An In-Depth Look at the iPhone 15: Apple's Must-Have Standard Smartphone

Last year, iPhone 14 did not receive much attention due to its minimal upgrades compared to its predecessor. This raised questions about whether the standard iPhone lineup had been overlooked entirely. The answer is no. iPhone 15 this year has been upgraded comprehensively by Apple in many aspects such as design, Dynamic Island screen, better performance and 48MP camera. After a month of experience, I think this is the most worth-buying standard iPhone of Apple at the present time.

Design

The compact design of previous models like the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 provided a comfortable and user-friendly grip. However, both suffered from two drawbacks: a glossy glass back prone to fingerprints and sweat, and a square, somewhat sharp frame. With the iPhone 15, both these issues have been addressed.

The back of this year’s model has switched to a frosted glass type similar to iPhone 14 Pro Max or iPhone 15 Pro Max. This makes the back of the machine become neat, clean and almost does not leave any sweat, dust or fingerprints. Throughout my experience, only the camera cluster and the Apple logo are the positions I have to wipe and clean.

Additionally, the transition between the frame and the back on iPhone 15 is also curved. However, Apple curves lightly to the point that if you look from the outside, the frame of the machine is no different from iPhone 13 or iPhone 14. Thanks to that, iPhone 15 still retains the square design that has been on iPhone for a long time, both bringing a very comfortable and smooth grip feeling.

The USB-C standard is also a new point on iPhone 15. However, the biggest advantage of this charging port is only to synchronize with other devices such as MacBook or Android phones. And in the process of use, I hardly take advantage of factors such as reverse charging for headphones, image transmission or connecting external keyboards.

Performance and software

When it was first launched, Apple A16 Bionic on iPhone 15 was questioned a lot when this chip was not well optimized on the previous generations. iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max even could not maintain stable FPS with very light MOBA games. However, up to iPhone 15, all the problems have been solved.

During an hour of playing League of Legends: Wild Rift with maximum graphics and Wi-Fi connectivity, the iPhone 15 exhibited no noticeable FPS drops or lag. The frame rate consistently maintained at 60fps, with minimal heat generation concentrated around the right side of the camera, which did not affect the overall comfort of holding the device.

In daily use, iPhone 15 is also cool and rarely heats up. Only when playing games with 4G for a long time or recording 4K video, I feel the heat from the machine.

iPhone 15 when sold will be pre-installed with the latest iOS 17. One advantage of the software is that this machine maintains stable performance through iOS versions, not overheating abnormally like iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max. This also happens similarly to iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus, which are not equipped with too many complex hardware such as 120Hz screen or telephoto camera.

Camera

iPhone 15 has officially “said goodbye” to the 12MP main camera, instead of a completely new 48MP sensor. Users can choose between 12MP and 24MP resolutions in the camera settings, with an additional switch allowing capturing images at 48MP — a feature absent in the predecessor, the iPhone 14.

iPhone 15 itself does not have a telephoto camera like the Pro line, instead, in photo modes such as Normal or Portrait, Apple adds a 2X zoom switch.

This feature proves valuable, simplifying portrait photography compared to the iPhone 14, which only had a single 1X zoom, requiring users to stand very close to the subject for a proper background blur. In contrast, the iPhone 15 allows flexible adjustment between 1X and 2X zoom levels, providing users more control over focusing on the subject.

Portrait photos on the iPhone 15 demonstrate excellent background blur, cleanly separating the subject while maintaining smooth background processing. Skin tones are subtly smoothed, retaining a realistic color tone.

In standard photo mode, the iPhone 15 produces high-quality images with enhanced detail due to the new 48MP sensor. However, the downside in this scenario lies in white balance. Most photos exhibit a significant yellowish tint, even more pronounced than the iPhone 13 or iPhone 14. This requires post-processing before sharing with friends and family.