iPhone 15 Pro test | Geeks.hu

For many, many years now, Apple has not been able to get rid of the accusation that it is only running on alibi developments. It is true that the design of phones, for example, is now boringly familiar to everyone, but it would still be unfair to say that nothing happens around iPhones. An excellent example of this is the subject of our test, the iPhone 15 Pro, which, for example, can certainly be said to be the best iPhone so far. In some ways it’s even better than the Pro Max, but more on that later. We deliberately asked for the Pro version for the test, as this model in the premium segment has a feature that no other phone can claim; small. Although everything is relative, in the field of 6.7-6.9 inches, a high-end phone that is only 6.1 inches is really refreshing. During the test, switching from the Galaxy S23 Ultra was a huge difference in size – and although the “tiny” size was a little strange at first, the advantages such as the low weight, the shape that fits perfectly in the hand and the fact that the phone does not hang out of pocket, they quickly forgot this compromise.

External

After the introduction above, let’s start right away with the fact that the structure of the iPhone 15 Pro has not changed at first sight, the mobile phone pampers the eye with the same soft curves as its predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro, you can find exactly the same buttons on the side, and the rear camera island also corresponds to millimeters. The overall size of the phone has not changed significantly either, but the fact that the width and height differ by 0.9-0.9 and the thickness by 0.4 mm means that the cases made for the iPhone 14 Pro are the same as the iPhone 15 They’re just not good for Pro. In terms of the exterior, the only difference is to be found on the bottom shelf, as here the Lightning connector was finally replaced by USB-C due in no small part to the pressure of the EU – and the number of holes has also decreased by one, although the latter is completely irrelevant from the point of view of use. The USB-C connector is 3.2 Gen 2, which enables 10 Gbps data transfer. By the way, the importance of USB-C is not only to be found in simpler charging, but also in the fact that, in theory, the possibility of using countless very cheap USB accessories has opened up, and the USB-C connector also functions perfectly well as a video output.

Behind the scenes, a lot of small things have changed. Let’s start with the fact that the side frame and the frame surrounding the camera island are made of a titanium-aluminum combo instead of steel, which is in principle just as strong as the previous version – while being much lighter. This can also be measured in numbers; the weight of the iPhone 15 is almost 20 grams lighter, at 187 grams, an improvement of nearly ten percent. A minor flaw is that, based on internet feedback, the iPhone 15 Pro is not as durable as it should be, so the phone may be overall more sensitive to external influences compared to its predecessor. However, it is still not the same for water and dust, Apple fortunately kept the IP68 protection.

Back to the buttons; the number and location of the controls have not changed, but the button used for mute in the previous models can finally be programmed. It was also renamed the quick action button in Cupertino. By the way, programmability is only a novelty for iOS, for example, Samsung phones have had such an option for years – it’s another matter that Apple once again managed to show how it should be done well (or at least better). While with the South Korean manufacturer you can only program an application or Bixby and the shutdown function, you can choose from many options with the iPhone 15 Pro:
– silent mode (this corresponds to the previous operation)
– focus
– camera
– flashlight
– voice note
– magnifying glass
– run command/app
– accessibility options
– or the big nothing
These options can be found in the list, and there is also the option to use this button to take pictures, so the zoom function remains for the volume controls.

It’s an Apple phone, so the packaging is naturally sophisticated, but it only hides the phone and USB-C cable, as well as a SIM pin. If you want a charger, you have to buy it separately.

Internal

Not surprisingly, Apple continues to equip iPhones with its own chips, and the A17 Pro chip was added to the iPhone 15 Pro version. It’s a hexa-core SoC with two performance-tuned 3.78 GHz cores and four power-saving 2.11 GHz cores. The performance improvement is around 15-20 percent compared to the previous generation – in return, the chip heats up noticeably as it is made with a stripe width of 3 nm. It says everything about the performance of the A17 Pro that, according to the AnTuTu test results, the iPhone 15 Pro is in complete competition with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra equipped with Qualcomm Snadragon 8 Gen 2, and according to Geekbench 5, it beats it. However, the system chip in the latter phone is octa-core.
The size of the RAM is 8 GB, and the internal storage space starts at 128 GB – here it should have been increased to 256 GB. The phone accepts one SIM (which must be a Nano-SIM), but an electronic SIM card can also be used with the phone. It is worth switching to the latter at the service provider so that there are no problems with disposable SIMs when traveling abroad. Of course, 5G networks are also supported.

The 6.1-inch display, hidden behind Ceramic Shield glass, uses an OLED panel and has a resolution of 1179×2556 pixels. Its image refresh rate varies dynamically between 1-120 Hz, so that not only the quality but also the consumption is in order. The panel also supports the HDR10 and Dolby Vision standards, but there is no fingerprint reader behind it – Apple still left biometric identification to the Face ID system. The colors of the panel are nice and accurate, and the maximum brightness is over 800 nits. We have seen bigger ones than this, but there will be no problem with the phone even in strong sunlight.

In addition to the 5G adapter, the phone also includes WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, as well as GPS and NFC adapters.

Operating time

Apple phones traditionally come with a battery with a much smaller capacity than competing models, for example, the iPhone 15 Pro has a battery of only 3274 mAh (who invented this number?). Then somehow, it always turns out that, as a result of the perfect coordination of software and hardware, iPhones also last at least as long as the competition – at least the one-day standby does not cause problems for the mobile phone. If you use a suitable charger, the fast charge is 25 watts, so the battery can be charged to 50 percent in 30 minutes, and approx. 100 percent in 75 minutes.

The maximum power for wireless charging is 15 or 7.5 watts, depending on whether you charge the phone according to the MagSafe or Qi standard. Another practical advantage of the USB-C connector is that it can be used to charge other USB devices (e.g. headphones) with up to 4.5 watts.