“The iPhone 15 is one of the most significant iPhone upgrades ever. The Dynamic Island, USB-C, a 48MP camera, and more make it delightful to use.”
- Big camera upgrade
- USB-C
- Matte glass feels incredible
- Dynamic Island
- Curved edges are more comfortable
- Reverse wired charging
- 60Hz refresh rate display
- Most color options are too light
- Can get warm when running intensive apps
- Won't get Apple Intelligence in iOS 18
Apple’s iPhone 15 lineup has arrived, and at the very base of the lineup is the standard iPhone 15. While most people may be fawning over the Pro models, the regular iPhone 15 is actually a big deal, too.
In 2022, Apple didn’t make many changes to the iPhone 14 that made it worth getting over the iPhone 13. But with the iPhone 15, there are some pretty significant changes — including the Dynamic Island, USB-C charging, a 48MP main camera, and the A16 Bionic chipset.
Do all of these changes make the standard iPhone 15 worth it? It did, at least until Apple revealed iOS 18 at WWDC 2024.
About our iPhone 15 review
Christine Romero-Chan originally reviewed the iPhone 15 in October 2023 after about two weeks of use. She used the iPhone 15 again after Apple’s WWDC 2024 event, which gave us a look at iOS 18 coming in the fall. Since we’ve used the iPhone 15 with this new information, we have included a follow-up “Nine months later” section, which you can read below. The review score was also adjusted from an 8/10 to a 7/10.
iPhone 15: nine months later
The iPhone 15 is a great phone for most people. The hardware got some big upgrades from its predecessor, making it one of the biggest upgrades for the base model in quite some time.
First of all, the design of the phone is quite nice. Instead of going with the usual glossy back glass, the iPhone 15 uses a new “color-infused” glass that has a matte finish. Though the color could be more saturated throughout, the matte finish has a great in-hand feel. And since it’s matte, you don’t really have to deal with a lot of fingerprints and smudges if you decide not to use a case. The rounded corners and edges also make it comfortable to hold for longer periods of time, and it’s very lightweight.
Apple surprised everyone by giving the iPhone 15 a 48MP main camera, which is a big jump from the 12MP of the iPhone 14. One of my previous complaints with the iPhone was the harsh colors that seemed to result from the processing of images after you take them, but that’s less problematic with the iPhone 15. The Auto Portrait is also super convenient to have, as it can make any normal photo with a person or pet look even better. All these months later, it’s still a killer camera addition.
However, after Apple revealed its upcoming iOS 18 update, which is compatible with most phones, including the iPhone 15, I can’t fully recommend it anymore. Why? Because even though the iPhone 15 just came out, it will not be able to utilize most of iOS 18 due to Apple Intelligence, which is Apple’s suite of AI powered tools.
Despite phones going back to the iPhone XS series being able to get the iOS 18 update, only two models will be able to use Apple Intelligence: the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. So, despite the iPhone 15 being one of the latest models, it will only get about half of the new features of iOS 18.
I can no longer recommend getting the iPhone 15 unless you’re okay with not having half of the new iOS 18 features.
iOS 18 will be a big change for Apple users, with about half of the brand new features only being available for those who purchased the most recent higher-end models. Apple Intelligence will be ushering in a new era of fragmentation, unfortunately. The reason only the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are able to get Apple Intelligence is due to the more powerful A17 Pro chipset, as well as having 8GB RAM – all other iPhones, including the iPhone 14 Pro, have only 6GB RAM.
So, unless you are okay with not getting the cool new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18, I would recommend not getting the iPhone 15 at this point. We should expect the entire iPhone 16 lineup, including the base model, to be able to run Apple Intelligence.
iPhone 15: design
On the surface, the iPhone 15 looks similar to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 that came before it. You have flat edges, an aluminum frame, a glass back, and a diagonal dual camera layout. But that’s where the similarities end.
Previous models of the standard iPhone had a glossy glass back, which I was never a big fan of. The glossy texture meant it would always be a fingerprint and smudge magnet.
Thankfully, the iPhone 15 eliminates this problem by using a new, “color-infused” glass back that results in an incredibly nice matte finish. With this new matte glass, it’s very hard to see fingerprints, at least on the green model that I was sent. This should also apply to the other lighter colors as well, but I’m not sure about the black option.
The matte glass also seems like it makes it easier to hold the iPhone 15 without a case. At least for me, it does not feel as slippery as other models. My only complaint with the “color-infused” glass is that the colors are super light and pale for most of the lineup. It seems that pink looks the best, and green is not as bad as I originally thought. But the blue appears to look especially bad with how pale it is.
Also, unlike previous models, the iPhone 15 has a bit of curvature going on the edges, so it is not as sharp as before. This is a welcome change, as it definitely helps with making it feel more ergonomic to hold — especially when combined with the lightweight aluminum frame.
The iPhone 15 has an incredibly nice matte finish.
Speaking of aluminum frame, as someone who has only really used the Pro models of iPhones, I appreciate the aluminum being pretty resistant to fingerprints and smudges, unlike stainless steel and titanium.
Unlike the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus still have the Ring/Silent switch, so that is unchanged, along with the volume and side buttons.
On the bottom, however, you will now find a USB-C port for charging, as Apple finally eliminated Lightning. We’ll get more into that in a bit.
iPhone 15: screen
For the standard iPhone 15, we have a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display that supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Resolution is 1179 x 2556 pixels with a 19:5:9 aspect ratio and 461 pixels per inch (ppi) density. It reaches 1,000 nits for normal brightness and up to 2,000 nits for peak outdoor brightness.
The display on the iPhone 15 looks pretty good. The colors are bright and vibrant, text is sharp and crisp. For the average person, this display is great. But if you’re coming from a Pro model with ProMotion, or even an Android phone, then you might notice some janky scrolling and transition animations. That’s because Apple continues to use a 60Hz refresh rate for the standard iPhone displays, which is disappointing considering the $799 starting price.
When I first got the iPhone 15 and started using it, I honestly didn’t notice the 60Hz refresh rate. But that may be due to the newness of the device and my excitement about getting it. After I got my personal iPhone 15 Pro and have been using that, going back to the standard iPhone 15 display makes it easy to see that scrolling is slower and definitely not as smooth.
Still, while the refresh rate is disappointing compared to the competition, the average non-techie person probably is not going to notice. It certainly isn’t quite like going from non-Retina to Retina (iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4), which was a very obvious difference.
The iPhone 15 display isn’t bad, but the 60Hz is certainly dated when you look at other options on the market. Maybe at some point, Apple could go with at least 90Hz displays on the standard models.
Apple also brought the Dynamic Island to the standard iPhone 15 models after it was an iPhone 14 Pro exclusive last year. One of my issues with the Dynamic Island over the past year was the fact that not a lot of the apps that I use on a day-to-day basis really make use of the feature. However, now that even the regular iPhone 15 models have the Dynamic Island, I’m hoping to see more creative ways to make use of it.
Unfortunately, the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus do not have an always-on display like the Pro models. I was hoping that Apple would bring that Pro feature down to the standard models as well (Dynamic Island made the jump, after all), but alas, not this year. Perhaps in the next year or two? One can only hope.
iPhone 15: software and performance
Apple ships iOS 17 with the standard iPhone 15 models out of the box. Inside the iPhone 15, you have the A16 Bionic that launched last year with the iPhone 14 Pro models and 6GB RAM.
The iPhone 15 also uses Apple’s new second-generation ultra-wideband chip, which lets you find someone who shared their location with you by guiding you to them like with the AirTag Precision Finding feature. However, this feature only works with iPhone 15 models. Unless all of your friends and family are upgrading to an iPhone 15, you may not be able to make use of this feature. I certainly am not able to right now, but this could be different in the future.
As you’d expect from a new iPhone, the iPhone 15 runs iOS 17 well, and everything feels fast and snappy. I mostly used the iPhone 15 for checking my personal and work email, sending messages in Microsoft Teams, endlessly scrolling through my social media (Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon), taking a lot of photos and syncing with iCloud, music and video streaming, and some light gaming.
Switching between apps is seamless, editing photos is a breeze as the renders happen quickly, capturing photos has no lag, and so far, I haven’t had issues with apps crashing. I do notice that if you are running some more resource-intensive games or apps, then the iPhone 15 will start to feel warm.
Though I expect the iPhone 15 to get warm when using graphically intensive apps and games, current reports seem to indicate that the entire iPhone 15 lineup could have an overheating issue, though it’s more common with the Pro models.
Aside from the overheating issue, which I’m hoping can be resolved through software updates, the iPhone 15 has been solid in terms of performance.
iPhone 15: cameras
The iPhone 15 got a surprising camera upgrade this year, bringing a 48MP main camera and a 12MP ultrawide lens with a 120-degree field of view (FoV). The ultrawide doesn’t have any changes from last year, which is a bit of a letdown since it still does not have autofocus. The selfie camera is also still 12MP.
Unlike last year’s iPhone 14 Pro models, which could only shoot in 48MP full resolution with ProRAW and defaulted to 12MP for regular photos, the iPhone 15 defaults to 24MP photos. If you don’t want the slightly larger file size of a 24MP image, you could change it back to 12MP, but the 24MP photos do look better overall, and the size difference is negligible.
I’m actually quite impressed with the iPhone 15’s overall photo quality.
You can still shoot in full 48MP resolution if you really need to, but that setting needs to be enabled in the Settings app first. Honestly, the 24MP default should be fine for most, and the 48MP should be reserved for those images that you plan to print since the differences aren’t super noticeable.
Again, I typically always go for the Pro models because I prefer having a telephoto lens. But in my time with the regular iPhone 15, I’m actually quite impressed with the overall photo quality, despite lacking an actual telephoto camera.
The photos I’ve shot all came out with rich and vibrant colors, sharp details, and just look more detailed overall compared to what I was expecting. I especially love the Auto Portrait feature, which is available on all iPhone 15 models, so you no longer need to manually switch to Portrait mode. Instead, as long as the camera focuses on a person (or even a pet), it can automatically capture the depth data in the background, and you can turn it into a Portrait image after the fact.
I tend to take a lot of photos of my daughter, and the new Auto Portrait mode is definitely one of my favorite new features of the entire lineup. Since my daughter is a very active toddler, it’s hard for me to get good photos when she’s on the move, let alone portraits (every second counts!). This feature has allowed me to capture some pretty amazing portraits that I would never have been able to capture with my old iPhone 14 Pro. It’s super easy to turn on Portrait mode after the image is captured, and even adjusting the intensity of your background blur is super intuitive.
The larger sensors in the iPhone 15 cameras also allow it to reach 2x optical zoom without an actual telephoto lens, which is decent. You won’t get all of the finer details with an actual telephoto lens, but it doesn’t look half bad, all things considered. The iPhone 15 also seems to do well in low-light environments, as more details are captured even when the scene is dimly lit.
Overall, the cameras on the iPhone 15 are pretty good, especially if you’re upgrading from older models. If you need a bit more with the cameras, then you should consider the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max.
iPhone 15: battery life
Apple included slightly larger batteries across the entire iPhone 15 lineup. For the iPhone 15 specifically, there’s a 3,349mAh battery inside, which is a slight bump from the 3,279mAh from its predecessor. Unfortunately, this is still very much a one-day phone.
An average day of phone usage for me looks like this: constantly checking email in Spark and Microsoft Outlook, sending messages in Teams, a lot of iMessage use, social media, Apple Music streaming, Disney+ streaming, web browsing in Safari, and some light gaming. In my time with the iPhone 15, I’ve been playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure on Apple Arcade.
The phone comes off the charger around 6 a.m., and by the time I go to bed around 10:30 p.m., it is at 30%. This seems pretty average, and unlike my iPhone 15 Pro, the iPhone 15 did not seem to have an overheating issue. It does get warm, but not to the point where I can’t comfortably hold it. I feel like this is maybe due to having the A16 Bionic rather than the A17 Pro chip.
I have enjoyed having USB-C on the iPhone 15, though I do wish Apple improved charging speed with that change. With USB-C, I have more options of cables to use, rather than the proprietary Lightning cable. Plugging in the iPhone 15 with at least a 20W adapter gets you about 50% charge in 30 minutes, which is the same as before.
MagSafe charging remains at 15W speeds and 7.5W for Qi-compatible wireless charging. The new reverse wired charging, where you can use your iPhone 15 to charge up other devices through a USB-C cable, is capped at 4.5W. I’m a little surprised that Apple didn’t also add reverse wireless charging, as that is common with a lot of Android devices, and it’s less convenient to always have a spare USB-C cable handy.
iPhone 15: price and availability
The iPhone 15 comes in five colors: black, pink, green, yellow, and blue. It starts at $799 for 128GB, and you can get more storage with the 256GB or 512GB variants.
It’s available on all major carriers, though you could save some money by checking out what iPhone 15 deals are currently available. In some cases, you could even get it for free (or close to it).
iPhone 15: verdict
This is one of Apple’s biggest upgrades for the standard iPhone model in years. It may not be a big change if you’re coming from an iPhone 13 or iPhone 14, but for those who are coming from older iPhone models, then this is a significant one.
The biggest upgrade is, of course, the cameras. The iPhone has been using 12MP cameras since the iPhone 6S in 2015, so with the jump to 48MP on the standard iPhone 15, it’s the first time Apple has bumped the camera up in almost a decade. The resulting photos with the main camera also look fantastic, with nicely saturated colors that don’t look washed out and have plenty of sharp details.
Apple ditching Lightning for USB-C is also quite a significant change, and it’s most welcome. Though the charging speed is still capped at around 20W, having USB-C gives you more options for cables since it’s a universal standard with most other electronics these days — including Apple’s own iPads and MacBooks. Plus, you’re able to use your iPhone 15 to charge up other devices when needed, which is handy, though it’s surprising that Apple didn’t choose reverse wireless charging instead.
The Dynamic Island is a fun addition, but for me, it hasn’t been an absolute must in the past year with the iPhone 14 Pro, though hopefully that changes now with wider adoption. The matte glass back just feels incredibly nice compared to older models, combined with the more ergonomic rounded edges, makes for an overall comfortable experience when using it. I just wish that Apple would bump up that refresh rate to be a bit more competitive with Android devices at that price point.
While this is a significant upgrade for the standard iPhone, it still falls short of some of the competition.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 costs around the same price as the iPhone 15 but has a 120Hz refresh rate on the 6.2-inch AMOLED display. You also have a triple-lens camera with 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto lenses, whereas the iPhone 15 doesn’t even have an actual telephoto lens. The battery is also more than the iPhone 15 with a 4,000 mAh cell, and with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chip, the battery life is very impressive, lasting a full day. You also have reverse wireless charging.
Then there’s the Google Pixel 8. The retail price for the Pixel 8 is $699, making it a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 15, but you also get more features. The 6.2-inch AMOLED display of the Pixel 8 has a 120Hz refresh rate, which is more than the iPhone 15. The Pixel 8 also has a dual camera system with a 50MP main shooter and a 12MP ultrawide. The Pixel 8 also has the most stock Android experience, similar to iOS on the iPhone.
But if you’re set to stick with iOS and need an upgrade for your iPhone — or are just considering your first iPhone — the iPhone 15 is a decent choice. It’s almost like getting last year’s iPhone 14 Pro at a cheaper price and with a better, more comfortable, and lightweight build. Though you still don’t get some things like the always-on display and telephoto camera, it’s a decent phone for most people.
However, at this point in 2024, the iPhone 15 is a tricky phone to recommend. If you can hold out a few more months and want to be sure you get all of the new features coming in iOS 18 — including Apple Intelligence — you should try to wait for the iPhone 16. But if you don’t care about that stuff and you just want an iPhone right now, the iPhone 15 is still a good, reliable handset.
