Choosing between iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro: a detailed comparison

While Apple fans patiently await the iPhone 16 rumors, the iPhone 15 series remains the tech giant’s most advanced flagship line. It consists of the base iPhone 15 and a larger iPhone 15 Plus, which have similar specs. And then there’s the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Maxthe latter of which has a few features that make it stand out more than previous Max models. Apple unveiled all four at its Wonderlust event last September, alongside the Watch Series 9 and the Watch Ultra 2.

If you can’t wait for the iPhone 16 series and are considering upgrading to the iPhone 15 series, it’s worth knowing how the four models compare. For starters, the Dynamic Island, the shape-shifting notch introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, is now a standard feature across the entire iPhone 15 lineup. Each of the four models has also now made the move to USB-C for charging. But that’s more or less where the similarities end, with each iPhone model standing out thanks to its design, camera, overall features, and, more recently, AI-powered features.

Earlier this week, Apple further distinguished its base iPhone 15 models from its iPhone 15 Pros. During the company’s annual developer event, Apple unveiled Apple Intelligence, an AI platform that the company says is built into the core of your iPhone, alongside other Apple devices. It powers new features including a suite of so-called Writing Tools that help you quickly compose text and even Siri’s touted new capabilities for understanding conversational context and completing multi-step tasks. However, only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will get Apple Intelligence at launch, as they’re the only iPhones with the A17 Pro processor.

Beyond these upcoming AI features, there are more differences to consider. Apple has ditched the toggle switch on the Pro models in favor of what it calls the “Action button.” Essentially, it’s a multi-function button that you can program to do a wide variety of tasks, like taking a photo or starting a timer.

Colors vary across the entry-level and Pro series. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus came in brighter hues like pink, yellow, green and blue, along with a darker black. But now that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max come in titanium chassis, those phones come in darker shades, which Apple labels as natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium and black titanium.

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That USB-C port comes to the iPhone 15 line after a mandate from the European Union, and will allow the iPhone to use the same charging cables that power Android phones, recent iPads and other electronics. While all four models use standard USB-C charging, data transfer speeds differ between the base and Pro models. Only the Pro models support USB 3, which offers faster speeds of 10Gbps. But if you want to take advantage of those faster speeds, you’ll need to buy your own USB 3 cable, since Apple only ships all of its phones with a USB 2 cable.

As for the cameras, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have dual cameras on the rear, while the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max get triple-lens cameras. You get a 48-megapixel wide-angle lens, which has telephoto capabilities, and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens with both regular models. The Pro models have a 12-megapixel telephoto lens, complete with 3x optical zoom. You can also shoot at multiple focal lengths with the Pro models: 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm.

Additionally, iPhone 15 Pro Max has its own exclusive camera advantage, thanks to the upgrade to a new 5x optical zoom telephoto lens — the highest zoom ever on an iPhone.

Both iPhone 15 Pro phones can record spatial video, which is essentially a 3D video that can be viewed on the upcoming Apple Vision Pro Headset.

And like the iPhone 14 line, the iPhone 15 line includes different processors depending on the model. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are powered by the A16 Bionic chip, which debuted in last year’s iPhone 14 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max phones come with the new A17 Pro chip (as previously mentioned), which Apple says will make the higher-end iPhone better suited for graphics, gaming, and compatibility with Apple Intelligence.

Check out our specs table below for more differences between the various iPhone 15 models.