It’s that time of year again, you know, when Apple announces its new iPhone, and we all start feeling insecure about our old phones—so used, so abused, so much less shiny than they used to be.
This year is no different. Apple’s dangling a host of improvements in front of our gadget-hungry eyes with the new iPhone 15, but is this new phone worth it? And when I say ‘new phone,’ what I really mean is: Are any of the four iterations of the new iPhone 15 (iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max) worth it? Let’s discuss.
THE BIG NEWS.
All four versions of the iPhone 15 have one thing in common: they no longer use lightning charger cords. Now all iPhones will charge with USB-C charging cords. This is good news because you can say ‘goodbye’ to carrying multiple charging cords around with you endlessly. Now, your iPhone, MacBook, and iPad all charge with the SAME type of cord. Think of how much space you are going to save when you travel (and no more emergency trips to the Apple store when you realize you left your phone cord at the hotel).
Photographers, media-makers, and people who use their phones to create can also use the USB-C port to send media directly from their phones to external storage. No additional dongles necessary.
All four iterations of the iPhone 15 come with a durable braided USB-C cord. However, they do NOT come with the wall-charging piece. You have to buy that separately…which is totally annoying.
THE IPHONE 15 AND IPHONE 15 PLUS:
These are the more affordable versions of the iPhone 15, coming in at a cool $800 and $900.
The new design consists of a glass back affixed to an aluminum body and comes in five colors: pink, yellow, green, blue, and black…which is cool, but I have to wonder: Does this really matter? If you are like me, a serial phone dropper, those colors will never see the light of day. My phone lives in a case, and it stays in that case basically forever.
What is cool? The 15 and 15 Plus both boast the dynamic island, which debuted in the iPhone 14 pro model. The dynamic island is a pill-shaped space at the top of the phone that tracks useful information for you and keeps it in view, like how much time you have left on your kitchen timer or the details of your next flight.
For both models, the cameras got a substantial makeover. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus share an impressive 48-megapixel sensor (up from a 12-megapixel sensor). They also both have a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with 2x telephoto capabilities and an enhanced portrait mode—which eliminates the need for you to manually toggle into portrait mode.
Selfie lovers rejoice: the front camera now features autofocus and portrait lighting, as well.
But these cameras still pale in comparison to their more tricked-out counterparts, which brings me to…
THE IPHONE 15 PRO AND IPHONE 15 PRO MAX:
These two heavy hitters come with heftier price tags. The iPhone Pro price starts at a staggering $999. This is $100 more than its predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro…and there is a reason for that…according to Apple. Both the 15 Pro and the 15 Max actually possess double (256GB) the storage capacity of the 14 iterations (128GB). The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s price starts at $1199.
Under the hood, these phones boast the groundbreaking A17 Pro chip, the world’s first 3nm chip. Key specs include a six-core GPU, a six-core CPU, and a 16-core neural engine delivering up to 20% more speed than the 14 Pro. What does that mean? Video and graphics-heavy games look incredible on these phones and require less energy so the battery will last longer. If you are a gamer or a video-maker, these are probably for you.
Both models also feature the dynamic island, but they’ve had a materials overhaul. The 15 Pro and the 15 Pro Max are both made of titanium, making each 19 grams lighter than the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max—even though they have roughly the same specs. The change in weight makes them much, much, much nicer to hold. (Though the titanium gets finger-printy pretty fast.)
Both these models also debut the ‘action’ button…which is arguably very cool and very useful. This button replaces the ‘silencing’ button on the side of the iPhone and is essentially a shortcut to whatever iPhone function your heart desires. You can customize the ‘action’ button through your iPhone Settings to turn on voice memos or the flashlight, change focus modes—the list goes on and on.
IF YOU’RE A PHOTOGRAPHER, THE CAMERA IS PRETTY DREAMY.
The main camera offers versatile focal lengths of 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. You can set any of these to be your default mode. It also delivers a 24-megapixel output AND now supports both 48-megapixel ProRaw and 48-megapixel HEIF shooting modes.
The main difference between the two phones, as far as I can tell, is that the iPhone 15 Pro features a 3x Telephoto camera, and iPhone 15 Pro Max features a much longer optical zoom of 5x at 120 mm.
Do you need a new iPhone? Probably not. But the utility of the USB-C charger and the impressiveness of the new camera make these models pretty hard to resist…at least for this media-maker.
Preorder all four models starting 9/15. Shipping will begin September 22nd.
Be sure to let us know if you get one, and what you think overall!