**The iPhone 15 Plus: A Balance Between Performance and Affordability**

Apple's latest flagship, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, is a powerhouse of a device that offers top-of-the-line performance, camera capabilities, and features. However, it comes with a hefty price tag of $1,099. This can be daunting for those who want to experience the best Apple has to offer without breaking the bank. Enter the iPhone 15 Plus, a more affordable option that still delivers on many fronts.

The iPhone 15 Plus is essentially a "two times crop" camera system, where the middle 12 megapixels are removed from the 48-megapixel sensor. This approach allows for a similar effect to using an APS-C lens on a full-frame camera, providing a cropped focal length without sacrificing too much low-light performance. While it's not as ideal as having three or five times the actual lens on the Pro Max, it still results in solid photos in good lighting conditions.

**New Camera Features and Software**

One of the standout features of the iPhone 15 Plus is its new camera capabilities, particularly the improved portrait mode. The Portrait mode has been significantly enhanced, with Apple introducing two main benefits. Firstly, the camera can automatically detect a person, dog, or cat, even if you don't select portrait mode. This feature also allows you to adjust the level of blur and change the subject that's blurred by tapping on it elsewhere in the frame. Furthermore, the iPhone 15 Plus can now capture depth data on non-human subjects, such as birds or motorcycles, making it a more versatile camera system.

Additionally, Apple has updated its HDR for photos feature, which is now more natural-looking. However, this is still subjective, and we'll have to wait and see how it performs in real-world scenarios. The new Portrait mode benefits are definitely exciting, and with the ability to force capture depth data on non-human subjects, the camera system feels more advanced than ever.

**Real-World Testing: A Visit to the Sea Witch Tavern**

To put the iPhone 15 Plus through its paces, I decided to take it for a spin at a local bar called the Sea Witch Tavern. Located near a cemetery, this dive bar has a unique atmosphere, with an array of ocean-themed decor and a massive undersea mural covering one side of the wall. The highlight of my visit was the giant fish tank set behind the bar, which added to the overall nautical vibe.

As I waited for my food and drinks, I couldn't help but notice how well the iPhone 15 Plus captured the atmosphere of the tavern. The camera's Portrait mode feature performed admirably, even with the challenging lighting conditions. However, it's worth noting that this was not a rigorous test, and more extensive real-world testing is required to fully evaluate the camera system.

**Battery Life: A Comparison**

One area where the iPhone 15 Plus excels is in its battery life. Compared to other iPhones, including the iPhone 14 Plus, which is still on sale at $100 off, the 15 Plus offers better performance and longer screen time. My usage for the day consisted of a normal schedule with some additional photography, but I still managed to squeeze out over 6 hours of screen time.

While this isn't an exhaustive comparison, it gives you an idea of how the iPhone 15 Plus compares to its predecessors in terms of battery life. If you're looking for a phone that can last all day without needing a recharge, the 15 Plus is definitely worth considering.

**Conclusion: Is the iPhone 15 Plus Worth It?**

So, is the iPhone 15 Plus worth it over the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max or other models like the iPhone 14 Plus? The answer depends on your priorities and budget. If you want the best battery life possible, a huge screen without breaking the bank, and don't mind sacrificing some low-light performance, then the iPhone 15 Plus is an excellent choice.

However, if you're willing to pay more for top-of-the-line camera capabilities, features like night portrait shots, or are concerned about HDR for photos, then the iPhone 15 Pro Max might be a better option. Ultimately, it's up to individual preference and what you value most in a smartphone.

**Additional Notes**

The iPhone 15 Plus starts at $898.99, with 128GB of storage, while the 256GB model is priced at $998.99. The iPhone 14 Plus is still available for $899.99, making it a more affordable option if you're looking to save some cash.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether the iPhone 15 Plus is worth it over other models. Do you prefer the larger screen and improved camera capabilities? Or are you willing to pay more for the top-of-the-line features of the Pro Max? Let me know in the comments below!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmorning another day another rear wheel test today we're doing it on the iPhone 15 plus the big boy and as per the usual we'll explore while we test out this phone but first things first coffee check this is baked Brooklyn a bakery SL coffee shop that is a part of Aladdin Bakers if you live in the New York area you may recognize the logo and the name from their P chip that you usually find in grocery stores here now baked in Brooklyn is a snack division of Aladdin Bakers which was started by a man named Joseph aayu in 19 1972 and is a 17-year-old making pasas by hand and delivering them locally throughout his neighborhood now he is known in the baking industry for doing his best to automate production of products for distribution across the country while trying to keep the artisinal aspect as best as possible now the store here is attached to a 100,000 square ft bakery that takes up half a city block and you can see a lot of what they're doing from inside the cafe it's just impressive really okay so firstly it's interesting for me to remind myself that this is only the second plus model iPhone after Apple swapped the mini for the Plus plus with the launch of the iPhone 14 plus sad day for everyone who wants smaller phones but on the plus side it's a good day at least for anyone who loved the sides of the iPhone Pro Max series but didn't e all the bells and whistles the pro series comes with and that price difference of course now the iPhone 15 plus and the iPhone 15 are the same size as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the iPhone 15 Pro respectively the plus having the same 6.7 in size screen as the iPhone 15 Pro Max and the 15 having the same 6.1 in screen as the 15 Pro those screens now on both non-pro models have a 2,000 nit brightness in direct sunlight compared to the 1600 nits of the iPhone 14 plus of last year and honestly it looks great we also now have a more curved Edge on the rail around the phone which just gives it a less sharp feeling in the hand we also have the dynamic Island cutout that last year was reserved for the iPhone Pro Models and as I've said about those devices in the past I like it it's a great way to utilize the cutout and make it feel like it's part of the software experience and Alive as with everything that requires developers to add some code to their app in order to take advantage of this Dynamic Island for example it's going a bit slow and so there's not a lot of apps outside of Apple's own that use this yet besides those apps though like the timer which I use a lot I've enjoyed the lift time to pick up and drop off live activities up there and using it for Spotify too now besides the display the back of the phone has received a new method of infusing the color into the glass and even more interesting is what it's done to the texture it feels kind of soft and the matte coloring is also a nice touch one of the bigger stories around the new iPhone 15 series we now have USBC there's no no more lightning cable long story short Apple lost a battle with the European Union and will be required soon to adopt USBC in Europe anyway so they basically just decided to get ahead start with it and do it now regardless USBC is going to help the industry as a whole as it's what most Electronics use nowadays including your MacBook and your iPad the downside is that USB as a standard is very confusing I have a decoder episode here on the channel explaining Thunderbolt 4 and I go into USB in that if you're curious I'll link that below but suffice to say in this video the USB version apple is using on the iPhone 15 and the 15 plus is a lesser version version than the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max all that means to you though is that the max speed of transferring things via USB on this iPhone 15 plus is 480 megabits per second versus the 10 GBS per second on the Pro Models truth is though most people using an iPhone will simply airdrop things to their Mac if they have one and unless you're shooting large footage files and need to transfer them regularly to the computer you probably won't notice or care about the speed when transferring files plugged in now something else that the Pro Models get that these non-pro models don't is the action button which is a customizable button that you can set to do any action you can check out either my iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max video linked below for more on that so instead here we have the usual notification sler for silent and ring which if you're like me you'll set to vibrate as soon as you set up the phone and you'll never touch it again a this is the Greenwood Cemetery which is also a National Historic Landmark it was founded in 1838 as one of America's first rural cemeteries it's now Urban thanks to the expansion of New York City but it spans across 478 Acres now in the early 1860s this place had become famous worldwide for its stunning Beauty and had turned into the go-to spot for people to be laid to rest it drew in around 500,000 visitors every year even back then making it the second most popular tourist destination in the country behind Niagara Falls the cemetery now has over 570,000 permanent residents and a lot of famous ones including Leonard Bernstein Jean Michelle basat and even Civil War generals Baseball Legends politicians artists entertainers and inventors it's also a revolutionary war Historic Site because of the Battle of Long Island also known as the Battle of Brooklyn which was the first major battle after America declared independence from the British in 1776 Now American forces were defeated here on what became known as Battle Hill which happens to also be the highest natural point in Brooklyn but it's still positively remembered for General George Washington's secretive late night evacuation of his forces to Manhattan which if that didn't happen it could have ended the war right then and there there's even now a monument that went up in 1920 of manura the Roman goddess of wisdom and War gesturing or saluting or maybe just kind of waving toward the direction of the Statue of Liberty off in the distance okay and this seems like a good place to talk about the iPhone 15 plus cameras firstly we have the same ultrawide camera that we had from last year which is a 12 megapixel f2.4 aperture camera and I'll let you guys decide about the difference between it and last year's throughout this video along with all the other images and videos as usual now the bigger change here though is the new main sensor which is now a 48 megapixel f1.6 aperture 1X 1.56 in sensor with one micron siiz pixels that get Bend IN sets of four to get a 12 megapixel image with two Micron siiz pixels kind of like how the Pro Models have done for a bit now as well as most other phones now that larger pixel size allows for more light per pixel which helps with low light shots something clever though that Apple has added is that during the capture of these images they actually grab another 48 megapixel frame and combine the detail from that to the 12 megapixel larger pixel image to get a 24 megapixel image as the end result sort of an interesting way of getting the low light benefits from the larger pixels plus some extra resolution and it works well honestly and you can of course always set it back to 12 megapixels in the options if you don't want it now the only reason for that would be to save storage as the 24 megapixel images add about 37% more size to the files in jpeg now the other benefit that we get out of the higher megapixel sensor here is the fact that they can do the same thing they've done on the Pro Models and other devices do as well and get a decent two times crop by taking out the middle 12 megapixels from the 48 megapixels it's similar to putting an apsc lens on a full-frame camera to get a cropped focal length of sorts for those used to the mirrorless camera world the downside to this though is that you can't bend the pixels so we lose a decent amount of low light performance but it does at least help make the non-pro models feel like they have a third lens and in good lighting the photos are solid enough but of course it isn't the same as the three times actual lens on the pro or the five times actual lens Blends on the pro Max Apple also added in some new software features for the camera and the one that I kind of think that most people are going to use with this phone is the new portrait mode features and there are two main advantages to that firstly it autod detects a person dog or cat and even if you don't select portrait mode it'll grab the depth data automatically and you'll see an F symbol the symbol for aperture which is responsible for the bokeh or the blur behind a subject in a bigger way this means that you can go in to edit this normal photo and turn it into a portrait mode shot after the fact you can also adjust the level of blur but you can also even tap elsewhere to change the subject that's blurred now if that last part sounds familiar the hc1 M8 had that feature back in 2014 it does thankfully work a lot better here than it did there though now I've learned since my iPhone 15 Pro real world test you can actually force it to capture this depth data on non-human dog cat subjects if you tap on the subject and there's enough distance between it and the foreground now the next portrait mode benefit we have is the ability to do night portrait shots which we just couldn't before so that's great lastly Apple has updated the HDR for photos so that it should look more natural apparently but again I'll let you guys be the judges of that throughout this video welcome to the sea witch Tavern and it's a bar just down the street from the cemetery it's a very local feeling dive is Vibe kind of place complete with an array of ocean themed items on the walls and even this large undersea mural covering one side of the place almost almost entirely then there's my favorite decoration in here the giant mesmerizing fish tank set right behind the bar now if you don't want to just look at the fish though there are plenty of seafood items on the surprisingly good bar food menu it's just a good vibe to come in here from the cold and have a hot meal and a cold beer all right so one of the big reasons to get the iPhone 15 plus over the other iPhones in this year's lineup is if you want the best battery life possible and I can confirm it's pretty great here's my screen out time my usage for today on the iPhone 15 plus but keep in mind as usual I took a lot more photos than you ever would so it's not the best comparison and because of that here's another more normal day so that you at least have something to compare it to as well now besides that the other reasons for grabbing the 15 plus over the others is if you want a huge screen but you don't want to pay for the top model iPhone 15 Pro Max and you don't care about the extra features that that provides the iPhone 15 plus starts at $88.99 compared to the $300 more expensive $1.99 of the pro Max now although the pro Max starts now at 256 gigs versus the 128 gig storage size of the plus so really you need to select the 256 gigs if you want to compare apples to apples and then you're looking at a $200 difference now you can also go for the 14 plus cuz that's still on sale to save another $100 but personally I think the 15 plus has enough new things this year at least to justify that extra $100 but I'm curious if you guys think it's a better buy than the iPhone 15 Pro Max let me know in the comments below always appreciate hearing from you guys um and I think with that I am calling it a night thanks for coming along subscribe and ding the Bell if you want to see more real world tests and explore a bit more with me otherwise uh good night and a plane I can hear a plane yep there he is plane in a cemetery I'm not going to lie it does kind of uh break the vibe is nothing sacred first bird bird bird I'm going to need you to stop please just for a second and then a plane feathered birds and birds of metal causing me distress and the plane Jesus Christ tyren motorcycle can't win it's good jet happening what's happening\n"