iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Plus: Get Smaller Or Bigger?
Every September, Apple enthusiasts eagerly anticipate the release of new iPhones. Among the offerings, the base models, iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus stand out as the most accessible options. While premium Pro models boast fancy features and higher price tags, the base models cater to those seeking the latest iPhone experience.
This year, the differences between iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are notable, especially in terms of design, display, and battery life. The iPhone 15 features a compact design, making it comfortable for one-handed use, while the iPhone 15 Plus offers a larger form factor for those who prefer a bigger screen and enhanced productivity.
In today’s comparison review about the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus, let’s find out more, about whether you should prioritize portability with the iPhone 15 or crave a larger, more immersive experience with the iPhone 15 Plus. Let’s Dive right in:
Table of Contents
1. iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Plus: Key Differences
| iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Plus |
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Check the latest Price of iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Plus
2. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: Design
When it comes to design and build, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus offer distinct choices within a shared framework of exceptional build quality. Both models depart from the stainless steel frame found in previous iterations, opting for an aluminum build combined with a Ceramic Shield front and a color-infused glass back. This choice not only maintains premium aesthetics but also contributes to enhanced durability.
The iPhone 15 retains a familiar, compact form factor, measuring 147.6mm in height and weighing a mere 171 grams. Its switch to a Type-C port for charging and the absence of a notch in favor of the “Dynamic Island” display add a fresh twist to the design.
An oleophobic coating on the screen ensures reduced fingerprints and smoother interactions, while IP68 water resistance provides protection up to 6 meters for 30 minutes.
Conversely, the iPhone 15 Plus offers a larger canvas at 160.9mm in height and a weight of around 201 grams. This taller build suits those with bigger hands, catering to users who value a larger display for multimedia consumption. The design elements, including the “Dynamic Island” and Type-C charging, remain consistent with its smaller sibling, as does the IP68 water resistance.
3. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: Display
When it comes to the display, both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus offer significant improvements over their predecessors, catering to different preferences based on size and usage scenarios.
The iPhone 15 features a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a resolution of 1179 x 2556 pixels. This compact yet high-resolution screen delivers crisp visuals, making it ideal for reading books and general daily use. With HDR10 and Dolby Vision support, it ensures an excellent viewing experience for multimedia enthusiasts.
Notably, its peak brightness of 2000 nits is a substantial improvement, providing outstanding outdoor visibility, and the oleophobic coating minimizes fingerprint smudges, enhancing usability.
In contrast, the iPhone 15 Plus boasts a larger 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR OLED panel with a slightly higher resolution of 1290 x 2796 pixels and a similar pixel per inch (PPI).
While the resolution doesn’t see a significant bump, the bigger screen makes it an excellent choice for those who prioritize an immersive multimedia experience, such as watching movies or working with larger documents.
Like its counterpart, it also supports HDR10, Dolby Vision, and features a peak brightness of 2000 nits, ensuring exceptional visibility in various lighting conditions.
4. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: Camera
In the camera section, you don’t see many changes, as both devices have similar photography capabilities. However the “Plus” model gives you longer photography capturing power and a bigger viewing angle due to the larger display size.
The iPhone 15’s camera system elevates photography and videography experiences. It features dual 48MP wide and ultrawide rear sensors and a 12MP front camera. The 48MP wide sensor excels in daylight with an f/1.6 aperture, larger pixels, and sensor-shift stabilization for better image quality and stability. “Auto depth sensing” enhances portrait mode.
The 12MP ultrawide sensor offers a wide field of view, while 2x telephoto and 4x optical zoom provide closer shots. Video recording supports 4K at 60fps. Selfies with the 12MP front camera are sharp with background blur, and “Night mode with time-lapse” enhances low-light photography.
Now, compared to the smaller iPhone 15, the larger iPhone 15 Plus also has a similar powerful camera system with a 48MP wide sensor, 12MP ultrawide sensor, and 12MP front camera, elevating photography and videography. Its 6.7-inch display enhances the viewing experience, and the A16 Bionic chip improves low-light photography.
You also get a similar 12MP front camera with the same video capabilities. The front and rear cameras support 4K video recording, with the iPhone 15 Plus offering 4K at 60fps. Self-portraits benefit from the SL 3D sensor, delivering sharpness and background blur. The device’s larger battery ensures extended photography sessions.
5. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: Performance
When it comes to performance, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus deliver a similar level of power, thanks to their shared A16 Bionic chipsets. However, the larger iPhone 15 Plus offers a more immersive experience due to its bigger display.
The iPhone 15 is equipped with the A16 Bionic chip, which is derived from the previous year’s Pro models (iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max). It boasts a hexa-core CPU, consisting of two high-performance cores clocked at 3.46GHz and four efficiency cores at 2.02GHz.
This configuration results in smooth app usage and gaming, and popular titles like PUBG Mobile, Fortnite, and Alto’s Adventure run seamlessly. The 5-Core Apple GPU ensures impressive gaming performance with high frame rates and crisp visuals.
Additionally, Dolby Atmos enhances audio quality, and Dolby Vision delivers an immersive cinematic experience. The inclusion of second-generation Ultra Wideband technology improves location tracking.
In contrast the iPhone 15 Plus shares the same A16 Bionic chip and similar CPU architecture as its smaller counterpart, with two performance cores and four efficiency cores. Both models have 3.46GHz high-performance cores and 2.02GHz efficiency cores, ensuring smooth app usage.
However, the larger display on the iPhone 15 Plus enhances the gaming experience, especially for graphics-intensive titles like Genshin Impact and Mobile Legends, which benefit from the extra screen real estate.
Just like the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus offers Dolby Atmos for superior audio quality and Dolby Vision for exceptional visuals. Both models also feature second-generation Ultra Wideband technology for improved location tracking.
6. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: OS
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus offer an identical OS experience with the introduction of iOS 17, but the larger iPhone 15 Plus takes full advantage of the operating system’s capabilities due to its bigger display.
Both devices come equipped with iOS 17, which emphasizes personalization and customization. Users of the iPhone 15 can enjoy features such as customizing phone calls, creating live stickers from photos, recording video and audio messages during FaceTime calls, and experiencing a new full-screen interface while charging the phone. Improved AirDrop functionality for sharing contact information seamlessly is also a part of iOS 17.
However, the iPhone 15 Plus benefits from its larger screen, providing a more expansive and immersive experience with iOS 17. This larger canvas enhances the usage of apps, widgets, and other visual elements. iOS 17 introduces features like “Live Voicemail” for sending short live message clips, a centralized hub for stickers, and the ability to send audio or video messages on FaceTime. “Standby” offers quick access to notifications and calendar events, making information at a glance more convenient.
Both devices offer unique customization options, and the choice between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus ultimately depends on whether you prefer a compact or larger device to fully explore the capabilities of iOS 17.
7. iPhone 15 vs 15 Plus: Battery
When it comes to battery life, the choice between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus presents a significant difference that can impact your overall experience, especially if you value extended usage on a single charge.
Starting with the iPhone 15, it comes equipped with a 3349mAh battery, a modest 3% improvement compared to its predecessor. This battery offers respectable performance, providing up to 20 hours of video playback, 16 hours of streamed video watching, and a generous 80 hours of audio playback.
However, real-world usage, such as Netflix binge-watching and Spotify sessions, can still deplete the battery from 100% to around 40% in just 6-7 hours of continuous use. And, in terms of gameplay with iPhone 15, If you play multiplayer games like Fortnite, the 100% battery will go down a little faster to 68% for just 2 hours of gameplay in FHD mode.
Thankfully the new 20W wired charging via the Type-C interface offers a 50% charge in just 30 minutes but takes over an hour to fully charge. This is not a massive time but still a lot as there is no higher wattage charger from Apple.
In contrast, the iPhone 15 Plus boasts a substantial 4483mAh battery, a remarkable 33.8% increase compared to the base model. This larger battery results in impressive endurance, with up to 26 hours of video playback, 20 hours of streaming, and a remarkable 100 hours of audio listening.
Real-world testing shows that the iPhone 15 Plus easily lasts a full day, and with dark mode enabled, it can even stretch to 1.5 days. While the charging technology remains the same with 20W Type-C charging, it might have been expected that a higher wattage charger would accompany the larger battery.
8. Overall Specs
Here is a more specified overview of the iPhone 15 specifications against the 15 Plus specs-
| Specs | iPhone 15 | iPhone 15 Plus |
| Display | 6.1‑inch Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision, (86.4% screen-to-body ratio), 1179×2556 resolution (460ppi), 2,000 nits peak | 6.7‑inch Super Retina XDR OLED, HDR10, Dolby Vision, (88.0% screen-to-body ratio), 1290×2796 resolution (460ppi), 2,000 nits peak |
| Protection & Size | Aluminum design
Ceramic Shield front Color-infused glass back WaterProof: IP68 (6meters for 30Min) |
Aluminum design
Ceramic Shield front Color-infused glass back WaterProof: IP68 (6meters for 30Min) Weight: 201gram |
| Camera | Main: 48 MP Main, f/1.6
12 MP Ultrawide, f/2.4,120° Focus and Depth Control (Automatic Portrait) Video: 4K@24,30,60fps, Dolby Vision HDR Video: 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, HDR , Cinematic (4K 30fps) |
Main: 48 MP Main, f/1.6 Focus and Depth Control (Automatic Portrait) 12 MP Ultrawide, f/2.4,120° Video: 4K@24,30,60fps, DolbyVision HDR Front: 12MP f/1.9, PDAF, SL 3D (biometric sensor, depth)Video: 4K@24/25/30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, gyro-EIS, HDR , Cinematic (4K 30fps) |
| Platform | OS: iOS 17
CPU: A16 Bionic (4nm), (6-Core CPU) GPU: Apple GPU (5-core graphics) Neural Engine: 16-Core |
OS: iOS 17
CPU: A16 Bionic (4nm), (6-Core CPU) GPU: Apple GPU (5-core graphics) Neural Engine: 16-Core |
| RAM | 6GB LPDDR5 | 6GB LPDDR5 |
| ROM | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Technology: NVme |
128GB, 256GB, 512GB
Technology: NVme |
| Battery | 3,349mAh, 20W Wired (& Higher), 15W Magsafe, Qi Wireless 7.5W | 4,383mAh, 20W Wired (& Higher), 15W Magsafe, Qi Wireless 7.5W |
| Audio | Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio, Built‑in stereo speaker | Dolby Atmos, Spatial Audio, Built‑in stereo speaker |
| Connectivity | 5G, LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C 2.0 WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11ax, dual-band, hotspot, Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip |
5G, LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C 2.0 WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11ax, dual-band, hotspot, Second-generation Ultra Wideband chip |
| Colors | Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink | Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink |
9. Verdict
In the last few words, both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus offer compelling choices with their own distinct characteristics while sharing essential qualifications. Whether you opt for the iPhone 15 or the iPhone 15 Plus, you can expect exceptional performance, reliable battery life, and an overall premium experience.
If you prioritize a compact, easy-to-handle device that doesn’t compromise on battery life or performance, the iPhone 15 is the ideal choice. It caters to those who appreciate a smaller, more convenient form factor while still delivering excellent display quality and performance.
On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Plus is tailored for users who relish watching movies, playing games, and indulging in multimedia consumption. Its larger display and extended battery life make it a multimedia powerhouse. While both models share the same camera expertise, they consistently deliver top-notch performance with the bionic inside.
Ultimately, your choice between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus hinges on your personal preferences and usage habits, ensuring a satisfying iPhone experience either way.
Get the iPhone 15, if:
> You want a new iPhone which is compact & handy;
> You need a brighter display on an iPhone;
> You require the power of an A16 bionic chip.
Get the iPhone 15 Plus, if:
> You want the updated chipset;
> You require the Type-C charging;
> You need the latest iPhone with a more prominent display.
Mohammad Shariful Islam is the CEO and MD of Apple Gadgets, a leading e-commerce and retail chain for gadgets in Bangladesh. He has a passion for technology, entrepreneurship, and holds a decade of experience in gadget E-Commerce. He’s committed to providing the best possible shopping experience for customers by delivering the latest and trendy gadgets.
