Do you know which new iPhone is the most suitable for your daily life? With 4 new iPhones to choose from the latest lineup, we’re going to spotlight the Pro series in this piece – where we will deep dive into each new feature of the iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max – and you can make your decision! If you’re looking for more details on the iPhone 15 & iPhone 15 Plus, check it out here.
In addition to the incredible A17 Pro chip powering all the fancy new upgrades to the iPhone Pro lineup, the Pros come with a stunning new titanium finish – let’s dive right in.
Aesthetics
iPhone 15 Pro Max in Blue Titanium
Titanium Design
The first word that popped up in my head during the live keynote event when I saw the unveiling of the iPhone 15 Pro lineup was ‘siiiiick’. Using the same material that is used in the Mars rover, the aerospace-grade titanium has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal. One of the things that I was a little skeptical about was fingerprint marks on the titanium finishing – but nothing to worry about as my fingerprints disappeared in mere seconds after I touched the phone. Impressive.
iPhone 15 Pro in Natural Titanium
Contoured Edges & Thinnest Borders
The seamless contoured edges run around the frame of the iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max, and is incredibly lightweight – it feels lighter than my iPhone 14 Pro Max! Retaining the same display size and reduced height and width, the iPhone 15 Pro features the thinnest borders ever on iPhone.
The Science
An industry-first process curated by Apple, the titanium band is bonded with the aluminium internal frame using solid-state diffusion – merging both alloys together in a strong bond. The iPhone 15 Pro is also water resistant up to 6m for up to 30 minutes and can be quickly wiped down from accidental spills from coffee, tea, soda, and more.
iPhone 15 Pro Max in Titanium Blue – Action Button
Action Button
The brand-new Action button replaces the mute switch on the iPhone 15 Pro lineup – making it much more customisable to one’s preferences. By default, by pressing and holding the Action button toggles between Ring and Silent modes, but there’s so much more you can do with the Action button.
Action Button – Voice Memo
Easily enable a favourite Focus, launch the Camera app, turn the Flashlight on and off, start and stop a Voice Memo and much more. Just go to Settings > Action button to customise it to suit your daily use.
iPhone 15 Pro in Natural Titanium – USB-C Connector
USB-C Connector
iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max now also comes with a USB-C connector that unlocks new features for you. Not only can you use the same USB-C cable to charge your Apple devices like Mac and iPad, you can also use iPhone to charge smaller devices such as AirPods Pro (2nd generation) and Apple Watch.
Source: Apple
New Pro Workflows
Tap on DisplayPort cables or the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter and easily output 4K60 Dolby Vision videos to a display which makes for seamless entertainment or mirroring the iPhone display on a production set.
Plugging in USB-C thumb drives or fast SSDs to transfer files have never been easier as well, with the USB 3 speeds allowing you to quickly transfer your ProRAW and ProRes videos to a Mac with Capture One. This makes for studio photo shoots much more seamless, integrating what was shot on the iPhone 15 Pro immediately reviewable on a large screen.
Software Upgrades
Source: Apple
A17 Pro Chip
The new A17 Pro chip belongs to a new generation of Apple silicon – built on the latest 3-nanometer transistor technology, the iPhone 15 Pro is powered with new features that brings even more weight to the word ‘Pro’.
Gaming on iPhone 15 Pro Max
Gaming on iPhone 15 Pro
The A17 Pro chip also brings next-level gaming experiences with mesh shading and hardware-accelerated ray tracing right to your iPhone 15 Pro. Popular game titles such as Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding will now be available by the end of 2023. Assassin’s Creed Mirage – previously only available on console – will now be available on the iPhone 15 Pro by early 2024. Crying in pro mobile gaming.
Source: Apple
Ultra Wideband Chip
The second-generation Ultra Wideband chip has a 3x further range when connecting to another device with the same chip that powers a new feature – Precision Finding for Find My. You can now easily locate a friend or loved one in a crowd simply by sharing your location with a friend with iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro within the Find My app.
Camera Upgrades
Close up of iPhone 15 Pro Max
Advanced 48MP Main Camera
iPhone 15 Pro’s 48MP Main camera comes with brand-new features that allows for super high-resolution photos to be taken with Photonic Engine’s help. With zero shutter lag, photos are now much more HD even at the most simple 1x photo mode.
Shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max 1x Lens
Customisable Main Lens
24MP photos plays around in a very vital range for pro photographers – 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. These popular lenses can now be quickly toggled on iPhone 15 Pro to one’s preference. Go to Settings > Camera > Main Camera, select any additional lenses and set a new default. For example, if you prefer to always shoot in 35mm, you can now save that as a new default when you shoot on your iPhone 15 Pro.
Shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Zoom, Portrait in Camera Mode
Continuous Zoom
Tap on the interactive zoom lenses in Photo mode and toggle between focal lengths ranging from 24mm (1x) to 28mm (1.2x) to 3.5mm (1.5x) to 48mm (2x) on the Main camera, or 77mm (3x) on iPhone 15 Pro and 120mm (5x) on iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Shot on iPhone Pro Max 5x Zoom
5x Telephoto Camera at 120mm
The longest optical zoom ever on iPhone, the 5x Telephoto camera at 120mm on iPhone 15 Pro Max is the perfect focal length to capture close-ups, wildlife photos and sports action from afar.
Shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max
Night Mode & Night Mode Portraits
Thanks to the Photonic Engine, Night mode gets a boost in retaining more colour and sharper details that usually can’t be captured easily in dark environments.
Source: Apple
ACES
iPhone is the first smartphone in the world to support the Academy Colour Encoding System (ACES). As a global standard for colour workflows, ACES allows filmmakers to use iPhone in their production workflow seamlessly. Check out how Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘get him back!’ MV was shot on iPhone 15 Pro here.
Source: Apple | NameDrop
iOS 17
NameDrop
Of all the cool updates to iOS 17, there are 2 key updates that we’re pretty stoked about. NameDrop allows you to easily connect with people you just met – simply hold your iPhone close to someone else’s iPhone or Apple Watch to get started. You can even choose to Receive Only, or Share – totally up to you.
Source: Apple | Contact Posters
Contact Posters
The Phone app has been redesigned to allow you to customise your own Contact Posters – either place a photo of yourself, or a Memoji with beautiful treatments to best represent yourself. Check out more about iOS 17 here.
Sustainability
As Apple strives to achieve the goal of making every Apple product carbon neutral by 2030, the iPhone 15 & iPhone 15 Plus are made with even more recycled content – from 100% recycled cobalt in the battery to 100% recycled copper in the main logic board, copper wire in the Taptic Engine and copper foil in the inductive charger in MagSafe – this is truly a first for iPhone.
Materials for Apple Accessories
By eradicating the use of leather in new Apple products and accessories, Apple is introducing a new suede-like FineWoven Case and FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe – made from an extremely durable and elegant microtwill that is made from 68% post-consumer recycled content that has a lower level of carbon emissions – as compared to leather.
Yay or Nay?
It’s a resounding YAY for me – all the cool new upgrades and the natural titanium has my heart.
Where to Purchase
iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max Colours: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, Natural Titanium
iPhone 15 Pro Storage Capacities: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
iPhone 15 Pro Max Storage Capacities: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
iPhone 15 Pro starts at S$1,649 and iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at S$1,999 here.
Accessories for your new iPhone 15 Pro & iPhone 15 Pro Max
The FineWoven Case with MagSafe & FineWoven Wallet with MagSafe will both be available for S$89 in Black, Taupe, Mulberry, Pacific Blue, and Evergreen.
Source: Apple
If FineWoven ain’t your thing, all good! You’d be able to purchase a Silicone Case with MagSafe for S$75 in Black, Storm Blue, Clay, Light Pink, Guava, Orange Sorbet, Cypress, and Winter Blue.
Source: Apple
Availability
Pre-order is now open here, and will be available in Singapore (and in your hands) from 22 September 2023 onwards.
