Line Apple iPhone 15 are here, including iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Dynamic Island and USB-C are now available across the lineup, standard models get increased camera resolution to 48MP, pros get a new action button, and the Pro Max even features a sleek new tetraprism telephoto lens for 5x optical zoom.
While this all sounds impressive, Apple’s iPhone lineup still lags behind the competition. Android phones They’ve had some of these features for a long time, and they even do some things much better.
Faster USB-C charging
After ten years of using Lightning (first introduced in 2012 with the iPhone 5), Apple has finally taken a step forward USB-C for iPhone 15 series. Although on stage it seemed like Apple was accepting USB-C as a universal standard, the European Union was forced to make changes. And even though the iPhone has joined the ranks of Android phones that have had USB-C for years, Apple still botched this major design change.
With the move to USB-C, you can expect faster charging speeds than before. After all, some of faster charging for Android phones They can reach speeds of up to 210W, which is about 66% battery charge in five minutes. And even for a regular Android phone like Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, can reach charging speeds of up to 45W. No too much fast, but definitely faster than the iPhone. He OnePlus 11, on the other hand, can reach speeds of up to 80W in the US or 100W overseas. Many fast charging restrictions vary by region.
However, it looks like even the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the two high-end models in the iPhone 15 lineup, will have the same charging speeds as before, around 27W. Despite the switch to USB-C, charging speeds remain the same without any improvements. Apple touted faster data transfer speeds with certain cables (not the one included in the box), but this doesn’t help charging speeds at all.
So if you were hoping the iPhone 15 would charge faster using USB-C, unfortunately it doesn’t and it’s a huge missed opportunity. If you want a phone that can charge fully quickly, Android is a better choice.
Even greater optical zoom
With the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple has finally added an improved telephoto lens that now supports up to 5x optical zoom. Apple has created a unique prism design for this periscope lens that fits the iPhone 15 Pro Max body. Due to the camera size, only the larger Pro Max comes with the new telephoto lens.
With 5x optical zoom capabilities, there’s no doubt that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will be able to capture close-ups much better than its predecessors. However, take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. It’s in the same size range as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and features a periscope telephoto lens with 10x optical zoom, which is double that of the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Our first impressions iPhone 15 Pro Max are good, The kit includes a telephoto lens with 5x magnification. But the Galaxy S23 Ultra is capable of doubling its optical zoom, and I was hoping the iPhone 15 Pro Max could finally match it.
The S23 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom is great for wildlife photography, so I hope the iPhone 15 Pro Max is capable of taking great photos as well. But again, Android phones still have better cameras than the iPhone 15, especially when it comes to periscope lenses and optical zoom features. Apple is moving in the right direction, but it still has some work to do.
One physical button for multiple actions
On iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, Apple has replaced the classic mute switch with a new action button. The Action button, by default, puts your device into silent mode with a press-and-hold gesture, but you can also configure it to perform a different action of your choice.
However, the Action button is only capable of performing one assigned action at a time using a hold gesture. You can leave the default settings or take actions such as launching the Camera app, turning on the flashlight, starting voice recording, enabling some accessibility features, launching a shortcut, or taking no action at all.
Honestly, it’s a little disappointing that the Action button can only be used for one action at a time. I was hoping it would be a multi-function button that could be assigned one action for a single press, another for a double press, and perhaps another for a triple press. But that’s not the point here.
On some Android phones, you can perform multiple actions using the side button, such as double-tapping to launch the camera, long-pressing to activate the voice assistant, and more. While the UI for changing the action button’s function is beautiful and very Apple-esque, it would be nice to see that you can do multiple actions at once.
$800 phones with 120Hz screens
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max feature beautiful ProMotion displays with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate. This means it has beautiful colors, crisp, clear text, and incredibly smooth scrolling and animations between apps. These exhibits warrant a high price of admission.
But on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, Apple still uses a woefully outdated 60Hz refresh rate, which is hard to justify given the price of the devices. It’s still a Super Retina XDR display, so you’ll get bright, vibrant colors and crisp text. But scrolling isn’t as smooth, and transition animations can be a little more jagged.
For the average person, this may not be very noticeable, especially if you haven’t used a phone with a higher refresh rate screen. But when you have a standard iPhone 15 next to a device with a higher refresh rate display, the difference can be noticeable, especially if it’s 120Hz.
In the world of Android phones, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a phone that still has a 60Hz refresh rate screen. These days, even budget options are at least 90Hz, and most base flagship models like the Galaxy S23 are 120Hz. He Google Pixel 7 It may not be as high as 120Hz, but it’s 90Hz, which is still a big improvement over Apple’s 60Hz.
When Apple is asking at least $800 for the base model iPhone 15, it’s very difficult to justify the price and still only have a 60Hz screen. And while we’re on the subject of displays, base models still lack the always-on display that has become commonplace on Android phones in a similar price range.
iPhone is coming
It took some time, but what Apple introduced this year helps close the gap a little with the competition. But, of course, there is still room for improvement.
As we’ve mentioned here, Apple has made some questionable decisions with the iPhone 15 lineup. What confuses me the most is the use of a 60Hz refresh rate for the base models, as well as the lack of faster charging via USB-C. It’s almost insulting.
Despite all of the above, the iPhone 15 still has some good features, such as automatic portrait mode (especially great for parents), as well as the titanium design of the iPhone 15 Pro models, which feels Really good. And even with its quirks, the iPhone 15 is one of the biggest upgrades to standard models in recent memory. Apple clearly knows how to make great iPhones, but with some extra features from their Android counterparts, they could be even better.
Source: Digital Trends
