Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus

Apple's iPhone 15 Plus inherits all the advantages of the iPhone 15 and takes it to the next level with a larger screen and longer battery life. This second iteration of the Plus model features a revised design, a brighter screen, and a step up in performance over its predecessor, while keeping the same starting price. iPhone 15 Plus is a good alternative to iPhone 15 Pro Max.

iPhone 15 Plus launch time

iPhone 15 Plus was officially launched at 0:00 September 13, 2023 at the Wonderlust event organized by Apple with iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Specifications

1. Operating system: Apple iOS 17
2. CPU: Apple A16 Bionic
3. Dimensions: 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8 mm
4. Screen size: 6.7 inches
5. Screen resolution: 2796 x 1290 pixels
6. Camera resolution (2 rear cams; 1 front cam) 48MP/12MP/12MP
7. Battery life: 19 hours 10 minutes

Design of iPhone 15 Plus

All in all, the iPhone 15 Plus is just a bigger iPhone 15. It has the same features and specifications, except for the battery, display, and size.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 1

Aside from the slightly revised shape and the use of USB-C, nearly all other design aspects here are similar to the iPhone 14 Plus. Apple has softened the joint between the aluminum frame and the glass panels by rounding the metal. This small tweak significantly improves the feeling of holding the phone in your hand. The 15 Plus is available in beautiful matte black as well as light blue, green, pink or yellow. To achieve this finish, Apple says it used a new method to transfer color directly into the glass. The phone's dimensions and weight are practically the same as its predecessor.

Apple's ceramic shield helps protect the screen. iPhone 15 Plus has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. According to Apple, the iPhone 15 Plus can be immersed in water up to 6 meters deep for up to 30 minutes.

The 15 Plus doesn't have the new Action button like the Pro models. It retains the traditional ringer toggle switch located high on the left edge of the phone. There are also two volume buttons on the left and a power/screen lock button on the right.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 2

Apple has finally replaced the old Lightning port with USB-C. On iPhone 15 Plus, the USB 2.0 port is capable of transferring data at a speed of 480Mbps (same as Lightning).

Screen

The 6.7-inch, 2,796 x 1,290-pixel OLED display is one of the main reasons to choose the iPhone 15 Plus over the standard 6.1-inch, 2,556 x 1,179-pixel model. It has all the same features, but the 0.6-inch size difference gives movies, photos, and websites more space. The 15 Plus display has a high contrast ratio and variable brightness of 1,000 nits (typical), 1,600 nits (HDR) and 2,000 nits (maximum outdoors), making it easy to read in direct sunlight.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 3

The phone ditches the 14 Plus's unsightly notch and instead uses Apple's Dynamic Island. This section near the top of the screen will hide the TrueDepth camera and Face ID. Apple decorates that area with dynamic content, allowing users to interact with select apps like Apple Music, clock, timer, etc. This is a great upgrade for the 15 Plus. However, the 15 Plus only has a static 60Hz display.

Processing power

iPhone 15 Plus has Apple's flagship A16 Bionic processor: It is manufactured in a 4nm process and carried over from the 14 Pro model from 2022. It is still a capable chip thanks to its six-core configuration , which includes two performance cores at 3.46. GHz and four efficient cores. The 5-core GPU and 16-core Neural Engine handle Machne Learning tasks. The 15 Plus has 6GB of RAM and comes with 128GB ($899), 256GB ($999), or 512GB ($1,199) of storage.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 4

iPhone 15 Plus has all the power it needs. On Geekbench 6, the 15 Plus scored 2,598 and 6,549 in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.

In graphics tests, the 15 Plus was slightly slower than the 15. In the GFXBench Aztec Ruins, T-Rex, and Manhattan tests, the 15 Plus averaged 57 fps.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 5

The 15 Plus scored 2,985 on 3DMark Wildlife Extreme, 1,535 on BaseMark Web 3.0 and 1,405,642 on AnTuTu.

Testing a resource-hungry game like Genshin Impact proves the phone is fully equipped for most users. Additionally, the phone handles all apps and multitasking well without slowing down.

Top battery performance

Long battery life is one of the top reasons to buy the iPhone 15 Plus. With the test setting the screen brightness to maximum and streaming HD video over Wi-Fi, the battery lasted 19 hours and 10 minutes.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 6

All models in the iPhone 15 series can charge wired at up to 20W. Apple stopped providing a charger in the box a long time ago, but still supplies a high-quality 39-inch USB-C-to-USB-C cable with new models. It takes 30 minutes to charge the 15 Plus from 0% to 50% as long as there is a fast enough charger. A full charge takes less than 90 minutes.

In terms of wireless charging, the iPhone 15 Plus is compatible with Apple's MagSafe system as well as standard Qi wireless chargers. Using MagSafe at 15W is faster than Qi's 7.5W.

All necessary wireless connectivity

The phone line has the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem. Apple skipped the new Wi-Fi 6E specification on the iPhone 15 Plus and instead switched to Wi-Fi 6 from last year. The phone achieved a maximum Wi-Fi download speed of 590Mbps when tested on a 1Gbps connection. Upload speed is very good at 251Mbps.

Bluetooth 5.3 is integrated for connecting to accessories such as wireless headphones and smartphones. The phone's codec support is unchanged with AAC, Apple Lossless and FLAC available. The 15 Plus also supports Apple's spatial audio. Apple did a great job with the phone's stereo speakers.

With the 15 Plus, you get 2 years of access to Emergency Roadside Assistance. This feature allows connection to a nearby AAA provider using satellite just like Emergency SOS. It is strictly for emergencies that occur in areas without cell signal.

Ccamera

The iPhone 15 Plus has a 48MP main camera that Apple is using in a unique way to produce bright, detail-rich 24MP photos in low light. 15 Plus supports the efficient HEIF format for saving image files.

Detailed information about iPhone 15 Plus Picture 7

Thanks to the high pixel count of the main sensor, the main camera can take 1x and 2x "optical" zoom photos. 2x shots are taken using the sensor's center 12MP (rather than the full 48MP) and then run through Apple's algorithm.

The other camera included in the rear camera module is a 12MP ultra-wide camera with f/2.4 aperture. This camera captures images at 0.5x speed, providing a truly wide field of view for large scenes, tight indoor spaces, or when there are a lot of people. The 12MP selfie camera, which Apple calls TrueDepth, has an f/1.9 aperture and handles multiple photo modes including low light.

Most people will be satisfied with the photos they get from the main camera. It really works well outdoors in bright light. Overall, the 15 Plus does a good job of getting good colors, accurate exposure, and pretty decent white balance while still maintaining sharpness.

All three lenses are capable of capturing high-quality 4K60 footage and can also apply Action mode, Cinema mode and Dolby Vision.

Software

Apple ships the iPhone 15 Plus with iOS 17. There are many new features to love, including Contact Posters, FaceTime Messages, Search Filters in Messages, and Standby mode.

The most important aspect of the software is that Apple will support it for many years to come. The 15 Plus will have at least 5 iOS versions along with all the minor and security updates.

How is iPhone 15 Plus different from iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max?

Apple's iPhone 15 line includes the base iPhone 15 and the larger iPhone 15 Plus, which offer comparable specifications to each other. There is also the higher-end iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

First, Dynamic Island, the shape-shifting cutout introduced on iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, is now standard across the entire iPhone 15 line. The entire lineup has now also migrated to USB- C for charging. But more or less, the similarities end there, each iPhone model stands out thanks to its design, camera and other features.

Colors vary between basic and Pro product lines. iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have brighter color options like pink, yellow, green, and blue along with darker black. However, with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max now having a titanium frame, those phones come in darker colors that Apple is labeling natural titanium, blue titanium, white titanium, and black titanium.

Additionally, Apple has removed the mute toggle switch on Pro models in favor of an Action button. It's essentially a multi-function button that allows programming for various tasks, like taking a photo or starting a timer.

That USB-C port is coming to the iPhone 15 series as required by the European Union, allowing iPhones to use the same charging cables that power Android phones, recent iPads, and other electronics. While all four models use USB-C charging as standard, data transfer speeds will vary between the base and Pro models. Only Pro models support USB 3, which offers faster 10Gbps speeds. But if you want to take advantage of those faster speeds, you'll need to buy a separate USB 3 cable because Apple only offers USB 2 cables.

Regarding cameras, iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have two cameras on the back, while iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max have 3 cameras. You get a 48-megapixel, telephoto-capable wide lens and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide lens in the two base models. Pro models have a 12-megapixel telephoto lens complete with 3x optical zoom. Users can also shoot at multiple focal lengths with the Pro models: 24mm, 28mm and 35mm.

In addition, iPhone 15 Pro Max also has an exclusive camera feature through upgrading to a new telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom capability, the largest lens ever on an iPhone. Both iPhone 15 Pro phones can record spatial video, essentially 3D video that can be viewed on Apple's Vision Pro headset.

And like the iPhone 14 series, the iPhone 15 series includes different processors depending on the model. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will run on the A16 Bionic chip, which debuted last year on the iPhone 14 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max phones will ship with the new A17 Pro chip, which Apple says will make the high-end iPhone more suitable for graphics and gaming.

Samuel Daniel

Update 16 May 2024