iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: What’s different?

Every year, Apple brings tech enthusiasts together for an annual tech pilgrimage, also known as the iPhone launch event. At its September 2023 event, Apple launched the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max, its newest iPhone lineup. While the standard iPhone series borrowed design elements seen on the iPhone 14 Pro models, the iPhone 15 Pro models made an industrial leap.

In 2017, when Apple launched the iPhone X alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, the iPhone X became the first smartphone from the company to use a stainless steel chassis. Six years later, Apple moved away from stainless steel and embraced titanium, a metal known for its strength and resistance to corrosion.

It’s not the only change however, that Apple brought to the iPhone Pro model line-up. To know more, check out this little comparison of the two devices that we put together.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: Design

With the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple has made subtle changes to the design that are not easily distinguishable. The iPhone 15 Pro is thicker at 8.25mm compared to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 7.85mm thick chassis, but lighter, weighing 187 grams compared to the iPhone 14 Pro’s 206 grams. The iPhone 15 Pro is also not as tall or wide as the iPhone 14 Pro. This results in a smartphone that is lighter and much easier to handle with one hand than previous generation. 

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Thanks to the use of titanium, the iPhone 15 Pro is much more rigid, and the added thickness ensures its strength. It comes in four colours: natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium, and black titanium, while the iPhone 14 Pro comes in deep purple, gold, silver, and space black. The colours look muted and there are reports that the natural titanium colour is better at disguising any scratches.

In terms of design, Apple has not only changed the material but also the port and button situation. The ring/silent switch on the iPhone 14 Pro and previous iPhone models has been replaced with an action button, which can be programmed to do virtually anything you want. With the entire iPhone 15 lineup, Apple is ditching the Lightning port in favour of USB-C, but only the iPhone 15 Pro and Max are USB 3.0 compatible.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: Processor

The iPhone 14 Pro was powered by Apple’s A16 Bionic chip, while the iPhone 15 Pro comes with the new Apple A17 Pro chip. This is the first smartphone chip to be fabricated using a 3nm process and it is a 6-core CPU with 2 performance and 4 efficiency cores. It has a 6-core GPU as opposed to the 5-core GPU seen on the A16 Bionic, and a 16-core neural engine that is up to 2x faster.

Apple claims the A17 Pro is up to 10 per cent faster than A16 Bionic and the GPU is 20 per cent faster with support for ray tracing. The iPhone 15 Pro, according to the brand, has the fastest and most power-efficient chip on any smartphone.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: Display

As far as the display is concerned, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro are not that different. They both feature a 6.1-inch OLED panel that Apple calls the Super Retina XDR display. Both of them also have a Dynamic Island that allows for a new way to interact with apps. The displays support ProMotion technology for adaptive refresh rates up to 120Hz, while also supporting an always-on feature.

From support for a wide colour gamut (P3), 1,000 nits max brightness, 1,600 nits peak brightness to 2,000 nits peak outdoor brightness, there are no major differences between the display on both devices. However, the iPhone 15 Pro has slimmer bezels than its predecessor, which makes it more usable in one hand.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: Cameras

If there is a constant in the iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro debate, it is the camera system. Like the iPhone 14 Pro that came before it, the iPhone 15 Pro also has a triple rear camera setup with 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and a 12MP telephoto sensor. There is also second-generation sensor-shift optical image stabilisation, with 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x optical zoom.

The difference, however, is that the iPhone 15 Pro Max gets 5x optical zoom as opposed to the 3x zoom limit on the iPhone 15 Pro. Otherwise, the cameras are identical to their predecessors with support for portraits with focus and depth control, Apple ProRAW, deep fusion, and Smart HDR 5. One area where the iPhone 15 Pro is also miles ahead, is with video recording.

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You can record 4K video at 24fps, 25fps, 30fps, or 60fps and cinematic video with shallow depth of field can be recorded up to 4K HDR at 30fps. The action mode is also improved with the A17 Pro’s processing power and now delivers the industry’s best video stabilisation.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: Battery and connectivity

The iPhone 15 Pro, like its predecessor, supports Face ID and is rated IP68 for splash, water and dust resistance. They both support 5G, Gigabit LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3, but the iPhone 15 Pro gets a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip and supports thread networking technology.

Even though the iPhone 15 Pro is thicker than the 14 Pro, the battery capacity hasn’t changed much and Apple still claims up to 23 hours of video playback.

There is one significant difference though, in how the new iPhone 15 Pro handles its battery capacity. Apple says the iPhone 15 models can retain 80 per cent of their original battery capacity at 1,000 complete charge cycles as opposed to 500 complete charge cycles on previous iPhone models.

They can add up to 50 per cent charge in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter or higher, and support MagSafe, Qi2, and Qi wireless charging. 

iPhone 15 Pro vs 14 Pro: Which one should I buy

When compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, the iPhone 15 Pro is another incremental update to the iPhone lineup. It does not bring any features that change the smartphone industry landscape, but it does try to offer some new features that ensure it is not last year’s model in a new chassis. The use of titanium is a statement that Apple wants to make its Pro iPhone models comfortable to use. 

ALSO READ: Evolution of the iPhone: How Apple built the poster boy for smartphones 

The introduction of the action button is a sign that Apple is converging towards the idea of a portless iPhone. Apple may have succumbed to European regulators with the USB-C port, but it is a move that was long overdue. The common wisdom to follow when buying an iPhone is always get the newest model available. So, if you are looking for a Pro model iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro is the best option.