Apple iPhone 15 Plus vs. Apple iPhone 15

Wondering whether you should buy the vanilla iPhone 15 or this year’s budget Plus? We are here to help you. Both have their quirks and strengths, but the good news is that the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus offer a substantial upgrade over their predecessors, so whatever you decide to buy, you’ll be greeted with a measurable improvement in performance, efficiency , display quality and, to some extent, camera performance.

But before providing a more nuanced comparison, we suggest taking a quick look at the technical data sheets.

Size comparison

If you are reading this article, we assume that you have not yet decided on your size. But the difference is evident. The 15 Plus will appeal to anyone who’s looking for a big-screen experience and doesn’t mind the extra weight. The Plus tips the scales at 201 grams, which is quite heavy but still lighter than the Pro Max.

Of course the Vanilla 15 is a much more compact and lightweight alternative. The 15 is sure to appeal to old-school iOS users who were used to smaller iPhones in the past.

It may not seem like much on paper, but the difference is noticeable in person.

Aside from the difference in size and weight, the two have no notable differences in design and construction. After all, they both belong to the same family, so there is no generational difference.

View the comparison

Both iPhones boast new and updated displays compared to their predecessors, but the difference between them is limited to size and resolution. Of course, the 15 Plus has the larger display with a higher resolution, but it maintains the same 460 ppi as its smaller counterpart.

The pair’s displays are based on the same technology and support the same features: HDR10, Dolby Vision, 10-bit color depth, and both are branded as Super Retina XDR OLED. The two also get the new Dynamic Island.

Even when it comes to real-world use, the two panels are almost identical. In our tests, both reached peak brightness around 1,600 nits in auto mode and reached just over 800 nits in manual mode. Color accuracy is superb in both cases.

So, as you can see, size is the only thing that separates the two, and it’s obvious which one is suitable for which user.

Battery life

The winner in the battery life race wasn’t as clear cut as we expected. Usually, larger phones tend to have longer battery life because they can fit larger batteries. And for the most part that’s still true here.

The iPhone 15 Plus scores 111 hours overall in our endurance tests, while the vanilla score is 15 98 hours. But this is mainly due to the longer standby and call time of the 15 Plus.

Looking closely at the results, the 15 and 15 Plus don’t appear to be much different, as the results on the screen are barely different. The 15 Plus lasts longer when browsing, while the 15 Plus performs better in the video test, but by a small margin.

Perhaps the 15 Plus display draws a lot more power as it is larger and has a higher resolution. Although historically, the latter rarely makes much of a difference in real-world usage.

In any case, the conclusion that could be drawn from the results is that the 15 Plus could be suitable for people who tend to leave their device idle for longer, while power users who accumulate screen time more easily will not notice much difference .

Keep in mind that battery deterioration over the years is less felt with a larger battery, so this could be a reason to opt for the Plus if you’re looking to get a few years of use out of your new iPhone.

Charging speed

Much to our surprise, the iPhone 15 Plus charges faster than the iPhone 15. However, to some extent, this makes sense because larger batteries tend to charge faster since they can hold a higher voltage longer.

Overall, however, you may feel little difference between the two. In the first 15 minutes, the 15 and 15 Plus charge just as quickly, while at the 30-minute mark, the vanilla model was even slightly faster. However, the 15 Plus completes a full cycle about 16 minutes faster.

Test the speakers

Contrary to popular belief, the speakers of the two laptops are quite different. Sure, they use the same hybrid setup and both are well balanced, but for some reason the smaller iPhone has slightly louder speakers.

In any case, the difference is rather negligible, but the sound tuning cannot be overlooked. There is a noticeable difference between bass and treble. The larger iPhone appears to have more bass and offers a fuller sound, while the standard iPhone 15 transmits voice better, but at the cost of a slight ringing at higher volumes. However, we like the 15 Plus better.

You can compare the sound of the two iPhones under controlled acoustic conditions with the samples below. Just make sure you have your headphones on and the volume turned up.

Performance

Since both laptops use the same A16 Bionic chip, based on the same 4nm node, there is little to no difference in the short benchmark tests. The 15 Plus consistently outperforms the vanilla 15 in all benchmarks, but the difference is statistically insignificant. That’s probably because the 15 Plus has a slightly larger body and can maintain higher clock speeds for longer.

But since the benchmarks run in short intervals, the results do not show a huge deviation.

Apple
iPhone15

AnTuTu 10
1,354,651

Geekbench 6
2,606 single cores

Geekbench 6
6,526 multicores

Camera comparison

Comparing the cameras is pretty simple. Both devices feature a brand new 48MP main camera, which offers a significant upgrade over last year’s standard iPhone 14 lineup, but there’s absolutely no difference between the two devices’ ability to perform in bright light scenarios daytime or poorly lit.

The new 48 MP sensor produces excellent photos in virtually any scenario, even at night, without having to resort to the dedicated night mode. On the other hand, night mode seems to improve overall image quality, but is rarely enabled by software.

iPhone 15 Plus: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

iPhone 15: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

The cropped 2x zoom samples are also excellent, but the ultrawide camera leaves a little to be desired, especially after dark.

iPhone 15 Plus in low light: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

iPhone 15 low light: 0.5x • 1x • 2x

The bottom line is that you shouldn’t make a decision based on camera performance as both phones offer the same overall quality.

This also applies to video recording.

Here’s a glimpse of how the iPhone 15 Plus’s main camera compares in image quality to the iPhone 15 in our image comparison tool.

And here’s how the video quality of the iPhone 15 Plus’s main camera compares to that of the iPhone 15 in our video comparison tool.

Verdict

As you can see, it’s not just a question of size. Sure, buying the larger 15 Plus has some pros and cons due to its larger size, but there are other things to consider here. For example, the price. The recommended price of the 15 Plus is €1,100/$899 (in Europe/US), while the 15 asks significantly less: €950/$800. That’s a difference of around $150, which some users may not justify. Especially if you don’t mind having a more compact device in your pocket. After all, the iPhone 15 is the cheapest possible entry into Apple’s 2023 ecosystem, and it’s also as close to your average iPhone compact as you can get.

On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Plus itself is a convincing argument as it is slightly better in some aspects. It can maintain higher clock speeds for longer, is slightly faster when it comes to charging, offers a bit longer battery life, and, of course, has a larger display.

No matter how we put it, though, the deciding factor would still be the display size, because in most cases you’ll get an almost identical user experience. It depends on whether you want a big-screen iOS experience or if you prefer something more compact.