The use of grade 5 titanium on the exterior of the iPhone may be the biggest iPhone 15 Pro announcement announced at today's Apple presentation. However, the internals are just as impressive. Most importantly, Apple has finally given us a benefit for upgrading to the Pro Max that goes beyond size and battery life.
Compared to the iPhone Pro 15, the largest iPhone will feature a longer optical zoom. As such, it will be able to more easily compete with the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in the key area where it previously fell short.
Some may have been surprised that the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max, both of which have 48MP cameras like last year's iPhone 15 Pro, didn't increase the megapixel count. Still, the camera adds a larger four-pixel sensor and a wider focal length range. Both cameras provide high-resolution images at 24mm, 28mm and 35mm and are equivalent to 7 lenses. The default lens can be swapped and the phone can now capture 48MP HEIF images in addition to Apple Raw.
The main adjustment is that Apple has used the size of the larger phone to give the iPhone 15 Pro Max a 12MP 5x optical zoom (120mm equivalent). That's still not as 10x as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, but it has a larger f4.5 aperture versus the Galaxy's f2.8 aperture. Apple claims that when combined with 2x cropping you're basically getting 10x optical zoom. No, it's not the same thing, but I'm curious about the results.
It's important to note that the zoom is fixed, so the Pro Max no longer has the 3x optical zoom that some users may miss (the iPhone 15 Pro has a 3x, f.2.8 aperture for a focal length of 77m). The 5x optical zoom, however, may be more useful than the 10x one, filling a gap in the iPhone camera's capabilities. Taking into account all the additional features of the camera, including the ultra-wide and macro lenses on both phones, iPhone Pro 15 Max may be the best photo phone on the market.
The detail and colour realism that seems to be achievable in Night Mode, improved dynamic range, and focus and depth control for portraits (see photos above) seem to be the most interesting aspects of the iPhone 15 Pro camera and 15 Pro Max beyond zoom. Another improvement is the nano-scale coating that reduces lens flare.
The arrival of USB-C, the absence of which turned me off iPhone, is also a belated but welcome update. Combine all this, and I could be persuaded not only to ditch the Galaxy Ultra, but also to go for the Pro Max, a device I didn't really need before.
iPhone 15 Pro specs
The new grade 15 titanium case for iPhone 5 Pro and Pro Max has a brushed texture and is available in four colours: black and white, blue, natural and natural and white. New features include a customisable action button that can be used to quickly activate various services and a new full-screen sleep mode when the phone is turned on its side. The new A17 Pro, a 3-nanometre processor with a new 6-core CPU and a new 17-core professional-grade GPU, is included in the phones and is up to 20% faster than Apple's.
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