Apple’s iPhone 15 Plus is a compelling pick for those looking for big screen at an affordable price, but how does it compare to the iPhone 15 Pro?
At one time, the only way to get a plus-sized iPhone model was to opt for Apple’s most expensive flagship, the iPhone Pro Max. Thankfully, Apple changed that last year when it phased out the iPhone mini in favor of a new iPhone 14 Plus, and the good news is that wasn’t a one-off.
This year, Apple is continuing that trend with a new iPhone 15 Plus that has some surprising improvements that make it worth a closer look. Of course, it’s still sitting in an awkward middle ground between the more affordable 6.1-inch iPhone 15 and the more feature-rich iPhone 15 Pro. Is the larger body and more expansive screen a worthwhile tradeoff, or should you spend a little more to get Apple’s more pocketable flagship? Let’s dive in and see how the two compare.iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: specsiPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: design
The name of the game for Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro lineup this year is titanium, with both premium models gaining a more brushed metallic look and shedding quite a bit of weight over their stainless steel predecessors.
In practical terms, this means that the iPhone 15 Pro now comes in lighter than the iPhone 15 Plus. As odd as it seems in light of their size differences, last year’s iPhone 14 Pro weighed slightly more than the iPhone 14 Plus. However, this year, the iPhone 15 Pro is 14 grams lighter than the iPhone 15 Plus, which is as it should be.
Beyond the weight are a few other aesthetic differences. The iPhone 15 Pro comes in an array of rather staid colors that keep with Apple’s titanium theme: Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium. By contrast, the iPhone 15 Plus features an aluminum construction with a palette of pastels — blue, pink, green, and yellow — joining basic black.
For the first time since 2019, there’s no (PRODUCT)RED model in the standard iPhone lineup this year, and the other colors aren’t exactly what we’d call punchy. Apple has adopted a new process to infuse the color into the back glass for a deeper, matte look, but they’re still unmistakably pastels, and you could be forgiven for mistaking what Apple calls “blue” for a silvery-white.
However, the most notable design change in this year’s iPhone 15 Plus is in the ergonomics. Apple has managed to balance things out a bit more and subtly curved the edges so it no longer feels like you’re carrying around a brick the way Apple’s previous plus-sized iPhones did. Apple has done the same with its titanium iPhone 15 Pro, but 6.1-inch models were less unwieldy to begin with, so while it makes a difference on both iPhones, it’s much more noticeable on the iPhone 15 Plus.
The entire iPhone 15 lineup has also finally abandoned Apple’s proprietary Lightning port in favor of the industry-standard USB-C, which will provide much broader accessory compatibility without having to fiddle with dongles. It’s a nice change, but it doesn’t really change the visual design, as the port remains in the same place it’s always been on the bottom edge of the iPhone.
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Plus feature the same level of IP68 water resistance that’s been standard on all of Apple’s iPhones since the 2020 iPhone 12 lineup. Specifically, they can handle immersion in up to six meters of water for up to 30 minutes and are resistant to accidental spills from common liquids such as soda, beer, coffee, tea, and juice. Both models are equally durable, featuring Apple’s Ceramic Shield glass, although that only covers the front. The rear is still standard glass, even on the titanium iPhone 15 Pro.
When it comes to design, the decision between the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Plus will ultimately be about screen size and aesthetics. They’re evenly matched in terms of durability and build quality, and the rest is subjective, so we’re calling this a tie — the winner here is a matter of personal preference.
Winner: TieiPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Plus: display
The iPhone 15 Plus gets two significant display improvements over its 2022 predecessor. The first and most noticeable change is that the Dynamic Island that debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro is now available across the entire iPhone 15 lineup.
What you may not notice right away is that the iPhone 15 Plus is also much brighter. The display can now hit 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness and 2,000 nits outdoors.
This puts the iPhone 15 Plus display much closer to the iPhone 15 Pro, which retains those same peak brightness levels from last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and still features the same Dynamic Island. Other than the obvious size difference, you’ll have a hard time telling the two screens apart at a glance. Both use Apple’s Super Retina XDR (OLED) screens with the same 460 pixels per inch (ppi) density, wide P3 color gamut, and True Tone display.
However, the iPhone 15 Pro gets a meaningful edge in its adaptive refresh rate, which also powers the always-on display. The iPhone 15 Plus is still a fixed 60Hz screen with no always-on display capability, while the iPhone 15 Pro Display can go from 10Hz to 120Hz during regular operation and drop to 1Hz in always-on mode.
Apple calls this its ProMotion technology.
