Apple iPhone 15 vs iPhone 14 series: An in-depth comparison

Today’s Apple iPhone lineup isn’t as simple or straightforward as it used to be. There are some obvious differences between the 15 and 14 series, such as a Dynamic Island vs a notch, and USB-C instead of the Lightning port, but under the hood, the differences are not as easy to understand.

The iPhone 15 and 14 use different chipsets that powers the phone – but the chip in the iPhone 15 is similar to the one in the iPhone 14 Pro. Despite that, the 15 doesn’t get some of the ‘Pro’ features of the 14 Pro. It can all get very confusing.

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This article will help break down those differences and make picking a new iPhone easier for you. Before we compare phones, however, we first need to compare chipsets. This will be important later when we’re comparing phones.

Apple A15 Bionic: This chipset features a 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, and 16-core neural engine (for AI). The cores that run at a max speed of 3.32GHz are designed around the ARMv8.5-A architecture, and are built on a TSMC 5nm process. L2 cache is 12MB in total, you get 15 billion transistors, and the TDP is 6W. RAM has a bandwidth of 34.1GB/s, and you get 6GB of it.

Apple A16 Bionic: While this has the same number of cores, these cores run at a faster 3.46GHz, and are built on a newer ARMv8.6-A architecture and 4nm process. The L2 cache goes up to 16 MB, transistors to 16 billion, and TDP to 8W. Memory bandwidth goes up to 51.2GB/s.

Bottom line: The A16 Bionic is newer, faster, and more efficient than the A15 Bionic.

Apple A17 Pro: This has a 6-core CPU, 6-core GPU, and a 16-core neural engine. Clock speed now hits a much higher 3.78GHz, the manufacturing process is an even smaller and more efficient 3nm, and total system RAM goes up to 8GB.

Bottom line: The A17 Pro is much faster than both previous SoCs, and thanks to the larger RAM capacity, is better at multitasking.

Major differences

USB-C: The most important difference between the iPhone 14 and 15 lineup is the fact that the latter now uses USB-C instead of Lightning. You can now use a more popular and universal connectivity standard for charging and data transfer, as well as accessories.

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Dynamic island: The notch that Apple introduced with the iPhone X in 2017, has been replaced by a structure that Apple calls Dynamic Island. This island was introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro, and is also available on all the iPhone 15 models. It’s similar to the notch but is a lot smaller and isn’t attached to the top of the display. Apple also has animations that take advantage of this design.

iPhone 14/14 Plus vs iPhone 15/15 Plus: Specifications compared

1. Both phones have a similar 6.1” Super Retina XDR display, but the one on the iPhone 15 is 0.14cm larger. The Plus models feature larger 6.7” displays, with the one on the 15 Plus being 0.05cm larger than the one on the 14 Plus.

2. The iPhone 15’s display is very bright and capable of 2000 nits, while the iPhone 14 can only manage 1200 nits.

3. The iPhone 15 uses the A16 Bionic while the iPhone 14 uses the older A15 Bionic.

4. The iPhone 15 uses a larger 48MP primary camera with 0.5x, 1x, and 2x zoom modes while the iPhone 14 uses a 12MP camera with 0.5x and 1x zoom modes.

5. Both phones have similar video capabilities and can record 4K video at 60 fps.

6. Battery life is similar at 20 hours, but the iPhone 15 does have a slightly larger 3,349mAh battery to the iPhone 14’s 3,279mAh one.

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7. Both phones charge at 20W.

8. Both phones support 5G, but the iPhone 15 supports more bands.

9. The iPhone 15 supports the faster Wi-Fi 6E standard while the 14 supports Wi-Fi 6.

10. The iPhone 14 is available in six colours: Blue, Purple, Yellow, Midnight, Starlight, and Red.

11. The iPhone 15 is available in Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black.

12. On the iPhone 14, the panel under the glass is coloured, while on the iPhone 15, the glass itself is infused with the colour.

13. Both rear panels feel different, with the 15’s finish being easier to grip.

iPhone 14 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro: Specifications compared

1. Both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro feature a similarly sized 6.1” Super Retina XDR display.

2. Both displays have ProMotion (dynamic 120Hz refresh rate) with an Always-On mode.

3. The iPhone 14 Pro uses the A16 Bionic, while the iPhone 15 Pro uses the much faster A17 Pro.

4. Both cameras capture 48 MP images, but the iPhone 15 Pro has an additional 24MP mode. Also, the iPhone 15 Pro uses a different camera sensor than the one on the iPhone 14 Pro.

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5. The iPhone 15 Pro has a faster and more accurate focus mode and depth control.

6. The iPhone 15 Pro uses a USB-C port rated for USB-3 speeds while the 14 Pro uses Lightning rated at USB-2 speeds. 

7. The 15 Pro has a Titanium frame while the 14 Pro has a stainless steel one.

8. The Ring/Silent switch on the 14 Pro has been replaced by an Action Button that can be programmed to perform almost any action on the phone.

9. While both phones can record in ProRes, the 15 Pro can record in ProRes LOG, which captures a lot more information for processing.

10. At 187g, the iPhone 15 Pro is lighter than the 14 Pro’s 206g.

11. The 15 Pro supports the faster Wi-Fi 6E standard and more 5G bands.

12. The iPhone 14 Pro is available in Deep Purple, Gold, Silver, and Space Black

13. The iPhone 15 Pro is available in Natural Titanium, Blue Titanium, White Titanium, and Black Titanium.

14. Base storage starts at 128GB for both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro.

iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: Additional differences

The most expensive Apple iPhones are the Pro Max models. While the differences between these two models are largely similar to the differences between the 14 Pro and 15 Pro, here are some additional differences.

1. The 14 Pro Max offers 0.5x, 1x, 2x, and 3x optical zoom, while the 15 Pro Max offers 5x optical zoom instead of the 3x optical zoom.

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2. The iPhone 15 Pro Max’s main camera also has faster and better image stabilisation.

Now that we’ve highlighted the key differences between the older and current generation of iPhones, we have hopefully made your decision easier.

Our recommendation would be to get an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro series device over the 14 series, as the newer USB-C port and a more efficient chipset will serve you better in the long run.

That said, if you are on a tighter budget (and are okay with missing out on the above-mentioned newer features), you can consider the iPhone 14 series phones.