iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 15 Plus vs iPhone 15 Pro Max

Now that Apple has officially dished the dirt on the iPhone 15 series, it appears there wasn't a lot left to the imagination after all the leaks and rumours. Once again, this year's iPhone ain't all that different to the last, at least not in any meaningful way. Last year, the Dynamic Island delivered a long overdue design update but that was exclusive to the 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. This year, the Dynamic Island will be available on all four devices: the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Despite this, Apple has still managed to gatekeep a few fancy features for those willing to fork out for the Pro models.

Let's take a look at how each device in the iPhone 15 lineup compares before you rush out and place a pre-order:

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of the iPhone 15 series, the first question you should ask is how much will each handset cost you. Other smartphone manufacturers have slowly been blurring the line between their budget and premium offerings, as is the case with the perfectly capable Google Pixel 7a when compared with the Pixel 7. But Apple still saves its biggest upgrades for those who pay for Pro. Here's the starting price for each iPhone 15 model this year: 

• iPhone 15: Starts at $1,499
• iPhone 15 Plus: Starts at $1,649
• iPhone 15 Pro: Starts at $1,899
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: Starts at $2,199

The closest competitors in the Android space right now are the Samsung Galaxy S23 and the Google Pixel 7. Currently, the Galaxy S23 starts at $1,099 for the 128GB model while the Pixel 7 has been discounted to $799 ahead of the Pixel 8's October release. 

Here's the complete list of Australian pricing for the iPhone 15 series:

• iPhone 15/15 Plus: Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink
• iPhone 15 Pro/15 Pro Max: Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium

Besides that nice Pink iPhone we're getting, it's hard to tell the major design differences between the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 14 at a glance. Close-up images reveal that the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus range sport a textured matte finish this year, which could be worth it for the lack of fingerprints alone. The rear is still made from glass, but its "colour-infused" which gives us that nice textured look. Otherwise, the iPhone 15 still rocks an aluminium frame. 

The iPhone 15 Pro, on the other hand, is made from Titanium. Titanium is both sturdier and lighter than aluminium and the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are leaning into this aesthetic with a slightly rugged brushed metal look. 

This ain't your Daddy's Apple silicon. Most other years, it's easy to completely disassociate whenever someone from Apple starts talking percentages and neural engines and what have you but this year was different for a few reasons. Apple has welcomed its silicon smartphone processing chips to the Pro family this year with the A17 Pro (which, as the name suggests, is exclusive to Pro.) On paper, Apple claims the A17 Pro boasts a 10% increase in CPU speeds, neural engine speeds that are twice as fast and a 20% faster GPU and a 50% increase in yawns for those reading at home. But you can easily ignore those numbers this year, because Apple actually gave us something really impressive to demonstrate the A17 Pro's power. Later this year and early 2024, four huge AAA games will come to the iPhone 15 Pro: Death Stranding, Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village and the as-of-yet unreleased Assassin's Creed Mirage–all current-gen games made to play on high-end PCs and the latest video game consoles. Not streamed to the iPhone over the cloud, like Google Stadia or Xbox Cloud Gaming, complete games installed natively on the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, complete with "hardware-accelerated" ray tracing (modern rendering technology that creates incredibly realistic lighting and shadows.)

There are still so many questions to ask before we get too excited: how big are these game files? Are there other significant compromises made to port these titles to iPhone 15 Pro, or is the A7 Pro really just that powerful? We won't know until we have had a chance to review the iPhone 15 Pro, and a few of the games announced. 

Some more good news for those saving some simoleons with the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus: you won't get rorted on processing power like the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will house an A16 Bionic chip, which powered last year's Pro series. So last year's premium is this year's entry-level option, which is nice. 

• 12MP 5x Telephoto lens exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro Max
• 2x optical zoom on iPhone 15 Pro
• 5x optical zoom on iPhone 15 Pro Max
• Spatial Photos exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
• Identical camera systems on iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus

While the camera premium is slowly going the way of the dinosaurs, the Pro models this year retain some premium camera features. Most notably, the iPhone 15 Pro Max comes out on top with a 5x 12MP Telephoto lens (3x Telephoto on the Pro,) and better zoom (5x optical zoom and 25x digital zoom.)

The Apple Vision Pro compatible Spatial Photos feature is also exclusive to this year's Pro range, thanks in part to their LiDAR capabilities (a technology with other photography benefits.)

Otherwise, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus share identical camera systems, so you won't sacrifice anything if you're choosing between the two cheaper models. 

• iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus: USB-C 2
• iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max: USB-C 3

Yes, Apple is officially ditching Lightning this year for USB-C, as much as it would love to continue selling licenses to third-party Lightning manufacturers. And it would have gotten away with it if it weren't for that meddling EU. So now we have a totally unified charging and data transfer solution for all smartphones, right? Well, no. In fact, even in the iPhone's first USB-C smartphone family, there are some compatibility caveats. The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are compatible with USB-C 3 speeds (up to 10Gbps transfer speeds) but the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will only take USB-C 2 (480mbps transfer speeds.) 

To make matters a little more confusing, the USB-C cable Apple ships with the iPhone 15 Pro is a USB-C 2 cable. To take advantage of the faster transfer speeds, you'll need to purchase a separate USB-C 3 cable. Apple currently sells a 1-metre Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable for $115. That's just the cable, no brick included. Sorry to break it to you. 

Still, USB-C on iPhone 15 has other benefits. For one, most of your non-Apple devices should already be using it if they were released in the last five years or so. Secondly, you can now use the USB-C to USB-C cable to charge your AirPods Pro from your iPhone 15.

Sorry, not your AirPods Pro, they still use a Lightning cable, the brand-new USB-C powered AirPods Pro that Apple quietly announced alongside the new iPhones which are functionally the same as last year's bar one or two very small differences. 

• Exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max

ACTION! As the rumours suggested, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will inherit the Action Button of the Apple Watch Ultra, sadly without the same high-vis orange pizzazz. To be honest, it's an extravagant name for a button that essentially replaces the reliable side-mounted Ring/Silent switch. Yes, you can change its function with a number of quick access commands, like accessing the camera, or customise it with the Shortcuts app (which still isn't super user-friendly) but we would have been happier with an Action Button if it didn't mean losing the tactile Silent switch. Not sure if Apple knew, but we were kind of using that. 

• Still a Pro exclusive

Apple's 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, ProMotion, is still a Pro exclusive this year. This one feels a bit old in 2023 when other manufacturers have moved on from selling 120Hz as a premium feature. There's no doubt that it makes a difference on iPhone, it would be hard to go back at this stage. But with so many other premium features to differentiate the 15 and 15 Pro, it would have been nice to see ProMotion make its way to standard devices. You can keep calling it ProMotion, nobody cares, honestly. Or just call it Motion, or better yet, just Adaptive 120Hz Refresh Rate or High Frame Rate. Don't overthink it, Apple.