iPhone 15 vs. iPhone 15 Pro Buyer's Guide: 35+ Differences Compared
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro are among Apple's newest iPhone models and follow last year's iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, but how different are the two latest 6.1-inch iPhone models, and what exactly does a "Pro" device give you?
Last year, the biggest new differences between the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro were always-on functionality, the Dynamic Island, three hours of battery life, and rear cameras with different apertures. With iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, both devices share new features like the USB-C port, second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, and next-generation portraits, but Apple's "Pro" and non-Pro iPhone models are more different than ever.
Our guide helps to answer the question of how to decide which of these two iPhone models is best for you, and serves as a way to clearly see what additional features and upgrades the iPhone 15 Pro brings to the table.
Feature | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Pro | |
Design | Aluminum and glass | Titanium and glass | |
Size | Slightly smaller due to slimmer borders around the display | Same size as iPhone 14 Pro | |
Weight | 171g or 201g | 187g or 221g | |
Ring/Silent switch | Action button | Action button | |
Display | ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz | ProMotion with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz | |
Always-on display | No | Yes | |
Chip | A16 Bionic chip (5nm) | A17 Pro chip (3nm) | |
CPU | 6-core | 6-core (up to 10% faster) | |
GPU | 5-core | 6-core with hardware-accelerated ray tracing (up to 20% faster) | |
Neural Engine | 16-core | 16-core (up to 2x faster) | |
AV1 decoder | Dedicated | Dedicated | |
Memory | 6GB | 8GB | |
Camera system | Advanced dual-camera system | Pro triple camera system | |
Main camera | 48-megapixel with ƒ/1.6 aperture | 48-megapixel with ƒ/1.78 aperture and larger sensor | |
Ultra Wide camera | 12-megapixel with ƒ/2.4 aperture | 12-megapixel with ƒ/2.2 aperture | |
Telephoto camera | 12-megapixel with ƒ/2.8 aperture | 12-megapixel with ƒ/2.8 aperture (larger sensor, folded tetraprism design, and autofocus 3D sensor-shift module on Pro Max only) | |
Optical zoom | 0.5x, 1x, and 2x | 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, and 5x (5x on Pro Max only, no 3x) | |
Image stabilization | Sensor-shift optical image stabilization | Second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization | |
Flash | True Tone flash | Adaptive True Tone flash | |
LiDAR scanner | No | Yes | |
Night mode portraits | Yes | Yes | |
Macro photography | Yes | Yes | |
Apple ProRAW | Yes | Yes | |
Shoot and transfer ProRAW | Yes | Yes | |
Video recording | Up to 4K at 60 fps | Up to 8K at 60 fps | |
External recording | ProRes video recording up to 4K at 30 fps (60 fps with external recording) | ProRes video recording up to 8K at 30 fps (60 fps with external recording) | |
Macro video recording | No | Yes | |
Log video recording | No | Yes | |
Spatial video | No | Yes | |
USB transfer speeds | USB 2 (up to 480Mb/s) | USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s) | |
DisplayPort | No | Yes | |
Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 6 | Wi-Fi 6E | |
Thread networking | Yes | Yes | |
Battery life | 20- or 26-hour | 23- or 29-hour | |
Storage options | 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB | |
Colors | Yellow, Blue, Pink, Green, and Black | Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium | |
Starting price | $799 | $999 | |
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.