iPhone 15 Plus vs iPhone 15 Pro Max: Should you go Pro?
The new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro devices have been revealed, and there are some important differences. Let’s compare the two larger models.
We know there are a lot of people out there who rue the loss of the small phone, with many smartphones now coming in at rather large sizes. But, for some, a big screen is ideal. With the iPhone, you’ve not got two choices, depending on how high-end you’d like to go. These are the key points in iPhone 15 Plus vs iPhone 15 Pro Max.
iPhone 15 Pro Max has the A17 Pro
The new Apple A17 Pro chip is a huge point of differentiation between the Pro models this year and the standard. The A17 Pro is a new 3nm chip, compared with the 4nm A16 Bionic in the iPhone 15 Plus, and offers up to 10% faster CPU performance and up to 20% faster GPU performance. It also adds support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is 4 times faster than the software-based equivalent on the A16 Bionic. You get faster data transfer speeds on the Pro too, with both offering USB-C but USB 3 is on offer on the iPhone 15 Pro Max compared to USB 2 on the iPhone 15 Plus.
iPhone 15 Plus is cheaper
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is better than the iPhone 15 Plus in several ways but, if you have a budget to stick to, it might be the latter that you have to go for.
The iPhone 15 Plus starts at £899/$899 while the iPhone 15 Pro Max costs £1,199/$1,199. With the Pro Max, that’s up from last year with Apple eliminating the 128GB configuration, but keeping the 256GB model at the same higher price.
Pre-order the new iPhone 15 range at Box
The complete iPhone 15 range is now available to pre-order sim free at Box from just £799. Includes iPhone 15/15 Plus and Pro/Pro Max
- Box
- All colours! All variations!
- from £799 – £1,599
The 15 Pro Max offers a boosted camera
The iPhone 15 Pro Max and its cheaper iPhone 15 Plus stablemate both get the big camera upgrade from Apple this year, that being a 48MP main camera. However, the Pro sports a new telephoto lens, enabling 3x optical zoom. That could be a game-changer for photography fans and seal the deal when deciding between these models. Currently in redundant fashion, the Pro models can also shoot Spatial Video to view a product that isn’t out yet, that being the Apple Vision Pro.
Titanium comes to the Pro models
All of the new iPhone 15 range gets a bit of a design boost with Apple aiming to reduce the harshness of the flat edges but it’s the Pro models that make a big change to the materials used.
The iPhone 14 Pro series featured stainless steel, making it feel high quality but rather hefty. Apple has reduced the weight of the Pro Max by 19 grams by moving to titanium while keeping the same luxury vibe. The iPhone 15 Pro Max also acquires a new Action Button, ditching the mute switch you’ll find on the iPhone 15 Plus. The new button can be customised to do things like open the camera app, switch on Do Not Disturb, turn on the flashlight and more.