Impressions from the iPhone 15 Pro after six months. I was cheated, but I’m not upset

I’ve been using the iPhone 15 Pro for six months now. During this time, a whole palette of impressions managed to be restored.

Today I will not write too much about this model. I already did this six months ago in a separate review. This article will only contain brief impressions, observations and observations during the last term.

On topic: Great review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The titanium beast and the whole truth about it

Concise and to the point, nothing superfluous.

The main question: was the button useful?

Most likely no.

I found the only reasonable action for it – to use a foreign IP address. And this method does not work with all services in free mode.

There was another option when I tried to “hang” on Action button Alice from Yandex. I played around for a while and still returned to the method above. Even with the command for a smart home, it’s easier for me to do something with my hands than with a department assistant using a button.

I am sure that at least half of the owners of the new iPhone still returned to activating silent mode. We installed this function and… forgot about the key, like the lever that it replaced.

The only more or less restrictive agreement on the application Action Buttons During this time I saw only when using a translator. At the same time, the application interface opens smoothly in Dynamic Island, and everything happens without additional switching on other screens.

In general, nothing much has changed with the advent of the new button. However, this was expected from the very beginning.

The battery lasts longer than the iPhone 14 Pro, but that doesn’t matter

Two or three weeks difference from the iPhone 14 Pro, and the battery capacity after six months has sharply decreased.

In the case of the previous model, the degradation according to standard measurements from Apple is 10%. Here it’s only 5%.

But don’t be fooled by dead numbers. The company simply began to consider battery usage differently in the iPhone 15. In previous Apple models, the standard was considered to be 500 charging cycles, but in the “fifteenth” line it increased to 1000 cycles. If you believe the Cupertino people, that is, according to the last word of influence, this is still the same 10%.

Of course, in this way they, in general, decided to show that the batteries in the new iPhones “live” longer. This is wrong.

Now my iPhone 15 Pro already has 95% capacity, and the situation is similar with the iPhone 14 Pro. Until the evening, the smartphone barely survives moderate use.

Even though I recently purchased a long-lasting MacBook Air M2, I still need an iPhone all the time. The average active screen decreased from 13-15 hours to 9-11 hours.

And even taking into account the reduced time of use, the autonomy is not at all pleasing. The iPhone 15 Pro lasts about the same amount of charge as the iPhone 14 Pro. Perhaps just a little longer.

The last time I was only pleasantly surprised by the iPhone 13 Pro, which lost 7% of its capacity in just a year.

Titan never got scratched

I’ll clarify the situation right away if anyone doesn’t know yet. I do not use protective glasses, films or cases. I like the “naturalness” and tactile sensations of the case that I purchased. And all these plastic and leather crafts not only make the iPhone heavier, but also make me feel bad about it. In general, it’s not mine – everything here is already mine.

There were a couple of situations when I dropped my iPhone on the tiles and across the flight. The frames survived both falls and there was absolutely nothing left on them. Even minor scratches or chips. Although in the case of the flight it definitely fell on its edge.

As for tactile sensations, everything is simple here. You you get used to this body in a matter of hours or days and then you forget that you have titanium frames. Whether aluminum or titanium, there is no difference. Here.

The power of the A17 Pro is pure marketing. In six months, THREE games were released for him

Every year I tell myself that this is the last time I get a new iPhone. Nothing will surprise me anymore. And Apple was able to do it anyway, announcing the Chinese A17 Pro chip.

Beautiful advertising, the promise of turning the iPhone into a portable console. It was immediately clear that this statement was nonsense. At least for now. But there was hope that over time, developers would get involved and start porting their games to the iPhone 15 Pro.

And where are they? It’s been six months, Apple. They are in no hurry to adapt their titles to the A17 Pro. Over the entire period, exactly three games out of the four announced were released: Resident Evil Village (our review), Resident Evil 4 Remake and Death Stranding (our review).

Every game has its own opponents. They all matter with graphics or optimization.

Capcom donated two “resistors”, one of which was slow both at the time of the announcement and now, and the second is just soapy. Kojima wasn’t particularly pleased either; the whole Death Stranding is the creepiest “soap” on iPhones. The performance issues were fixed fairly quickly, but viewing a 720p image on an iPhone screen only causes pain.

What remains is Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the release of which is scheduled, it seems, for early 2024. True, March is already ending, and nothing has been heard about the game.

No more games were released for the A17 Pro, and the developers did not announce any new ones. All? Game console blown?

USB-C was more painful. The reason is stupid

The key issue is the fleet of devices tethered to Lightning. Not even that.

Over the years, I’ve owned a number of different Lightning devices and only had one USB-C cable from my JBL speakers.

You can’t especially take such a cord with you, it’s inconvenient. There were situations when I forgot my USB-C, and in my “party” almost all my friends had iPhones. And no one has anything new. Finding a USB-C cable was a challenge.

I had to buy other USB-C cables for my trip. Also, carry Lightning for AirPods or AirPods Max just in case. Previously it could be separated by one wire, now there are two.

The problem is very far-fetched and made up from thin air, but personally this moment still irritates me. I don’t want to buy other AirPods Pro 2 purely for the sake of USB-C. I’m waiting for AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 3 to be presented.

To sum it up…don’t buy the iPhone 15 Pro

Only if you have an old iPhone 11 or lower, then you can upgrade. Apple even launched a website with these changes.

In other cases, I don’t see any good reason to upgrade. Dynamic Island is a toy with few features and options. The “Special” button is not needed. There is almost no difference between USB-C, only the observations should be carried more with you. Titanium and aluminum only have a tactile feel the first time, but titanium feels stronger.

Overall, this is certainly a great smartphone. One of the best on the market. But I take it even after six months, when there is not much use for the old device.