Apple’s iPhone 15 lineup has been available for over a month now and includes the regular iPhone 15, the larger iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. There’s an iPhone 15 model for everyone, and so far, the new phones seem to be a big hit.
I’m someone who upgrades my iPhone every year, so I’ve had an iPhone of every generation since the beginning. This year, I picked up the iPhone 15 Pro as an upgrade to the iPhone 14 Pro and it’s been one of my favorite iPhones so far. Let me explain why.
Titanium makes a huge difference
One of the things I hated about my iPhone 14 Pro was the weight. it was Heavy, With sharp edges, it would be uncomfortable to use it for long periods of time, especially one-handed.
When I unboxed my iPhone 15 Pro and took it out of the box, I was incredibly surprised to see how much lighter it was than its predecessor. Then, just for comparison, I held my iPhone 14 Pro (without case) in one hand and the iPhone 15 Pro in the other, and found that the difference in weight is literally night and day. Switching from stainless steel to titanium is one of the most significant changes Apple has ever made, and it really helps ergonomics while maintaining premium aesthetics.
Additionally, the titanium frame has more curved edges where it meets the front glass. As a result, the phone feels softer when held as there are no longer any sharp edges poking into your palm. It reminds me of the iPhone 11 Pro days, which I found quite comfortable to hold. Since the iPhone 12 Pro and up to the iPhone 14 Pro, phones were getting heavier and faster.
I’m very glad Apple has switched to Titanium. I just hope it continues to use titanium for future iPhones, as it’s a great upgrade.
action button is great
One feature that differentiates the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max from the regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus is the Action button, which replaced the Mute/Silent switch. Although some people may not be using the Action button much, it has become one of my most-used features on the iPhone 15 Pro.
By default, the Action button is set to enable or disable Silent Mode, just like the old switch. But you can change the action to anything else from the Settings app, including Focus, Camera, Voice Memos, FlashLight, Magnifier, Accessibility, or Shortcuts.
Although there’s a whole community out there that has created some wild multi-action shortcuts for action buttons, I’ve kept it simple so far. I’ve said before that I’ve always wanted a faster way to open the Camera app other than the unreliable lock screen shortcut, and the Action button is the answer.
I use the action button to launch the camera app several times a day, whether it’s taking a picture of my daughter, my fancy fine dining adventures with my husband, or our frequent trips to Disneyland. And because it gives me faster access to the camera, I’m able to capture more of my daughter’s spontaneous movements instead of fighting with the lock screen shortcut and missing the moment.
I just hope that one day Apple changes it so you can assign multiple actions to the button with other gestures, like double press or triple press instead of just pressing and holding.
Apple fixed the cameras
One of my biggest complaints with the iPhone 14 Pro was the camera. It felt as if Apple was a little too harsh with the sharpening and processing of an image after you captured it, resulting in photos that had harsh colors and too much sharpness. But it wasn’t just the iPhone 14, as it felt like the camera quality was declining since the iPhone 13.
Thankfully, the iPhone 15 Pro is performing much better in terms of photos this year, thanks in large part to Apple’s Smart HDR 5. I have no complaints when using my iPhone 15 Pro camera as the colors look realistic and life-like, true to the skin. Tones are more accurate, and more detail is captured due to the 24MP default instead of 12MP.
I’ve also really enjoyed the Auto Portrait feature, where if the focus is on a person, dog or cat the camera automatically captures depth information in a regular photo. It lets you convert a regular photo into a portrait image after the fact. I’ve been using this feature a lot, especially with my daughter, as it’s hard to manually switch to portrait mode with an active child running around.
While the smaller iPhone 15 Pro lacks the new tetraprism telephoto lens that allows for 5x optical zoom, the phone is still very capable in terms of photography. It is a big step up from the results of its predecessor. Hopefully, next year, Apple can give the smaller Pro some more love in the camera department.
USB-C iPhone is very convenient
One big change with the entire iPhone 15 lineup this year was finally getting rid of Lightning in favor of USB-C. For some people, this may mean buying all new cables, but for me, it was the opposite.
I have a lot of other electronics in my house, whether it’s Android phones, tablets, or other small devices that require charging with a USB-C cable. Apple is already using USB-C for the iPad and MacBook lineups, so this isn’t entirely new. I have a ton of USB-C cables lying around my house, and I can definitely say that over the years I’ve accumulated more USB-C cables than Lightning cables.
With the iPhone 15 converted to USB-C, I now already have plenty of cables to use, and I no longer need to look for the proprietary Lightning cable. For example, I can use the same cable for my daughter’s Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids tablet to connect my iPhone 15 Pro when I’m in the living room. It is much more convenient. Also, most of my Lightning cables didn’t work after a while, and Apple’s first-party cables always had durability issues.
Plus, with the switch to USB-C, I’m able to use Anker’s new lineup of mobile power accessories, like Anker’s 30-Watt Power Bank with built-in USB-C cable. This is one of my favorite new power banks because of its compact size, integrated USB-C cable, and superfast 30W charging speed. It also has a display that tells you how long it will take for your phone to charge!
However, one thing that still bothers me is that Apple hasn’t improved the charging speeds at all with the USB-C switch. Like its predecessor with Lightning, it’s still capped at around 27W. This means that as long as you use a proper (20W or more) power adapter, you get about a 50% charge in 30 minutes.
The iPhone 15 remains one of the slowest charging smartphones. Maybe one day in the future, Apple can give us faster charging speeds since the iPhone uses USB-C.
small screens are best
One problem I have with a lot of modern smartphones these days is that most of them are too big. I’m not sure why most manufacturers think everyone wants a huge phone; I know I definitely don’t.
I value being able to easily use my phone with one hand. Although I still sometimes have to reach for those top corner buttons on my iPhone 15 Pro, it’s much more manageable than the larger screen. I’ve been using the Google Pixel 8 Pro for the camera lately, which is the same size as the iPhone 15 Pro Max at 6.7-inches, and I have trouble handling it alone because I have fairly small hands.
I wish Apple would have stuck with the old 5.8-inch size of the iPhone X/XS because that seemed like the perfect size. But it seems like Apple is sticking to 6.1 inches for the smaller iPhone size, and I’ll keep getting it as long as it continues to be offered. I fear the day when Apple may decide to discontinue the smaller size (sorry, Mini fans), and I hope that never happens.
iPhone 15 Pro has been great
This year, it seemed like everyone was getting the iPhone 15 Pro Max because of the new telephoto camera, and yes, that’s a legitimate reason to get it over the smaller iPhone 15 Pro. However, I found my choice somewhat odd, as I was one of the few who chose the smaller version instead.
But I’m very happy with my decision to get the iPhone 15 Pro, even if it doesn’t have 5x optical zoom. It’s far more ergonomic than the iPhone 14 Pro I’ve been using before, and the titanium really makes a difference in weight. I’m frequently using the action button for the camera, and photos taken with the iPhone 15 Pro this year won’t look bad. Plus, having USB-C has been extremely convenient.
Yes, the iPhone 15 Pro may be small, but it’s still quite capable. Apple has room for improvement with the iPhone 16 Pro next year, such as adding a better telephoto camera, but that doesn’t make the iPhone 15 Pro any less impressive today.
