Apple just announced its new high-end iPhones: the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. They’re made of titanium, they have Action Buttons and Apple promises they’re the most powerful smartphones Apple has ever made. The 15 Pro starts with 128GB of storage and the Pro Max with 256GB of storage. Both will be available for preorder.
This year’s Pro has a 6.1-inch screen, and the Pro Max has a 6.7-inch display same as the new iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. Both are powered by the A17 Pro chip, which Apple has the fastest performance in any smartphone and can even challenge some high-end PCs. Along with a redesigned GPU, Apple seems to think these devices could be poised to level up the kinds of games you can play on your phone. (Of course, Apple likes to talk a lot about high-end gaming, and the results... don’t always keep up.)
Important Updates
Action Button
The Action Button, which replaces the ringer switch on the left side of the iPhone Pro, is a new button that you can customize to run shortcuts, bring up accessibility features, open the camera, turn on the flashlight, and more. By default, it’s still a ringer switch, but you’ll want to use it to do more.
USB-C
Both phones iPhone 15 and Pro have a USB-C port on the bottom rather than the old Lightning port. But in the Pro’s case, it could be for more than charging: Apple says the 15 Pro is the first phone with 10Gbps transfer speeds, which will make getting photos and videos (or large files of any kind) off your phone vastly easier.
Stand By Mode
The iPhone 15 Pros have Super Retina XDR displays with ProMotion and supports the always-on display and the new StandBy mode in iOS 17.
Camera
On the video side, you’ll be able to shoot 4K60 ProRes video on the devices or even shoot directly to an external drive through the USB-C port (as long as you have the right cable). The 15 Pro can capture “spatial video,” too, the kinds of 3D content we’ve been seeing for the Vision Pro though that feature’s coming later this year. It’s clear that Apple imagines the 15 Pro as both a consumer device but also a genuine professional tool for the creators and filmmakers of the world.
Chipset
A17 Pro chip
New 6‑core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores
New 6‑core GPU
New 16‑core Neural Engine
Display
Super Retina XDR display
6.1‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED display
2556‑by‑1179-pixel resolution at 460 ppi
The iPhone 15 Pro display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design, and these corners are within a standard rectangle. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 6.12 inches diagonally (the actual viewable area is less).
Dynamic Island
Always-On display
ProMotion technology with adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz
HDR display
True Tone
Wide color (P3)
Haptic Touch
2,000,000:1 contrast ratio (typical)
1000 nits max brightness (typical); 1600 nits peak brightness (HDR); 2000 nits peak brightness (outdoor)
Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating
Support for the display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously
Pro Camera System
48MP Main: 24 mm, ƒ/1.78 aperture, second‑generation sensor‑shift optical image stabilization, 100% Focus Pixels, support for super‑high‑resolution photos (24MP and 48MP)
12MP Ultra Wide: 13 mm, ƒ/2.2 aperture and 120° field of view, 100% Focus Pixels
12MP 2x Telephoto (enabled by quad‑pixel sensor): 48 mm, ƒ/1.78 aperture, second‑generation sensor‑shift optical image stabilization, 100% Focus Pixels
12MP 3x Telephoto: 77 mm, ƒ/2.8 aperture, optical image stabilization
3x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 6x optical zoom range
Digital zoom up to 15x
Camera Features
Customizable default lens (Main)
Sapphire crystal lens cover
Adaptive True Tone flash
Photonic Engine
Deep Fusion
Smart HDR 5
Next-generation portraits with Focus and Depth Control
Portrait Lighting with six effects
Night mode
Night mode portraits enabled by LiDAR Scanner
Panorama (up to 63MP)
Photographic Styles
Macro photography
Apple ProRAW
Wide color capture for photos and Live Photos
Lens correction (Ultra Wide)
Advanced red-eye correction
Auto image stabilization
Burst mode
Photo geotagging
Image formats captured: HEIF, JPEG, and DNG
Face ID
Enabled by TrueDepth camera for facial recognition
Siri
Use your voice to send messages, set reminders, and more
Activate hands‑free with only your voice using “Siri” or “Hey Siri”
Use your voice to run shortcuts from your favourite apps
5G (sub‑6 GHz and mmWave)
Gigabit LTE with 4x4 MIMO
Wi‑Fi 6E (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO
Bluetooth 5.3
Second-generation Ultra Wideband
Thread networking technology
NFC with reader mode
Express Cards with power reserve
Safety Features
Emergency SOS via satellite
Crash Detection
Roadside Assistance via satellite
Video Calling
FaceTime video calling over cellular or Wi‑Fi
FaceTime HD (1080p) video calling over 5G or Wi‑Fi
Share experiences like movies, TV, music, and other apps in a FaceTime call with SharePlay
Screen sharing
Portrait mode in FaceTime video
Spatial Audio
Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes
Optical zoom with rear‑facing camera
Audio Calling
FaceTime audio
Voice over LTE (VoLTE)
Wi‑Fi calling
Share experiences like movies, TV, music, and other apps in a FaceTime call with SharePlay
Screen sharing
Spatial Audio
Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum microphone modes
Audio Playback
Supported formats include AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Atmos
Spatial Audio playback
User‑configurable maximum volume limit
Charging and Expansion
USB-C connector with support for:
Charging
DisplayPort
USB 3 (up to 10Gb/s)
Power and Battery
Video playback
Up to 23 hours
Video playback (streamed)
Up to 20 hours
Audio playback
Up to 75 hours
MagSafe
Wireless charging up to 15W
Magnet array
Alignment magnet
Accessory Identification NFC
Magnetometer
Sensors
Face ID
LiDAR Scanner
Barometer
High dynamic range gyro
High-g accelerometer
Proximity sensor
Dual ambient light sensors
Operating System
iOS 17
iOS is the world’s most personal and secure mobile operating system, packed with powerful features and designed to protect your privacy.
Accessibility
Built-in accessibility features supporting vision, mobility, hearing, and cognitive disabilities help you get the most out of your iPhone.
Features include:
VoiceOver Zoom Magnifier Voice Control Spoken Content
Switch Control AssistiveTouch RTT and TTY support Closed Captions
Live Captions Personal Voice Live Speech Type to Siri
SIM Card
Dual eSIM (two active eSIMs; stores eight or more eSIMs)
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max use eSIM technology and are not compatible with physical SIM cards.