I’ve had the 15 Plus for a few weeks now and I figured I’d throw together a few bullet points on my findings on this. After coming from an iPhone 12, this thing is a lot better, but it feels a lot like changes in a car. It’s all small increments now.
The size change is fine. I don’t notice it any longer, and the larger screen is nicer to read on.
The screen is definitely brighter, both sunlight visible and even at minimum brightness. I wouldn’t mind if it went a bit darker for morning/night viewing but otherwise I’m happy.
The speakers are a lot better than the 12.
The smooth touch glass back and rounded frame really make this feel like a newer, more premium device.
The dynamic island is fun but mostly just gimmicky. It’s a nice way to hide the camera/face ID gear.
The LED for the flash is a more neutral white, leaning toward the warmer end of the spectrum. Looks good.
USB-C, finally. I’ve already removed all my standard lightning stuff and updated my charging kits.
Note on the USB-C, if you’re charging your phone with MagSafe, you CAN use the USB port to charge an Airpods case! Neat!
The 48MP main sensor is a big jump. Size wise it actually produces real separation. Night mode isn’t triggered nearly as early. The sensor shift image stabilization helps a lot for night photos.
The regular 24MP images coming out of the main sensor are very nice and detailed, great jump from the 12. Getting the option for a full 48MP HEIF is great too, and the 2x “optical zoom” crop you get now in the camera app makes this feel like a 3 sensor device.
The wide angle feels about the same as the one on the 12… Which is to say, not great. Not terrible. It is nice and wide though.
The new image processing tricks are great. Deep Fusion, Photonic Engine, etc all result in more detailed photos than my iPhone 12 was able to provide, and in even lower light scenarios.
It’s fast. I guess that should be expected from the A16 Bionic. The iPhone 12 was still plenty zippy but this is noticeably faster.
Goodbye battery anxiety, hello “When do I actually charge this..?” anxiety! I think depending on my usage this is a 1.5-2 day phone. I find most days I’m still sitting north of 50% battery, even with 5+ hours of screen time during the day.
So yeah, that’s the Coles Notes. It’s a solid upgrade, highly recommend.