Apple launched the iPhone 15 series last month as the successor to iPhone 15 series. Here we have the iPhone 15 Plus, the bigger model in the series. This has a brighter display, and the notch is replaced by the Dynamic Island. This also get a new 48MP main camera, USB Type-C Pro and retains the same price.
I have been using the phone for a month now. Is this the best upgrade to the iPhone 14 Plus? Let us dive into the review to find out.
| Box Contents |
| Camera |
| Battery Life |
| Conclusion |
Box Contents
- Apple iPhone 15 Plus 512GB in Green colour
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Apple sticker and documents
Display, Hardware and Design
The iPhone 15 Plus has a 6.7-inch OLED Super Retina XDR display, with a resolution of 2556 × 1179 pixels and 460ppi. It has support for HDR and Dolby Vision, and the company says that the display is 25% brighter at 1000 nits, higher peak brightness for HDR at 1600 nits, and it now goes up to 2000 nits brightness outdoors. I did not have any issues using the display outdoors and when watching HDR content. It also has True Tone adjustments and Wide Color. Since it has a Taptic Engine, you get haptic touch feedback.
The iPhone 15 series still doesn’t have the 120Hz high refresh rate option, so you have to spend more and get the Pro model, if you need a high refresh rate screen. It has the Ceramic Shield protection that was introduced in the iPhone 12. Apple says that this has 4x better drop performance compared to normal protection, thanks to a new high temperature crystallisation step that grows nano-ceramic crystals within the glass matrix.
The main change in the iPhone 15 series is the dynamic island compared to the notch in the older model, and the earpiece cutout is on the edge. It still has the same 12MP TrueDepth front camera with f/1.9 aperture.
There is no change in button placements compared to the iPhone 14, so you still get a Ring/Silent button next to the volume rockers. As you can see, the phone has an aluminum frame that offer a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints easily. You can also see the antenna cutouts.
The lightning port is gone since it is replaced by the USB Type-C port on the bottom, which is a welcome move, but it is limited to USB 2.0 speeds of 480 Mbps compared to USB 3.0 in the Pro models. You can see speaker grills and the microphone port on either sides of the port. The phone has IP68 water resistance (6 meters for up to 30 minutes) ratings.
For the first time, the color is infused throughout the back glass that is strengthened with an optimized dual-ion exchange process before being polished with nanocrystalline particles and etched to create a luxurious, textured matte finish, says Apple. This looks a feels good, and the glass is also easy to replace compared to the older models.
It still has the sharp edges and is protected by a tempered glass made by Corning. It comes in Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue and Black colours. The dimensions are the same as the 14 Plus, but this weighs 201 grams, making it 2 grams light.
Camera
- 48MP wide-angle (f/1.6) camera, second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation for video
- 12MP 120° Ultra Wide (f/2.4) secondary camera
- 12MP TrueDepth (ƒ/1.9) front camera
The new 48MP main camera with a quad-pixel sensor that combines every four pixels into one large quad pixel equivalent to 2.44 µm. This was first introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro series. The quad-pixel sensor also enables a 2x Telephoto option that uses the middle 12 megapixels of the sensor for full-resolution photos and 4K videos with no digital zoom.
You also get Night Mode feature with manual adjustment on all the cameras. You get a night mode icon automatically when the phone detects a low-light scene. It automatically suggests the seconds, but can change the long exposure, which can be set up to 30 seconds. It also has the Deep Fusion option that was first introduced in the iPhone 11 series. This uses the advanced image processing system that uses the A16 Bionic Neural engine to capture images with dramatically better texture, detail, and reduced noise in lower light.
The Camera UI is the same as the older models, including option to choose from photo, video, portrait, pano, timelapse, slo-mo and cinematic mode. For photos, you get a new Photographic Styles of filters (Standard, Rich Contrast, Vibrant, Warm, and Cool). iPhone camera still doesn’t have a pro mode to adjust the ISO, shutter speed and other things manually. The iPhone 15 series also lacks RAW mode.
Daylight shots from the 48MP camera came out well with a lot of details since it outputs 24MP shots. It also offers vibrant colours and the dynamic range is brilliant. 2X is good, but once you zoom after that the quality degrades. The portrait mode is brilliant with perfect edge detection. The new auto portrait mode, so you don’t have to switch to portrait mode. You can switch focus from one subject to another after a photo is taken. The ultra-wide shots from the 12MP camera is also good, about the main camera has more details and colours.
Low light shots are good as well. If you enable the night mode, the images are slightly brighter with better dynamic range, but the images are softer without a lot of colours. Even the ultra-wide camera supports night mode. The ultra-wide camera doesn’t have a macro option, since these are exclusive to Pro models.
Images from the 12MP selfie camera are good as well, with brilliant dynamic range and colours. The front camera gets SL 3D sensor for better portraits.
Check out the camera samples.
Cinematic mode offers depth effect with automatic focus changes. The focus can be changed during and after capture, and you can also adjust the level of bokeh in the Photos app and iMovie for iOS, and iMovie for macOS and Final Cut Pro.
The Cinematic mode records in Dolby Vision HDR. It also offers HDR video recording with Dolby Vision — from capture to editing and sharing for 4K up to 60 fps on all cameras. However, the ProRes, an advanced video codec, and 3D (spatial) video are still available only in the Pro series. It also has slow motion video recording at up to 240fps in 1080p.
Video quality is brilliant from all the three cameras. With Dolby Vision enabled, you get excellent dynamic range, contrast and true colours in videos. The cinematic mode works just like Portrait mode that uses AI to detect the face or object to automatically blur things in the background, and the edge detection is brilliant. It supports HDR video recording with Dolby Vision up to 4K at 60 fps and the cinematic mode supports up to 4K HDR at 30 fps.
Software and UI
The iPhone 15 series was launched running iOS 17 out of the box, but the company has since released the iOS 17.1 bringing the ability for AirDrop transfers to continue over the internet when you step out of AirDrop range. It also brought enhancements to StandBy and Apple Music, as well as other features, bug fixes and security updates.
iOS 17.1 brings redesigned Lock Screen, new Stickers experience for Messages, new Health app, Personalized Contact Posters, FaceTime has Audio and Video Messages, AirDrop gets NameDrop that lets you easily share contact information by bringing iPhones or an iPhone and Apple Watch together.
Content Sharing lets you share content or initiate SharePlay for listening to music, watching movies, or playing games when iPhones are in close proximity.
StandBy offers a full-screen experience for iPhone when charging sideways. It offers glanceable information from a distance, perfect for night stands, counters, and desks. You can personalize StandBy with clock styles, favorite photos, and widgets, including Smart Stacks.
It supports Live Activities, Siri, calls, and larger notifications. StandBy remembers preferred views when charging with MagSafe. However, only the Pro models offer always-on feature since they go down to 1Hz. Journal app is coming in the iOS 17.2 update since it is out in beta.
Face unlock
Face ID is enabled by TrueDepth front camera for facial recognition. You can now unlock the iPhone even with a mask, but it can’t unlock if you have a helmet or a hat. You can use Face ID to make purchases, autofill passwords and sign in to apps.
Music and Multimedia
The iPhone 15 Plus has stereo speakers, supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos. Since this doesn’t have a notch, the speaker has been moved to the top edge, so there is less space, so I find the iPhone 14 Plus better for audio.
It supports HDR playback with Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, and viewing content in apps like Netflix looks brilliant.
Dual SIM and Connectivity
It has a single physical SIM slot, and also comes with eSIM support. It has 5G (sub‑6 GHz) and Gigabit-class LTE support. The phone supports several 5G and LTE bands, so you can use the phone in several countries.
It also supports 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 with 4×4 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.3, Ultra Wideband chip for spatial awareness, NFC with reader mode and GPS with GLONASS. The Pro models have Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip and Thread networking technology.
According to the Apple website, the iPhone 15 Plus (Model A2847, A3093, A3094, A3096) has a head SAR of 1.01 W/kg (over 1 g) and body SAR of 1.12 W/kg (over 1 g).
Performance and Benchmarks
The iPhone 15 Plus is powered by the A16 Bionic 4nm Chip, which was introduced last year with iPhone 14 Pro models. This has Six-Core (2 performance and 4 efficiency cores) CPU with 64-bit architecture, 5‑core GPU, and a 16‑core Neural Engine.
The performance is smooth with any lags, and the faster GPU offering good gaming performance compared to the iPhone 14 Plus. Check out the synthetic benchmark scores below in which the iPhone tops the benchmarks.
I did not face any heating issues when gaming, but the battery drained quickly when gaming, which is common in all the iPhone models.
Battery life
Coming to the battery, the iPhone 15 Plus packs a 4,383mAh battery compared to 4,323mAh in the iPhone 14 Plus, which almost no change. Apple promises 26 hours of video playback on the iPhone 15 Plus on a single charge. Based on my use, the iPhone 15 Plus lasted for about 3 days with causal use, and with heavy use it lasted for more than a day, thanks to the more efficient A16 Bionic SoC. It got close to 10 hours of screen on time with 3 days of use.
It supports USB-PD charging. Apple recommends 20W PD charge, same as the older model. Apple says that it can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes when using a PD charger. You can charge up to 85% in an hour, but the last 15% charge takes close to an hour, so it takes about 2 hours to charge the phone to 100%. Apple does this to maintain the battery health.
It also has wireless charging up to 15W using an Apple MagSafe charger. However, if you use any Qi-compatible charger, it can only charge at a maximum 7.5W. There is also 4.5W reverse wired charging via the new USB-C port, and this was useful since I charged the Pixel 8 using the iPhone.
Conclusion
Overall, the iPhone 15 Plus is a minor update to the iPhone 14 Plus in terms of display, performance, camera and battery life. I also liked the finish that can color infused glass. Apple also offers 5 years of OS upgrades that lets you keep the phone for several years without upgrading to a new model. However, Pixel series offers 7 years of updates.
Alternatives
iPhone 14 Plus after the recent price cut is still a good phone. If you are fine with a smaller screen and a smaller battery, you can go for the iPhone 15, which offers similar specifications as the iPhone 15 Plus in a smaller body.
On the Android side, the Samsung Galaxy S23 and S23+ are good alternatives. The Pixel 8 is also a good option.
Pricing and availability
The iPhone 15 Plus 128GB costs Rs. 89,900, same as the iPhone 14 Plus’s launch price. The 256GB version is Rs. 10,000 more at Rs. 99,900, and the top-end 512GB model costs Rs. 1,19,900. It is available through Apple Store, and other retailers online and offline.
Pros
- Excellent OLED display with Dolby Vision and Dynamic Island
- Smooth performance
- Solid build quality, IP68 ratings
- Brilliant cameras
- Good battery life
Cons
- Lacks high refresh rate display and always-on display
- USB-C is limited
- Same old ultra-wide camera