According to recent rumors, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are significant upgrades from their predecessors. The phones could ship with much brighter screens, with a new design with really slim bezels.
Instead of a grippy back design with flat sides, the iPhone 15 Pro might ship with a more palm-friendly design. Designs show a slight curve to make it fit better. The 3nm A17 Bionic will make things even better for performance and efficiency.
Along with these changes, there are rumors of a periscope camera and better sensors to improve highlight control. While the Pros look like significant upgrades, the base models are iterative and boring.
Since the iPhone 13 models, Apple began to reserve the most noticeable upgrades to the Pro iPhones. The iPhone 13 only has a new primary sensor and a new chip with some software features, but the Pro models have many new features.
If you put aside the apparent material differences, this wasn’t the case with the iPhone 12 series, where the only significant difference between the 12 and the 12 Pro was the telephoto camera.
120Hz LTPO “Pro Motion” screens, telephoto cameras, an ultra-wide with a macro mode, Pro RAW photography, and more were only for the Pro models. Similarly, with the iPhone 14 Pro, only the Pro models get several new features.
The new IMX 803 1/1.3″ 48MP primary sensor with a 2X sensor crop-in option was only for the Pro models. Apple took it further with the 14 Pro and only gave the new 4nm TSMC A16 Bionic SOC to the Pro models. The base variants got stuck with the previous year’s A15 Bionic.
According to the leaks, we’re seeing similar trends for the iPhone 15 lineup. The rumors say the Pros will have tremendous changes, like thinner bezels and better cameras, but the base models will get the dynamic island cutout.
Furthermore, the base models will likely still have a 60Hz refresh rate and will probably ship with last year’s 4nm A16 Bionic chip instead of the latest A17. Since the iPhone 11 series when Apple began the Pro differentiation, there were always apparent differences in the materials of these phones.
The base iPhones had glossy glass backs with aluminum sides. The perception of gloss backs isn’t the best. They’re known for attracting too many smudges and fingerprints.
On the other hand, the Pro models got matte finish glass backs, which used frosted glass instead of glossy glass. Frosted glass does not show fingerprints. It is easier to keep clean and widely perceived as more premium.
Another difference between the materials is that the base models get matte finish aluminum sides. The sides are stainless steel for the Pro models. It’s quite the opposite here. Stainless steel attracts a lot more fingerprints.
However, if you drop your iPhone, stainless steel frames are much more durable and improve fall protection. This is the typical material difference between the regular and Pro iPhone models.
According to a report on Weibo, the baseline iPhone 15 models will ship with matte finishes for the back. Frosted glass backs will look much more premium, and the rear glass is also completely removable on the iPhone 15 models.
The vanilla models will mostly stick to aluminum rails, but there’s a chance that they’ll get stainless steel, too. Meanwhile, the Pro models could use titanium for frames, which is extremely durable.