That’s right, Pro bros, come at me.
We’re already one day away from being able to preorder the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro — both of which will officially launch next Friday, September 22nd. Apple announced a number of updates for both phones, and, as an iPhone 14 Pro user, I’ll personally be upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro in that sweet Natural Titanium color. However, I have to admit that — even as a Pro user — those who are upgrading from an iPhone 14 to an iPhone 15 are getting a better upgrade this year.
Coming from the iPhone 14 Pro, there are a few things I am excited about when thinking about the iPhone 15 Pro. I’m looking forward to the fact that the iPhone finally, FINALLY, has let Lightning go and added a USB-C port. Now, I can charge my Mac, iPad, and iPhone with the same cable. We truly live in a world of wonder. However, while the iPhone 15 Pro can transfer data faster with USB 3.0, the regular iPhone 15 is getting USB-C as well.
While it’s USB 2.0 speeds, I don’t think that’s going to matter much to those users, and getting the connector in general is all that most will need. So, while it will be better on the Pro, most people will likely never notice the difference, and the experience will be virtually the same between both devices.
Just like the iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 15 is now getting a 48MP main camera sensor. While it might not be the exact same specifications as the main camera on the Pro models, it does represent a huge jump in resolution — from 12MP to 48MP — the jump the iPhone 14 Pro users got to enjoy last year.
The iPhone 15 Pro cameras, in comparison, are relatively incremental upgrades compared to the jump for the iPhone 15. The 48MP camera also enables a 2X telephoto option through some software and hardware magic, so regular iPhones are almost getting the experience of the iPhone 15 Pro telephoto now. We’ll have to see how good it actually is after getting it in our hands, but that’s promising.
The iPhone 15 is also getting a big feature that was also exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro last year: the Dynamic Island. The display feature which replaces the beloved notch is now featured on both the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro.
So, if you have an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus, you can now enjoy all of the experiences that the Dynamic Island enables, like tracking sports scores, your Uber, and food deliveries. You can also have insight into the audio that is playing and quickly access controls for it. It’s a handy feature that — now that it is across the entire iPhone lineup — will likely get picked up even more by developers.
This one might seem trivial, but I swear this is a big deal. Historically, the regular iPhone featured a glossy glass back that has always been a fingerprint magnet for anyone who has used one that was not a light color. If you had a Black iPhone 14 and used it without a case, enjoy the fingerprint-ridden back of your phone. It always looked horrible.
The iPhone 15 is finally changing that, too. With the iPhone 15, the back of the phone is no longer a glossy finish instead, Apple has changed it to a glass that is “polished with nanocrystalline particles and etched to create a textured matte finish.”
What does this mean? It means that those who want to run their iPhone 15 without a case won’t be dealing with a fingerprint magnet anymore! Just like the iPhone Pro models, the regular iPhones now get the benefit of that textured matte finish. This might be the biggest sleeper upgrade, honestly.
Of course, the iPhone 15 Pro has its own upgrades like the new 5X telephoto zoom lens in the Pro Max, all of the other camera upgrades, thinner bezels, the performance of the A17 Pro chip (especially when it comes to gaming), the Action button, and its titanium housing which makes the phones more durable while also making them lighter than their predecessors.
However, it is hard to argue that those coming from the iPhone 14 Pro are getting a bigger upgrade than those coming from the iPhone 14. While I’m certainly going to enjoy my iPhone 15 Pro, I can’t help but feel that those getting an iPhone 15 (as long as they are coming from another regular iPhone) are going to experience an even more enjoyable upgrade this year, and that’s okay! I’m happy for them.
