Like the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, the 15 Pro and Pro Max replaced the proprietary Lightning connector with USB-C to comply with European Union mandates.
Design
The iPhone 15 Pro features the first major redesign of the outer shell of the device since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020, featuring rounded edges, a slightly curved display, and back glass. The enclosure of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max is made of grade 5 titanium, unlike the stainless steel frame of previous Pro models. The display bezels have also been reduced from 2.2mm to 1.55mm.[9] The phone is available in four colors: natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium, and black titanium.[10] It is also the first premium iPhone since the iPhone X to not come in the gold color option.[11]
Color
Name
Natural Titanium
Blue Titanium
White Titanium
Black Titanium
Fronts and backs of iPhone 15 Pro series
Specifications
Hardware
Like the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, the 15 Pro and Pro Max replace the proprietary Lightning connector with USB-C to comply with the European Union mandating the use of this connector in smartphones with Directive (EU) 2022/2380 in 2022.[12] Apple had already started to introduce USB-C to its handheld devices beginning with the third generation iPad Pro, released in 2018.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max support AV1 video hardware decoding.[13]
In iOS 18, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be the first iPhones to be capable of supporting the new Apple IntelligenceAI features, due to the increased amount of DRAM in these models.[14]
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max use USB-C with USB 3.2 Gen 2 transfer speeds (est. up to 10Gbps / 1.25GBps),[17][18] an improvement over the iPhone 14 Pro and the iPhone 15/15 Plus base models which only have USB 2.0 transfer speeds (est. up to 480 Mbps / 60MBps).[19]
Previous iPhone models (from iPhone 5 until iPhone 14 Pro) had a maximum supported resolution of 1600 x 900 (slightly less than 1080p) with the Lightning Digital AV Adapter due to technical constraints of the Lightning connector.[20]
Action button
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature an Action button, replacing the mute switch. The function of the Action button can be configured by the user. By default, the Action button toggles silent mode. Other options include opening the camera, recording a voice memo, or toggling a focus mode and more
.[10]
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max launched with iOS 17[21] and will be compatible with the upcoming iOS 18 due to be released in late 2024.[22] Consistent with the UK Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure regulations, it will continue to receive major software updates for a minimum of five years to at least 2028.[23]
Dual SIM with one Nano-SIM and one eSIM, supports dual eSIM
No physical SIM card form factor in U.S. models
DualNano-SIM in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau
Secure Authentication
Touch ID
No
Face ID
Yes
Safety
Emergency SOS
Via Satellite (U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, U.K., Australia, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal only)
Crash Detection
Yes
Sensors
LiDAR sensor
Yes
Proximity sensor
Yes
Three-axis gyro
High dynamic range gyro
Accelerometer
High-g accelerometer
Ambient Light Sensor
Yes
Barometer
Yes
Rear Camera
Camera
48 MP Main 12 MP Ultra Wide 12 MP 2x Telephoto (Enabled by Quad-pixel) 12 MP 5x Telephoto
48 MP Main 12 MP Ultra Wide 12 MP 2x Telephoto (Enabled by Quad-pixel) 12 MP 3x Telephoto
Main, 2x Telephoto and 5x Telephoto Second generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization for main and 2x telephoto camera 3D sensor‑shift optical image stabilization for 5x telephoto camera
Main, 2x Telephoto and 3x Telephoto Second generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization for main and 2x telephoto camera
Auto Image Stabilization
Yes
Element Lens
Seven-element lens (Main and 2x Telephoto)
Six-element lens (Ultra Wide and 5x Telephoto)
Six-element lens (Ultra Wide and 3x Telephoto)
Night Mode
Yes
Deep Fusion
Yes
Photonic Engine
Yes
Apple ProRAW
Yes
Macro mode
Yes
Photographic Styles
Yes
Optical Zoom
0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x
0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x
Digital Zoom
Up to 25x
Up to 15x
Autofocus
100% Focus Pixels (Main, Ultra Wide and 2x Telephoto) With autofocus (5x Telephoto)
100% Focus Pixels (Main, Ultra Wide and 2x Telephoto)
Panorama
Up to 63 MP
Portrait Mode
With Focus and Depth Control
Portrait Lighting
With six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High‑Key Mono)
Lens Cover
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Burst Mode
Yes
Flash
Adaptive True Tone flash
Live Photos
Yes
Wide Color Capture
Yes
HDR for photos
Smart HDR 5
Video Recording
4K at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
1080p HD at 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
Cinematic video recording with shallow depth of field
4K at 25 fps or 30 fps
Extended Dynamic Range Video
60 fps
Dolby Vision HDR Video
60 fps
ProRes Video
1080p at 30 fps for 128 GB storage 4K at 30 fps for 256 GB storage and above 4K at 60 fps with external recording
Optical Image Stabilization for Video
Main, 2x Telephoto and 5x Telephoto Second generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization for main and 2x telephoto camera 3D sensor‑shift optical image stabilization for 5x telephoto camera
Main, 2x Telephoto and 3x Telephoto Second generation sensor-shift optical image stabilization for main and 2x telephoto camera
Action Mode
Yes
Optical Video Zoom
0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x
0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x
Digital Video Zoom
Up to 15x
Up to 9x
Slow-motion video
1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
Audio Zoom
Yes
QuickTake Video
Yes
Time-lapse video with stabilization
Yes
Cinematic video stabilization
4K, 1080p and 720p
Stereo Recording
Yes
Front Camera
Camera
12 MP TrueDepth
Aperture
f/1.9
Autofocus
Yes
Portrait Mode
With Focus and Depth Control
Portrait Lighting
With six effects (Natural, Studio, Contour, Stage, Stage Mono, High‑Key Mono)
Night mode
Yes
Deep Fusion
Yes
Photonic Engine
Yes
Photographic Styles
Yes
Animoji and Memoji
Yes
Live Photos
Yes
Wide color capture
Yes
Retina Flash
Yes
Video Recording
4K at 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
1080p HD at 25 fps, 30 fps or 60 fps
Slow-motion video
1080p at 120 fps
Extended Dynamic Range Video
30 fps
Dolby Vision HDR Video
4K at 60 fps
ProRes Video
1080p at 30 fps for 128 GB storage 4K at 30 fps for 256 GB storage and above 4K at 60 fps with external recording
HDR for photos
Smart HDR 5
Cinematic video stabilization
4K, 1080p and 720p
Auto Image Stabilization
Yes
FaceTime
Yes
Audio
Playback
Spatial Audio
Dolby Atmos
Built-in speakers and headphones with Spatial Audio
Some owners claimed that their iPhones were suffering from overheating issues,[26] reportedly reaching temperatures as high as 47 °C (117 °F).[27][28] Apple has also said that the phone's titanium frame "does not contribute to the heating issue."[29] In addition, Apple stated the cause of iPhones overheating was a software bug.[30] Apple has attempted to address the overheating issue with iOS 17.0.3.[31]
Some owners have found that power banks designed for USB-C devices are not working correctly with the iPhone. Some banks will not charge the iPhone at all or the iPhone will attempt to charge the power bank instead.[32]
Some owners of BMW vehicles using its wireless charging system with the iPhone have found that the NFC chip in charge of Apple Pay and also digital car keys can stop working correctly.[33] Apple has attempted to fix these issues with iOS 17.1.1 and 17.2.[34]
A durability test video for the iPhone 15 Pro Max showed that the back glass was more prone to cracking after the content creator JerryRigEverything applied pressure on the back glass, which caused it to crack, saying that it was unexpected. A later video, published by the same YouTuber, cited that the possible reason for this was that the back glass is no longer glued to a metal plate, this change, and the hollow spots on the phone may cause the back glass to crack if pressure was applied on those hollow spots, on the durability test video, in some angles, the glass is noticeably caved in to the phone, further proving that it broke due to a hollow spot on the phone.[35] Additional testing by Consumer Reports found that the durability of the iPhone 15 Pro Max was generally excellent, with the back glass not breaking after 50 drops.[36]
Repairability
The new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max heavily advertised repairability as being a strong suit of theirs. Apple has shifted the components from below the back glass to below the screen, essentially flipping the internals of the phone. This would make access for repairability much easier allowing people to open the screen rather than going through the back glass.
However, a September 2023 report by iFixit found that repairability on the new iPhones was much worse compared to repairability on the 14 series due to various software locking issues, forcing people to buy new parts and repair machines specifically from Apple.[37]
^Simmons, Jen (2023-09-18). "WebKit Features in Safari 17.0". WebKit. Archived from the original on 2023-09-19. Retrieved 2023-09-19. Safari 17.0 adds support for AV1 video on devices with hardware decoding support, like iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.