Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus Smartphone Review – The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus smartphones were launched in September 2023. Both smartphones were released as a successor to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus and brought in new improvements over the previous iteration. The new smartphones are also available globally and will be available through both offline and online stores. Both smartphones arrive with powerful SoC, robust charging support, and an impressive display as usual, however, there is only a bit of difference between them. Rest every specs are same on both the devices.
Both phones support 5G connectivity with gigabit speeds. Design-wise, they are not too different from the previous iteration. Where it does bring significant changes, is in the internals, the brains and the brawns of the new smartphones. Let’s review both Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus and find out everything that we can know about the new smartphones.
Table of Contents
Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus Smartphone Review
Highlights
- The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus feature a 6.1 and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display that has support for 2000 nits peak brightness.
- The chipset inside smartphonesis the flagshipAppleA16 Bionic SoC capable of reaching up to a 2×3.46GHz clocking speed.
- Both Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus arrive with iOS 17 out-of-the-box and should get 5 – 6 years of iOS updates.
- The new smartphones feature the same 48MP dual rear camera system with a 12MP selfie camera.
- The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have Li-Ion 3349mAh and 4383mAh battery respectively and supports wired fast charging, 15W wireless fast MagSafe, and 4.5W reverse wired charging.
Design and Display
The design of the Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus closely resembles that of its previous iteration, but brings meaningful changes that improve the user experience of the user. The rear glass now features a matte finish. Also, the glass on the camera module is not a separate layer anymore. The camera module glass is now part of the rear glass and this ensures higher resistance to shatter. Also, the entire glass is also Ion-strengthened for better scratch resistance. Apart from this, both devices are quite slim with a 7.8mm body, while the iPhone 15 is more lightweight as compared to the Plus variant. Furthermore, you will receive an IP68 dust/water-resistant coating on both devices.
The side frame of the new smartphones is still made of the same super strong Aluminum alloy but the edges of the side frame are now slightly contoured to provide a better feel and grip. On the front of the smartphones, both iPhones now feature the pill-shaped notch that was previously only available in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. Speaking of the front of smartphones, let’s talk about the display. Both smartphones feature the same 6.1 and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display respectively.
These display panels have support for Full HD+ resolution, Dolby Vision, and HDR10. The displays can also get plenty bright at 2000 nits peak brightness under direct sunlight, which is plenty bright and there should be no issue using any of the smartphones outdoors. The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are made available for purchase in Blue, Green, Black, Yellow, and pink color options. Lastly, both devices have ceramic shield glass protection at the front.
Memory and Internal
Apple equipped both the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus smartphones with a flagship 4nm Apple A16 Bionic chipset. This chipset features a hexa-core configuration and can reach up to a 2×3.46GHz clocking speed, which is more than any Android smartphone. Apple always had a lead over Android smartphones when it came to the CPU performance and this lead continued with the Apple A16 Bionic chipset. Thanks to the combination of this super-fast processor and the efficiency of iOS, the system runs fluidly and the animations are super smooth.
Anything you do on these smartphones will be handled very smoothly. It also has a 5-core Apple GPU, which can easily handle games like PUBGm, CODm, and Genshin Impact. The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus also have support for 5G connectivity for gigabit speeds. Both smartphones come with the latest iOS 17 out of the box. Also, Apple has a track record of providing 5 – 6 years of iOS updates. For memory and storage, the Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are available for purchase with 6GB of RAM and 128GB to 512GB of NVMe internal storage. Overall, both devices do not let you down in terms of performance and user experience.
Camera
The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have a 48MP dual-camera setup, with a 48MP sensor as the main camera, and a 12MP sensor as the ultra-wide camera. The main rear camera produces some of the greatest pictures and these pictures tend to have great detail levels and accurate colors. iPhone’s camera performance has always been on the strong side, but the new 48MP brings a whole lot of improvements. The 12MP ultra-wide camera also packs some serious camera performance and results certainly speak of its fine quality. Apart from this, there is no noise in the low-light photography and that is a good thing.
There’s support for portrait mode as well and no one does portraits better than iPhones. The edges around the subject look quite natural and with portrait lighting, the end results can look fabulous. There’s also a 12MP selfie camera at the front that can take some decent selfies. When it comes to video recording, both rear and selfie cameras can shoot videos at 4K@60FPS. The main rear camera also has OIS with sensor-shift support, while the front camera has gyro-EIS stabilization for stable video recordings.
Battery and Others
The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus phones have Li-Ion 3349mAh and 4383mAh batteries respectively. In the iPhone world, these are indeed some high-capacity batteries and they will last more than a day with lighter usage. But if you take a lot of pictures or play a lot of games, then the battery will drain faster. When you do run out of battery, both Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus supports multiple charging standards. Both devices support 15W fast wireless MagSafe charging, wired fast charging, 7.5W wireless Qi, and 4.5W reverse wired charging.
Apart from that, the smartphones have support for dual-band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, Face ID facial recognition system, NFC/Apple Pay, and a USB Type-C connector for charging. The lightning connector is gone for good. The Apple iPhone 15 is available at a starting price of $829 (Rs 77,900 in India) approx, while the iPhone 15 Plus is available at a starting price of $929 (Rs. 89,900 in India) approx.
Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus Pros and Cons
Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus smartphone.
| Specifications | Apple iPhone 15 Plus | Apple iPhone 15 |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G | Same |
| Announced | September 2023 | Same |
| SIM | Nano-SIM and eSIM – International Dual eSIM with multiple numbers – USA Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) – China | Same |
| Dimensions | 6.33 x 3.06 x 0.31 inches | 5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 201 g | 171 g |
| Size | 6.7 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Display | Super Retina XDR OLED HDR10 Dolby Vision 1000-2000 nits brightness 19.5:9 ratio ~460 PPI density | Same |
| Protection/Others | Ceramic Shield glass IP68 dust/water resistant Apple Pay (Visa, MasterCard, AMEX certified) | Same |
| Resolution | 1290 x 2796 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| OS | iOS 17 | Same |
| Chipset | 4nm – Apple A16 Bionic | Same |
| CPU | Hexa-core 2×3.46 GHz Everest + 4×2.02 GHz Sawtooth | Same |
| GPU | Apple GPU (5-core graphics) | Same |
| Card slot | No | Same |
| RAM | 6GB | Same |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB NVMe | Same |
| Camera | 48 MP (wide) dual pixel PDAF, sensor-shift OIS 12 MP (120Ëšultrawide) Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR (photo/panorama) Max – 4K@24/25/30/60fps HDR, Dolby Vision HDR (up to 60fps) Cinematic mode (4K@30fps) stereo sound rec. | Same |
| Selfie | 12 MP (wide) PDAF SL 3D, (depth/biometrics sensor) HDR, Cinematic mode (4K@30fps) Max – 4K@24/25/30/60fps, gyro-EIS | Same |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) | Same |
| 3.5mm jack | No | Same |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, hotspot | Same |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE | Same |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS | Same |
| NFC | Yes | Same |
| Infrared port | No | Same |
| Radio | No | Same |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, DisplayPort | Same |
| Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro proximity, compass, barometer Ultra Wideband 2 (UWB) support Emergency SOS via satellite (SMS sending/receiving) | Same |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4383 mAh Wired, PD2.0 15W wireless (MagSafe) 7.5W wireless (Qi) 4.5W Reverse Wired | Li-Ion 3349 mAh Wired, PD2.0 15W wireless (MagSafe) 7.5W wireless (Qi) 4.5W Reverse Wired |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink | Same |
| Expected Price | $929 (Rs 89,900 in India) approx. | $829 (Rs 77,900 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
The Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus smartphones do seem to provide great value by upgrading some of the core components inside and these include the new pill-shaped notch, matte glass finish, upgraded cameras, bigger batteries, and a new and improved chipset. So, if you have been meaning to upgrade from your old iPhone, now’s the time to do the upgrade and there’s no better smartphone than the iPhone 15 in the same price category. Speaking of downsides, the default refresh rate support is one that can be counted. Anyways, you get some additional perks on the device such as the Emergency SOS via satellite service for SOS SMS.
Both Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have support for super-fast 5G connectivity with gigabit speeds. However, if you prioritize a faster 120Hz refresh rate then the regular iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus won’t cut it out for you. You will need to go for the Pro models. If you are looking for an alternative option you can check the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra which comes with better specs and 4 years of software updates. However, the final decision is up to you so choose according to your needs and requirements.
