Apple’s iPhone 15 has a new look

Spec-by-Spec Analysis of the $USB$-C Ports in the New iPhone 15 Models: What Does It Really Matter?

Every phone in the new iPhone 15 lineup comes with a USB-C port and does away with the notch in favor of Apple’s Dynamic Island feature. Meanwhile, the more premium phones — specifically the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max — come equipped with the new A17 Pro chip, an Action Button, and 10Gbps transfer speeds.

Apple did not announce any improvement to charging speeds despite the fact thatUSB-C may have opened the door to faster charging. The official charging speed is still limited to 20 watt.

Apple has been adding USB-C to many of its own devices since 2015, but it has been collecting licensing fees for the Lightning port, which may partly be why the iPhone has been the longest holdout. All new phones, tablets, and cameras have to be equipped withusb-c by the end of 2024, according to the European Union.

The display is something we will talk about. The Dynamic Island is where the notch that was on the lower-end phones was swapped out this year. Once reserved only for the premium iPhone 14 models, the feature essentially acts as a moveable pill-shaped cutout, one that displays real-time notifications, alerts, and activities.

When it comes to cameras, the entry-level iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 models share a dual-camera system that includes a 12-megapixel ultrawide camera. This year, however, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus offer an improved 48-megapixel main shooter — more specifically, the same high-resolution main camera found in the Pro models. The main camera of the Apple device is 12MP, whereas the main shooter of the iPhone 14 is 12MP. The new iPhone 15 lineup also brings some updates to both night mode and portrait mode, the latter of which will now automatically go into effect when you’re taking photos of people or animals.

It’s exciting, but do the new improvements justify the price? To help you decide, we’ve put together a spec-by-spec breakdown of how the entry-level iPhone 14 models stack up against the entire iPhone 15 lineup ahead of our full reviews later this month.

All of the entry-level models lack the triple-camera array found in the premium iPhone 15 models, which includes an additional 12-megapixel telephoto lens. You can change the main camera lens on the Pro models and shoot at a variety of focal lengths. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a new 5x tetraprism zoom lens with a 120mm focal length, too, which is the most Apple has ever offered and longer than the 3X 77mm focal length on the iPhone 15 Pro.

Some design differences are worth paying attention to. The titanium body on the Pro Max will make it both stronger and lighter. They’re also the only Apple phones to feature the Action Button, which essentially takes the place of the ringer button and can be customized to create shortcuts, launch the camera, and carry out a range of other tasks.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max has the longest battery life of up to 29 hours, and the iPhone 14 and 15 have both max out at 20 hours. Both Plus models offer up to 26 hours of video playback, but strangely, the iPhone 15 Pro maxes out at 23 hours.

Significant improvements have been made when it comes to video recording. All of the phones feature a cinematic mode that can record 4K at 30 frames per second and 24 frames per second. This year the 15 Pro models will also be able to capturespatial video, which are basically 3D videos that can be viewed with an Apple Vision Pro headset. They will also allow you to shoot 4K60 ProRes video and, thanks to their support for USB-C, let you record video to external storage devices.

Combined with an updated GPU, Apple says the new smartphones are particularly well-suited for demanding tasks, including gaming. We played with the newest version of the device, the iPhones 15 Pro, but we need to do more research to see if the device can handle games.

Speaking of chips, the iPhone 15 comes with a second-gen ultra wideband chip like the new Apple Watch Series 9. The updated component enables more precise tracking when using Apple’s Find My network, thus making it easier to find friends and loved ones who are also using an iPhone 15. The same chip should be used for other devices that are further away.

Finally, when it comes to software, the iPhone 15 lineup ships with iOS 17. So far, that seems like a minor update that brings fun little features like Live Voicemail, a new Journal app, and StandBy mode. Your phone will be visible while you’re in landscape mode, because the latter turns your screen into a smart display. It should be noted, however, that you’ll also be able to download iOS 17 on the iPhone 14 and 15 Plus when it launches on September 18th, so you’ll be able to play with these features no matter which phone you buy.