Each iPhone 15 model compared: Base vs Plus vs Pro vs Pro Max

The iPhone 15 series is here. Apple unveiled four models Tuesday at its Wonderlust event, along with the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2. This year, Apple’s iPhone 15 lineup again includes a base iPhone 15 and a slightly larger iPhone 15 Plus, which offer comparable specs between them. But the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Maxwhich are a level up from the base and Plus models, include some differences that make the Pro Max stand out a little more this year.

Some features like Dynamic Island, the shape-changing cutout introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, are now available across the entire iPhone 15 line. The entire line has also now moved to USB-C for charging. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end, with each iPhone model differing in design, camera, and other features.

For starters, colors vary between the entry-level and Pro lines. The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in brighter color options like pink, yellow, green, and blue along with a darker black. However, with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max now available in a titanium chassis, these phones come in darker shades that Apple labels as natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium, and black titanium.

Additionally, Apple has done away with the switch on the Pro models in favor of what it calls the “action button.” Essentially, it’s a multifunction button that lets you program it for a wide range of tasks, like taking a photo or starting a timer.

Watch this: iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max: first look

03:58

The aforementioned USB-C port arrives on the iPhone 15 line after a European Union mandate, which will allow the iPhone to use the same charging cables that power Android phones, recent iPads, and other electronic devices. While all four models use USB-C charging as standard, data transfer speeds vary 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 these faster speeds, you’ll need to buy your own USB 3 cable since Apple only ships all phones with a USB 2 cable.

As for cameras, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have two on the back, while the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max have three. You get a 48-megapixel wide-angle lens, with telephoto capability, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide lens with both regular models. Pro models feature 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.

Beyond that, the iPhone 15 Pro Max gets its own unique camera advantage via the upgrade to a new telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom, the most ever included on an iPhone.

Both iPhone 15 Pro phones can shoot spatial video, which is essentially 3D video that can be viewed on Apple’s upcoming product. Vision Pro headphones.

And like the iPhone 14 line, the iPhone 15 line includes different processors depending on the model. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will run on the A16 Bionic chip, which debuted last year in the iPhone 14 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max phones will ship with the new A17 Pro chip, which Apple says will make the ‘High-end iPhone best suited to graphics and gaming.

To check for further differences between the different iPhone 15 models, check out our specs table below.