iPhone 15 and 15 Plus. The colors are “yellow” and “blue” respectively.
We bring you a review of the iPhone 15/Pro series.
iPhone 15 Pro Max and 15 Pro. Colors are “black titanium” and “blue titanium”
As you know, four models will be released this year: “iPhone 15”, “iPhone 15 Plus”, “iPhone 15 Pro”, and “iPhone 15 Pro Max”. Pre-orders have already begun and it will hit the market on September 22nd.
Let’s take a look at how each one finishes.
The finish makes it easy to hold. Pro is much lighter
Let’s start with the appearance.
As you know, the iPhone 15 series uses aluminum alloy for the frame, and the iPhone 15 Pro series uses titanium alloy.
iPhone 15 Plus (blue). The frame is made of aluminum alloy iPhone 15 Pro (blue titanium).The frame is titanium alloy
A common feature of both models is that they have gentler edges than past models. Therefore, it feels soft when you hold it in your hand.
iPhone 14 Pro Max on the left. iPhone 15 Pro Max on the right.You can see that the corner radius is larger.
Both cover glasses on the back have a matte finish and feel gentle to the touch. I think the coloring of the iPhone 15 series, including the back, is preferable, but this is completely my preference.
Especially in the case of the Pro, the material has been changed from glossy stainless steel to a matte titanium alloy, making fingerprints less noticeable.
In the case of the Pro series, which uses titanium, the finish image varies considerably depending on the color.
The ones I’m trying this time are black titanium (15 Pro Max) and blue titanium (15 Pro), which are dyed quite darkly.
On the other hand, white titanium and natural titanium are quite close to the color of the titanium material itself.
Also, compared to the 14 Pro/Max, the 15 Pro/Max has a slightly thinner frame, resulting in thinner display bezels. However, this is really “slight” and not so noticeable that it is immediately noticeable.
14 Pro Max on the right, 15 Pro Max on the left.The display bezels are slightly thinner on the 15 Pro Max.
The iPhone 15 Pro series is 19g lighter than the iPhone 14 Pro series. It’s not a big deal if you look at the numbers, but when you actually compare them, you can clearly see the difference.
The iPhone 15 Plus weighs 201g, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max weighs 221g. The iPhone 14 Pro Max weighs 240g, so each weighs about 20g. This is just my personal opinion, but when you hold it in your hand, the difference between 14 Pro Max and 15 Pro Max feels bigger than the difference between 15 Plus and 15 Pro Max. 240g may mean that it was quite the “bare weight”.
Dynamic island on iPhone 15, action button on 15 Pro
In terms of appearance and functionality, there are differences between the iPhone 15 series and 15 Pro series.
The iPhone 15 series uses “Dynamic Island,” a variable notification area adopted from the 14 Pro series.
iPhone 15 on the left, iPhone 15 Pro on the right. Both are equipped with dynamic islands.the size is the same
The shape changes from a so-called notch to an oval shape, which can be combined with a display to create a variety of expressions. This is my impression after using the iPhone 14 Pro Max for a year, but rather than a dramatic change, I think it’s more like “this is how it should be”. I hope that by making the entire series a dynamic island, support for the app will expand.
A major change is that the iPhone 15 Pro series uses an “action button.”
At the top is the “Action” button.This is where the mute switch would normally be located.
It can be said that the action button replaces the “mute switch” and can be used in a wider range of ways. There was a rumor that the iPhone 15 would have no physical buttons, but that’s not actually the case; both the action button and the power button are physical buttons that can be pushed in.
An item related to action buttons has been added to “Settings”, so you can swap functions here. Basically, it calls up functions specified by the system, such as “camera” and “voice memo.”
I set “flashlight” to the action button and tried using it.
However, by linking it with the “Shortcut” app, you can use it in a more diverse range of ways. If you want to call up your favorite app or function, it would be a good idea to use a shortcut app.
The action button is quite interesting. It doesn’t work unless you explicitly “push” it, so malfunctions are unlikely to occur.
On the other hand, people who routinely switch to “mute” may find it difficult to switch to other functions. Conversely, it may be that there are surprisingly few people who switch to “mute” on a daily basis, and many people are looking for other functions.
Usage expands with USB-C.No problems with display or audio
The biggest change throughout the iPhone 15 is the shift from Lightning to USB-C.
USB-C terminal of iPhone 15 (yellow) USB-C terminal of iPhone 15 Pro (blue titanium)
The cable included in the package has also been changed to one with USB-C on both ends. This cable is of the “USB2 specification”, and the same one is also included in the iPhone 15 Pro series that supports USB3. Therefore, if you want to take advantage of the maximum transfer speed of 10Gbps with iPhone 15 Pro, you will need a separate cable that complies with the standard.
What’s inside the iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Plus.Both cables include the same USB-C cable.
In fact, if you only use it for charging, you won’t notice much of a difference between USB-C and Lightning. The specs say it can charge at a maximum of 27W (9V x 3A), and there is no change in charging speed. Of course, being able to charge it with a versatile USB-C cable is a big deal.
The great advantage is that it increases the flexibility of connecting to various peripheral devices. Lightning often required various conversions, but USB-C makes it easy.
First, the display.
I tried connecting it to a PC display using a USB-C cable, and both the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro connected easily.
However, at this time, it is necessary to connect with a “cable that supports Display Port connection”, that is, a USB 3.2 or higher cable, or a Thunderbolt 3 or higher cable. The USB-C cable that comes with the iPhone 15 is not compatible, so it cannot be used to connect to a display.
Since it’s a USB-C connected display, I also connected XREAL Air, and it worked without any problems.
Easily connects to sunglasses-type displays such as “XREAL Air”
The HDMI to USB-C connection cable I had on hand also worked without any problems. I am able to display the iPhone screen by connecting it to the TV’s HDMI terminal.
Connect to TV via HDMI
The microphone connected to USB-C also worked without any problems. TASCAM’s DR-05X, which can be used as a USB microphone, also worked, as did Ulanzi’s wireless microphone. Ulanzi’s microphone is sold as “for Android” and is equipped with USB-C, but there seems to be no problem with its operation.
I was also able to use the Ulanzi wireless microphone sold for Android.
Next is Ethernet. This is also okay. When I set it to airplane mode and connected it, an item called “Ethernet” appeared in “Settings,” so I knew it was properly recognized.
Pay attention to the “Ethernet” display. Would be good to use in places where Wi-Fi connection is poor.
USB DAC is also fine. All audio on the iPhone played normally, and “Headphone” was displayed in the volume control section, so the USB DAC itself was probably recognized as a USB headphone.
You can also connect to a USB DAC for wired high-resolution playback.
As a small tidbit, I would like to tell you what you can do in combination with the “USB-C version of AirPods Pro” that will be released at the same time.
You can also charge the USB-C version of AirPods Pro.However, it cannot be charged wirelessly.
Since both are USB-C, you can also “charge AirPods Pro from your iPhone” by connecting them with a cable. However, it is not possible to use the so-called “pass-alone charging,” which is the function of “charging other devices using wireless power supply from the smartphone”, which is realized on the Galaxy and Xperia.
Supports peripherals up to 4.5W, USB 3 cable for faster transfers on Pro
So what about USB memory?
Of course it’s okay… but there are some things you should be careful about.
Of course, regular USB memory was recognized. However, the large storage capacity of the 2TB M.2 SSD in the case was not recognized.
Regular USB memory is recognized, but an M.2 SSD displayed as a drive in “Files” in a case is not recognized.
Why is this?
The reason lies in the power consumption of devices that can be controlled by the iPhone.
Apparently, the iPhone 15 can only handle devices that operate on 4.5W or less. Therefore, the M.2 SSD, which consumes a lot of power, did not work properly.
I-O Data’s large-capacity SSD (SSPE-USC500, 500GB capacity), which I purchased separately, was recognized and worked without any problems, so it seems that “even the same SSD depends on the power consumption.” This is not limited to iPhones; the same phenomenon occurs on Android as well.
The reason why external storage connections are important for the iPhone 15 series, especially the iPhone 15 Pro, is that “when shooting ProRes video, you can record directly to external storage.”
When recording in ProRes, you can record to connected external storage.When the connection is established, the words “USB-C” will appear at the bottom of the screen.
ProRes is a large file format, and at 4K/30fps, one minute of data is approximately 6GB. Therefore, if you record on the main unit, it will be difficult to transfer it when editing, and you will likely run out of storage space. But using external storage solves this problem.
Especially in the case of ProRes 4K/60fps, it only supports recording to external storage.
ProRes 4K/60fps recording can only be performed on external storage
This means that a large capacity storage is required, but if the storage has a built-in power supply or does not have an external power supply, it can only be used if the power consumption is 4.5W or less. Perhaps in the future there will be more products that address these situations as professional solutions.
Also, according to the specifications, it is possible to connect the iPhone 15 Pro to a Mac or Windows PC using a USB-C cable and take “tethered” photos, but I did not try this because I did not have the compatible software available this time.
I also checked the file transfer speed.
The iPhone 15 series supports up to USB 2, so it supports up to 480Mbps, and the 15 Pro series supports USB 3, so it supports up to 10Gbps. So, of course, if you use the appropriate storage, there will be a speed difference.
This time, we measured the time it took to finish copying 50 RAW photos (approximately 1.25GB) to the iPhone. The results are as follows.
Measured the time to transfer 1.25GB of data from external storage to internal iPhone.After all, only Pro is faster, but the external storage side also needs to be faster.
As expected, the combination of iPhone 15 Pro series + high-speed SSD (specifications: Read: 530MB/s, Write: 450MB/s) makes a clear difference.
However, if you use a regular USB memory, the speed will be the same. This is probably because the transfer speed of USB memory itself is slow, and USB 2 is sufficient.
Looking at it this way, it seems like “Pro is for people who handle large volumes, and either is for people who don’t.”
Cameras have improved in terms of usability rather than image quality
So what about the camera?
To be frank, the iPhone 14 series had sufficiently high image quality, but I think the resolution of the 15 has improved overall.
[Editor’s note]The HEIF format data of the photo can be downloaded from below.
Shooting sample original data:rtHEIF.zip(45.79MB)
In particular, both main cameras are 48 megapixels, and it is now possible to shoot at 48 megapixels depending on the settings, so the settings can be adjusted for everyday scenes and when there is sufficient light and you want to prioritize resolution. The key point is that you can switch between them.
Another point is that the range of switching angle of view and magnification is increasing.
The iPhone 15 now has a mode that extracts 24 megapixels from the main camera image and uses it as a “2x telephoto” image.
The same function is also adopted by the Xperia 5 V, so it is not unique. This function is suitable for casual use when you don’t need a long telephoto lens or just want to get closer to it, and it is desirable for many people.
On the other hand, if you think about it that way, the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro has a “3x telephoto” seems a little half-hearted. The appeal of the 15 Pro Max, which has the same thickness and camera design but is equipped with a 5x telephoto lens, stands out.
When the 5x telephoto lens becomes equivalent to 120mm, the effects of camera shake become more severe, but when I tried it out this time, I was surprised at how much camera shake was suppressed. The function to move the sensor in 3 axes and make corrections works quite well.
Image stabilization at 5x telephoto.I am holding it with one hand and taking pictures, but there is almost no shake at 5x.
Also, for the Pro, you can choose the viewing angle of the main camera from 24mm/28mm/35mm. This function has a strong meaning of matching the angle of view taken with another camera, but it can also be used simply to “enlarge just the feeling.”
In addition, one of the dissatisfaction with iPhone cameras so far was that there was a large amount of ghost inside the lens. This is a phenomenon in which strong light from lighting sources is reflected within the lens, creating a UFO-like light in the air that appears in photographs. I had high hopes because I was told that the lens coating had been improved, but I didn’t see any noticeable changes here. Honestly, it’s a shame.
GPU is faster than CPU
Finally, let’s take a look at the benchmark values.
I used “Geekbench 6” and “3D Mark (Solar Bay)”, but the iPhone 15 Pro series is definitely the best. There was also a noticeable improvement in graphics performance. Performance improvements including ray tracing will certainly have an effect on games.
Geekbench 6 CPU and GPU tests. We measured the results of “Solar Bay”, which measures CG including ray tracing, of “3D Mark”, which measures 3D graphics performance, which compiles data from “iPhone 12 Pro Max” released in 2020 onwards. 3D Mark/Solar Bay screen has greater performance improvement than the CPU.This test assumes ray tracing, which is a heavy load.
Regarding the main memory, it was confirmed that both iPhone 15 Pro series have “8GB”. Up to the iPhone 14 Pro Max has 6GB, and the iPhone 15 also has 6GB.
On the other hand, in order to take advantage of this graphical performance, “games that utilize advanced graphics, including ray tracing, for mobile devices” will need to be released.
Apple is actively recruiting game makers, with Capcom providing “Resident Evil Village” and “Resident Evil RE:4,” and Kojima Productions providing “DEATH STRANDING” for the iPhone.
If you connect it to a TV or other device via USB-C and connect a controller wirelessly, you can use it as a game console…but to be honest, I’m not sure yet how much this will appeal to users. You’ll need to buy a high-end iPhone to play, but I think people who want to go that far would probably own a game console or PC.
People who buy this year’s iPhone should keep this trend in mind. Perhaps, if anything, this trend is a manifestation of the “strengthening of Apple’s products to support games”, but there is no doubt that the range of products will expand to some extent.
2023-09-19 13:00:00
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