The Dynamic Island, three hours of battery life, always-on capability, rear cameras with varying apertures, and always-on functionality were the greatest new features between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro last year. Apple’s “Pro” and non-Pro iPhone models are more dissimilar than ever with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, despite the fact that both devices share new technologies like the USB-C connection, second-generation Ultra Wideband processor, and next-generation pictures.
Our comparison chart provides information on how to choose between these two iPhone models and makes it easy to understand what improvements and extra features the iPhone 15 Pro offers.
I’ve organized the information into a table for easier comparison:
| Feature | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Aluminum and glass design | Titanium and glass design |
| Size | Slightly smaller due to slimmer borders around the display | Slightly smaller due to slimmer borders around the display |
| Weight | 171g or 201g | 187g or 221g |
| Physical Switch | Ring/Silent switch | Action button |
| Display | ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz | ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz |
| Always-on Display | Yes | Yes |
| Chip | A16 Bionic (5nm) | A17 Pro chip (3nm) |
| CPU | 6-core CPU | 6-core CPU (up to 10% faster) |
| GPU | 5-core GPU | 6-core GPU with hardware-accelerated ray tracing (up to 20% faster) |
| Neural Engine | 16-core Neural Engine | 16-core Neural Engine (up to 2x faster) |
| AV1 Decoder | Dedicated AV1 decoder | |
| Memory | 6GB memory | 8GB memory |
| Camera System | Advanced dual-camera system | Pro triple camera system |
| Main Camera | 48MP with ƒ/1.6 aperture | 48MP with ƒ/1.78 aperture and larger sensor |
| Ultra Wide Camera | 12MP with ƒ/2.4 aperture | 12MP with ƒ/2.2 aperture |
| Telephoto Camera | 12MP with ƒ/2.8 aperture (on Pro Max model only) | 12MP Telephoto (3x) and 12MP Periscope Telephoto (5x) (Pro Max only) |
| Optical Zoom | 0.5x, 1x, and 2x | 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, and 5x (Pro Max only) |
| OIS | Sensor-shift optical image stabilization | Second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization |
| Flash | True Tone flash | Adaptive True Tone flash |
| LiDAR Scanner | No | LiDAR scanner |
| Night Mode Portraits | No | Night mode portraits |
| Macro Photography | No | Macro photography |
| Apple ProRAW | No | Apple ProRAW |
| File Transfer | USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480Mb/s) | USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster) |
| Video Recording | No | ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps (60 fps with external recording) |
| Macro Video Recording | No | Macro video recording, including slo‑mo and time‑lapse |
| Log Video Recording | No | Log video recording |
| Video Color Encoding | No | Academy Color Encoding System |
| Spatial Video Recording | No | Record spatial video for Apple Vision Pro |
| USB Support | USB 2 transfer speeds (up to 480Mb/s) | USB 3 transfer speeds (up to 10Gb/s, 20x faster) |
| DisplayPort Support | No | DisplayPort support for up to 4K HDR video output |
| Connectivity | Wi‑Fi 6 | Wi‑Fi 6E |
| Thread Networking | No | Thread networking technology |
| Battery Life | 20- or 26-hour battery life | 23- or 29-hour battery life |
| Storage Options | 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB (no 128GB on Pro Max) |
| Color Options | Yellow, Blue, Pink, Green, and Black | Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium |
| Starting Price | Starts at $799 | Starts at $999 |
Conclusion
The iPhone 15 Pro offers a large number of upgrades over the standard iPhone 15. With just $200 difference to obtain a display with ProMotion and always-on functionality, the Action Button, and longer battery life, many customers will be able to justify getting the iPhone 15 Pro over the iPhone 15. Other differences, such as the A17 Pro chip and 2GB additional memory are notable, but most significant are perhaps the devices’ fundamentally different rear camera setups. The iPhone 15 Pro unlocks 10 additional camera features and offers four additional or different pieces of camera hardware. Due to the scale and breadth of the iPhone 15 Pro’s improvements and features, most customers will be happy to choose the high-end model.
The standard iPhone 15 still offers many of the iPhone 15 Pro’s most compelling capabilities, such as USB-C, Dynamic Island, and a 48-megapixel main camera, at a lower price point. It will only be worth getting the iPhone 15 over the iPhone 15 Pro if you want a lighter device, do not care for the “Pro” rear camera setup or features like ProMotion and the always-on display, or cannot justify the $200 to upgrade to the high-end model. In this instance, you will still benefit from the device’s generous roster of advanced features. The iPhone 15 is still a very well designed and balanced device, especially for average customers and those coming from a much older model