Editor’s Notice
• Authentic overview date: October 2023
• Launch value: $899 / £899 / AU$1,649
• Goal value now: $899 / £799 / AU$1,449
Replace: March 2024. The iPhone 15 Plus stays the perfect iPhone for battery life, and that is a title it will not lose till the presumed arrival of the iPhone 16 Plus in September 2024. For the reason that preliminary publication of this overview, a equally sized Android different, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus, has arrived on the scene, however that cellphone has the next launch value than the iPhone 15 Plus. What’s extra, on the time of writing, the iPhone 15 Plus is on sale at Amazon within the UK and Australia, so it is now a greater worth proposition than ever. As for iOS 17, it has been up to date with new options and sideloading choices in EU areas. The remainder of this overview stays as beforehand printed.
Axel MetzSenior Workers Author
iPhone 15 Plus: Two-minute overview
Ever since Apple dedicated to releasing a quartet of iPhones – beginning with the addition of 2020’s iPhone 12 mini – that fourth entry has at all times felt prefer it’s struggled to search out favor with audiences in the identical means as its siblings. The Minis and Pluses of the final three years have persistently been the weakest performers of every batch of iPhones when it comes to gross sales. And but – equally to final 12 months’s iPhone 14 Plus – the brand new iPhone 15 Plus gives an expertly rounded expertise blended with spectacular battery longevity in a cocktail you are unlikely to search out wherever else.
Launching alongside the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Professional, and iPhone 15 Professional Max, the iPhone 15 Plus will get a couple of updates that make it appear extra like a part of the membership than its predecessor did; modifications that additionally make it extra enticing to would-be big-screen smartphone patrons.
(We have additionally reviewed Apple’s different latest iPhones, so try our full iPhone 15 overview, iPhone 15 Professional overview, and iPhone 15 Professional Max overview, if you would like an in-depth have a look at what every of these entries brings to the desk.)
Regardless of retaining the flat sides of the previous couple of generations of iPhone, the entire iPhone 15 sequence – together with the 15 Plus – now have softened, extra rounded edges. This can be particularly necessary for the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Plus, since the previous couple of generations have been difficult to wield one-handed and this small design revision has a huge effect on hand-feel, consolation and ease-of-use.
With the iPhone 15 Plus, you continue to get a 6.7-inch 60Hz (yep, nonetheless 60) OLED show, however now with the Dynamic Island that was unique to final 12 months’s iPhone 14 Professional and 14 Professional Max, as an alternative of a notch. The cellphone runs on a extra highly effective Apple-made A16 Bionic chipset (once more like 2022’s Professional iPhones), whereas the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max have been bumped as much as the even-more-potent A17 Professional. Additionally, wave farewell to Lightning; like Galaxys, Pixels, and just about each different cellphone on the market, the iPhone now fees through USB-C.
As for the all-important digicam setup, you may nonetheless discover two lenses in a diagonal structure, however the primary sensor jumps from 12MP to 48MP, delivering higher nonetheless picture high quality in a myriad of situations – together with low mild, when zooming in and when taking portrait photographs, whereas video stabilization has been improved because of this too. The picture sensor on the iPhone 15 Plus (and iPhone 15) shouldn’t be precisely the identical because the one discovered within the Professional editions but it surely does get many of the cool new picture tips discovered on its dearer stablemates. This contains the flexibility to make nearly any picture a Portrait shot (even after seize), and it sports activities a bump in base output picture decision to 24MP (up from 12MP).
With Apple nixing a 64GB storage choice a few generations in the past, you’ll be able to decide the iPhone 15 Plus up in 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB configurations. There are 5 iPhone 15 colours to select from, all sporting new color-infused glass backs. In my time with the inexperienced Plus (and black iPhone 15), I believe this make it one of many best-looking iPhone finishes in current reminiscence.
Operating iOS 17 out of the field, the iPhone 15 Plus positive factors all the advantages we have been ready to check out for months (ever since Apple first confirmed off the expertise, again at WWDC 2023 in June). From Contact Posters to Interactive Widgets and even StandBy (beforehand considered a characteristic unique to iPhones with always-on shows, which the Plus nonetheless lacks); there are a variety of quality-of-life enhancements that long-time iPhone customers will admire on the iPhone 15 Plus.
Fortunately, for all that’s new, Apple has left pricing effectively alone this 12 months within the US, whereas the UK enjoys a notable value drop, and the cellphone turns into fractionally pricier in Australia in comparison with final 12 months’s mannequin. The iPhone 15 Plus is offered as of Friday, September 22.
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Value and availability
- Priced from $899 / £899 / AU$1,649
- On sale from September 22
- US pricing the identical, UK cheaper, Aus pricier – YoY
Though there was a rumor of a range-wide value rise this 12 months, the iPhone 15 Plus (together with the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Professional) stays the course within the US, that means the usual 128GB mannequin begins at $899, simply because the iPhone 14 Plus did, one 12 months earlier.
Whereas the 128GB mannequin technically undercuts Samsung on value, the pricing of the 256GB construct ($999 / £999 / AU$1,849) locations it immediately up towards the bottom Galaxy S23 Plus, whose identify equally emphases the cellphone’s larger-screened design in relation to the usual Samsung Galaxy S23. The Pixel 7 Professional can be equally priced, and continues to search out itself discounted under the Plus; particularly now that its (barely pricier) successor – the Pixel 8 Professional – has freshly arrived on the scene.
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| 128GB | $899 | £899 | AU$1,649 |
| 256GB | $999 | £999 | AU$1,849 |
| 512GB | $1,199 | £1,199 | AU$2,199 |
Apple launched all 4 new members of the iPhone 15 household to the world at its ‘Wonderlust’ occasion on September 12, with the cellphone occurring pre-order on Friday, September 15 and on sale per week later, on September 22.
In fact, for those who’re already offered on the promise of the iPhone 15 Plus, then head on over to our iPhone 15 offers roundup, the place we’re continuously updating the perfect gives out there on Apple’s latest entrant within the cellular market. In any other case, learn on for those who want extra convincing.
- Worth rating: 3.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Specs
The primary upgrades fall to a brand new digicam system, the Dynamic Island and USB-C, however here is a full breakdown of all of the {hardware} on provide.
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|---|---|
| Dimensions: | 160.9 x 77.8 x 7.8mm |
| Weight: | 201 grams |
| Display screen: | 6.7-inch 60Hz (2796 x 1290) Tremendous Retina XDR OLED |
| Chipset: | Apple A16 Bionic |
| RAM: | 6GB |
| Storage: | 128GB / 256GB / 512GB |
| OS: | iOS 17 (at launch) |
| Major digicam: | 48MP f/1.6 w/ sensor-shift OIS |
| Extremely-wide digicam: | 12MP f/2.4 w/ 120º FoV |
| Entrance digicam: | 12MP f/1.9 |
| Battery: | 4,383mAh |
| Charging: | 20W wired, 15W wi-fi (MagSafe), 7.5W wi-fi (Qi) |
| Colours: | Black, blue, inexperienced, yellow, pink |
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Design
- Related dimensions to predecessor
- Coloration-infused glass again
- USB-C replaces Lightning (lastly)
At a look, the iPhone 15 Plus appears to be like very very like the iPhone 14 Plus. However nearer examination reveals a newly crafted aluminum body that lightly scrubs away the sharp edges, making it far more snug to carry than the 14 Plus. It is also barely lighter (by three grams, at 201g).
As long as you want pastels, this 12 months’s lineup of iPhone 15 Plus (and iPhone 15) colours contains 5 finishes (black, blue, inexperienced, yellow, and a very mesmerizing pink), all of which showcase new color-infused glass, with the digicam bump seamlessly rising out of the again panel. It is a good look, and possibly one of the vital refined iPhone finishes ever.
That aluminum body additionally now performs host to a USB-C port, the place there was as soon as a Lightning port; that means you need to have the ability to cost with only one cable, for those who already personal a contemporary MacBook and/or iPad – with the latter lastly ditching Lightning on its base iPad 10.9 (2022) mannequin, final 12 months.
If you happen to go for this non-Professional iPhone 15 mannequin, you’ll discover that it does not have that nifty new Motion button. No, the 15 Plus and iPhone 15 nonetheless have the traditional ring/silent swap. I am not towards this ageing part, but it surely’s undoubtedly not Motion button-level helpful (you’ll be able to fall again on Accessibility hacks like Again Faucet to emulate comparable behaviour, although).
Except for a tweak to supplies and colours, the again of the cellphone nonetheless performs host to a diagonal twin digicam system. On the entrance, you may now discover an iPhone 14 Professional-like Dynamic Island, the place the notch as soon as lived, protected by Apple’s Ceramic Defend (ceramic-infused glass that provides first rate resistance towards shatters and drops).
Apple continues to supply a number of the greatest IP-rated safety within the enterprise, quoting figures that truly marginally surpass its IP68 certification towards mud ingress and promised water resistance.
The cellphone can be filled with recycled supplies, from the 75% aluminum body to valuable metals, like 100% recycled cobalt within the battery. Apple has plans to make its telephones carbon-neutral too, however the iPhone 15 Plus is just a step on this explicit journey.
A look alongside the underside edge and long-time iPhone customers will even discover the port appears to be like a bit of bit totally different to what they is perhaps used to; a bigger pill-shape with a central strip of contacts. That is no Lightning port, that is USB-C… on an iPhone, lastly.
It is already been well-documented that Apple has made this swap forward of enforcement by the European Union, however that does not cease it being any much less novel. The primary time I used to be capable of plug my automotive’s aux twine in through the three.5mm to USB-C adapter that, till now, had been completely reserved for any Android telephones I used to be testing on the time, was a small thrill. With the ability to cost your MacBook, iPad and iPhone with single twine is liberating, particularly for frequent travellers.
- Design rating: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Show
- 6.7-inch Tremendous Retina XDR OLED
- Nonetheless solely 60Hz refresh fee
- Dynamic Island replaces notch
I discover the bigger 6.7-inch display on the iPhone 15 Plus fairly pleasing and expansive (even when the bezels are usually not as skinny as they’re on the slimmed-down 15 Professional and Professional Max). However it’s irritating that regardless of having a superb Tremendous Retina XDR OLED display, the iPhone 15 Plus (and iPhone 15) are nonetheless caught with a 60Hz refresh fee, whereas the Professional fashions get clean 120Hz ProMotion panels.
It is now grow to be an nearly farcical side of Apple’s current non-Professional iPhones. With each era I ask myself, “absolutely, this’ll be the 12 months they transfer previous 60Hz” and the corporate continues to subvert my hopes and expectations. For comparability, Samsung’s similarly-priced non-Extremely flagships made the bounce to 120Hz beginning with 2020’s Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus, whereas Google’s customary Pixels have provided 90Hz shows since 2019; with this 12 months’s Pixel 8 becoming a member of its Professional sibling, with a 120Hz show. 60Hz at a cellphone of this value is so behind the trade customary and but Apple appears unwavering in its determination to carry non-Professional iPhones at this threshold.
Maybe it is that present iPhone customers upgrading from earlier non-Professional iPhones do not know what they’re lacking; except you see and expertise excessive refresh charges first-hand, you do not query 60Hz. In the identical vein, one other Professional-only characteristic that is discovered on most rivals is All the time-On Show performance, of which Apple’s implementation is, in my view, the perfect (learn my iPhone 15 Professional overview for a deeper explainer as to why). Its absence on the Plus is, at the least, lessened by the cellphone’s finely-tuned tap-to-wake and raise-to-wake behaviours.
Whereas I stand by the notion that this high-priced handset is deserving of show diversifications like the next refresh fee and always-on performance, it is arduous to argue with the underlying {hardware} that is there. I have never quibbled about decision on iPhone for years (even when rivals are sharper), with the same 460ppi pixel density, as earlier than. What’s extra, the corporate has now pushed brightness to among the many greatest available on the market, with a considerably greater ceiling this 12 months – a 1,200-nit peak has risen to 2,000 nits.
The usual iPhone 15 fashions additionally positive factors the 14 Professional line’s Dynamic Island, and let me let you know, you’ll not miss the notch. Whereas it technically encroaches additional into the show than the ultimate iteration of the notch, it is a extra versatile and purposeful addition, even when I believe there’s extra Apple may have accomplished with it between generations. All the things that the Dynamic Island may already do (preserve observe of instructions, music, your Uber) can now be achieved on the iPhone 15 Plus, and iOS 17 will hopefully proceed so as to add new performance over time.
- Show rating: 4 / 5
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Software program
- Runs iOS 17 out the field
- New options embrace Examine In, NameDrop and extra
- Not less than 5 years of OS updates
iOS 17 appears like a relatively minor improve, over the beefier options the corporate launched in iOS 16. Nevertheless, there are a couple of (which our devoted iOS 17 overview covers) of word that assist improve the consumer expertise on the iPhone 15 Plus.
Contact Posters and NameDrop, real-time location sharing (known as Examine In) in Messages, automated blurring of nudity in Messages and AirDrop, Dwell Voicemail (full with transcription) Interactive Widgets, and a heap extra. The iPhone 15 Plus will really feel fully acquainted to most iPhone and iOS 16 customers. Many of the main modifications are embedded in varied components that do not essentially contact the house display by default. Nonetheless, the introduction of the Dynamic Island does make all the pieces appear more energizing.
Apple’s software program roadmap is, as at all times, one of many iPhone’s best strengths; with an anticipated 5 years of OS updates, that might stretch to 6 (or past, relying on how issues shake out in the long term). It is solely crushed by Google’s improved seven years of software program updates promised with the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Professional. This might actually apply stress to Apple, after so lengthy unopposed on this space.
- Software program rating: 4.5 / 5
iPhone 15 Plus overview: Cameras
- 48MP important, 12MP ultra-wide, 12MP front-facing digicam
- New 24MP customary picture decision
- Can flip customary photographs into portrait pictures after the actual fact
Design-wise, the digicam system might look the identical because the iPhone 14 and 13 sequence earlier than it, however the iPhone 15 Plus’ digicam setup has an enormous secret. The primary sensor that has – for the longest time – clocked in at 12MP, is taking a leaf out of the iPhone 14 Professional’s playbook and making the leap to a 48MP sensor, full with sensor-shift OIS (optical picture stabilization).
This introduces pixel binning to the usual iPhone’s photographic recipe for the primary time and, alongside higher capturing in all environments – together with low mild – and higher high quality 2x zoomed and portrait images. To not point out higher stabilization, throughout stills and video.
Extra importantly, the iPhone 15 Plus (and iPhone 15) now captures 24MP photographs by default. That is achieved by combining the perfect 12MP of knowledge with the complete element of that new 48MP sensor (this tends to make picture file sizes from the primary digicam considerably bigger than previous-generation 12MP stills, so shutterbugs may wish to think about greater storage choices). You additionally get an efficient 2x optical zoom, which isn’t a zoom lens however takes the center sub-section out of that full 48MP sensor – because the 14 Professional’s digicam did.
Past the primary sensor’s megapixel bump, the iPhone 15 Plus’ ultra-wide nonetheless stands at 12MP, as does the front-facing digicam (even whether it is now hid throughout the Dynamic Island), and throughout the board, you are capturing with succesful sensors right here.
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