that's if you even manage to get it to trigger since the iPhone 15 is particularly reluctant to do so for the ultrawide, which arguably needs it the most. Night mode does somewhat clean up noise and brighten the exposure, but that's about it. It does apply noticeable sharpening to the frame, a bit too aggressively, resulting in an overprocessed look which we don't appreciate.
iPhone 15: Ultrawide Night mode OFF • Ultrawide Night Mode ON
The main camera captures some excellent low-light videos. These look very crisp, with great amounts of detail and practically no noise to speak of. Colors look very natural.
Shadows are handled competently, though some darker surfaces are understandably a bit softer. Light sources are handled well and only slightly blown out.
Zooming in and capturing 2x videos from the main cam results in surprisingly little loss in overall quality. There is still plenty of detail and just a bit more noise than in 1x videos. Colors and light sources look practically identical, which is to say very competent.
4K low-light footage from the ultrawide camera is a bit lacking in comparison. Not unusably so, mind you, but it is noticeably softer and darker with plenty of noise and far less detail. Colors are a bit off and noticeably warmer compared to the main camera, particularly the light sources. Both dynamic range and contrast hold up surprisingly well, though.
The competition
Apple has been consistent with its base phone pricing, at least in the last few years. The iPhone 15 is no exception. Its MSRP for a base 128GB model is USD 799/GBP 799/EUR 949/INR 79,900/CNY 5,999/JPY 124,800 in the US, UK, Germany, India, China and Japan, respectively. In fact, looking at some historical pricing, in the UK and Germany, the base iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are now £50/€50 cheaper than the 14 and 14 Plus. Even so, that's a pretty hefty price tag, and there are plenty of alternatives to consider.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 13
To be perfectly frank, if you are after an iPhone, chances are that you won't just go for an Android phone instead. At least, that's what most statistics nowadays claim. So, when examining the market alternatives, the first and probably most obvious choice would be to consider last year's iPhone 14 Pro model. It is currently selling for about as much as the vanilla iPhone 15. And sure, it is last year's model, which means that in relative terms, you will be getting shorter software support in the future. However, that's about the only downside to picking the iPhone 14 Pro instead of the iPhone 15. Well, that and buying into the now effectively defunct Lightning port. Other than that, you get the same A16 Bionic chipset on the inside and practically the same performance. Being a Pro model, however, the 14 Pro gets a few extra goodies like a 120Hz display refresh rate, a dedicated 3x, an OIS-enabled telephoto camera and extra camera features like ProRes.
Of course, if you've already made peace with using an older model with a Lightning port, then the other obvious choice would be the iPhone 14. You can save a substantial amount of money by going for it, but you will be missing out on some of the new additions and upgrades of the iPhone 15. Notably, the iPhone 14 has an older and less bright display with the signature notch design instead of the Dynamic Island. You will also have to settle for the old 12MP main camera instead of the fancy new 48MP one and its superior default 24MP stills.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro • Apple iPhone 14
Moving on to the Android realm and probably the most obvious competitor - the Samsung Galaxy S23. It is noticeably cheaper to buy than the iPhone 15, which is a plus. Besides that, it is roughly the same physical size and well-endowed as a proper flagship with various quality-of-life extras like great stereo speakers and an IP68 ingress protection rating. Compared to the iPhone 15, the Galaxy S23 does offer a 120Hz refresh rate on its Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, which doesn't get quite as bright as the panel on the iPhone but is still in the same ballpark. The Galaxy S23 also gets a dedicated 3x, OIS-enabled telephoto camera and a larger battery, which does result in slightly better battery life, but not by a lot.
While on the subject of Samsung flagships, it is worth noting that the Galaxy S23 Ultra can be had for about as much as a vanilla iPhone 15. Though, we can't exactly say that the two devices are good direct competitors, given the massive size difference.
It's back to compact devices then, and the Xperia 5 V. It is yet another proper flagship, housed in a relatively small chassis. The Xperia 5 V has a particularly interesting 6.1-inch OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 10-bit color, BT.2020 HDR support and a 21:1 cinematic aspect ratio. You get excellent stereo speakers and a powerful dual rear camera system to accompany the display. Last but not least, the Xperia 5 V has a massive 5,000 mAh battery.
Left: iPhone 15 • Right: iPhone 13
Speaking of compact Android flagships, we can't fail to mention the Asus Zenfone 10. Its 5.92-inch display is smaller still than the iPhone's and not as bright, but it does offer a 144Hz refresh rate. Despite the small size, Asus still managed to fit in stereo speakers, a 4,300 mAh battery and a powerful dual-rear camera system with a gimbal-OIS setup on the main cam.
Samsung Galaxy S23 • Sony Xperia 5 V • Asus Zenfone 10 • Xiaomi 13
Finally, we should also mention the Google Pixel 7a, which is equally compact and has a similar set of cameras. It represents the best Google currently offers, including clean and snappy AOSP OS and some of the best computational photography around. It's also considerably cheaper than the iPhone 15, and it's got a 90Hz refresh rate screen. Its battery life, however, is a bit behind the iPhone's.
Over in camp Xiaomi, the Xiaomi 13 seems like a good competitor to the iPhone 15. It has a slightly larger 6.36-inch, 120Hz AMOLED display that also gets extremely bright. There are stereo speakers on board, as well as IP68 ingress protection. In terms of cameras, the Xiaomi 13 is rocking three on the back, including a 50MP main snapper, a 3.2x OIS-enabled telephoto and a 12MP ultrawide. The onboard battery is a hefty 4,500 mAh pack, and the Xiaomi 13 gets very speedy 67W wired fast charging.
Our verdict
As much as we like offering Android-powered alternatives to the iPhone, by all major accounts and statistics, Apple's smartphone lineup is currently, more or less, an isolated island. That is to say that not many people are jumping ship one way or the other with Android. If we assume that is indeed the case and that an iPhone user will inevitably also be an iPhone buyer at some point, then it makes sense to mostly look at the iPhone 15 in the context of Apple's own selection of devices.
If historical data is anything to go by, the vanilla iPhone 15 won't be the most popular of the iPhone 15 lot. That title will likely go to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. That doesn't mean it will be unpopular, though. Quite the contrary. Apple has one of the most robust market research operations, and you can rest assured that if Apple deems it so, there is definitely an iPhone 15-shaped spot in its lineup.
As far as innovations go, the iPhone 15 brings a lot more to the table compared to its predecessor. The all-new and incredibly bright OLED display is a great step forward, and we appreciate Apple finally unifying its design with Dynamic Island across all models. And speaking of unification, Type-C was a long-overdue change. The other major novelty this year must be the new 48MP main camera. We found it to be excellent all-around and a noticeable improvement over last year's 12MP cam.
The bottom line here is that, in our view, Apple has again managed to strike the delicate balance between familiarity and meaningful innovation - enough to justify an upgrade to the iPhone 15 from an older vanilla iPhone model. And as usual, the Android realm has better hardware and overall value to offer, though that almost seems irrelevant and beside the point.
Pros
- Subtle redesign makes it more comfortable to hold and use; we like the new colors.
- Great build quality, water-resistant up to 6m deep, industry-leading front glass scratch and shatter resistance.
- Extremely bright OLED screen, HDR10, Dolby Vision and excellent color accuracy, and now the more modern-looking Dynamic Island.
- USB-C is here, and we love it.
- Solid battery life for the size.
- Excellent loudspeaker quality.
- Great all-around performance.
- Great photo and video quality across all three cameras.
- Every iPhone comes with at least five years of iOS updates.
Cons
- A lot more expensive than corresponding Android alternatives.
- The display is 60Hz; there is no Always On option, and the bezels are thicker than the Pro models.
- No charger in the box, and charging isn't particularly fast.
- Apple's iOS restrictions can be off-putting to newcomers to the ecosystem.
- No dedicated telephoto camera or autofocus on the ultrawide.
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