**iPhone 15s Camera Improvements: A Game-Changer for Everyday Photography**

The camera on the iPhone 15s is a significant improvement over its predecessor, and it's not just the Pro models that benefit from these upgrades. The new cameras on all three iPhone 15s models offer a noticeably better experience, with some subtle but important differences between each one.

**A Satisfying Difference in Camera Quality**

The camera Department is where the real difference lies between the iPhone 14 and the iPhone 15s. While the Pro models still have bigger sensors and capture more light, the base models offer a significant improvement in everyday photography. The new combination of a full-fat 48 megapixel photo with a more traditional four-in-one pixel Bend 12 megapixel photo gives us a new 24 megapixel image, which is more detailed, particularly when cropping in. And while the file sizes are slightly bigger, only about 50% larger, it's not as significant an upgrade as you might expect.

**Lossless Zoom and Portrait Shots**

The 48 megapixel sensor also means we can get what is essentially a two times lossless zoom, despite not having a third lens like the Pro models. This gives us a much nicer focal length for taking portrait shots, which are often where the iPhone's camera shines. And with the new cameras on all three iPhone 15s models, you'll also benefit from next-generation portraits. When you take a regular old photo, it now captures depth information, so you can turn it into a portrait photo with lovely bokeh background after the fact and even change the intensity of the blur and focal point.

**A New Era for Portrait Photography**

This feature is particularly exciting, as Samsung and Pixel users have had similar capabilities for a while now. But this is the first time for an iPhone, making it a significant upgrade for anyone who wants to take professional-looking portrait photos without breaking the bank. And with all three iPhone 15s models offering this feature, not just the Pro models, it's more accessible than ever.

**USBC Dynamic Island, Brighter Screens, and More**

But camera improvements are just one aspect of the iPhone 15s' upgrade list. The new phone also features USBC Dynamic Island, which is a significant improvement over last year's charging method. The screen is brighter and more responsive, making it perfect for watching videos or browsing the web. And with a faster chip under the hood, you can expect smoother performance when playing games or multitasking.

**Should You Upgrade to an iPhone 15s?**

So, should you buy an iPhone 15 or 15 plus? The answer is yes, if you're due for an upgrade and want a new phone. The iPhone 15 and 15 plus offer a more significant improvement over last year's models than the Pro models do, particularly in terms of camera capabilities. And while the Pro models have some additional features like a titanium frame and improved cameras with extra zoom lens options, they also come at a higher price point.

**Storage and Pricing**

It's worth noting that the base model iPhone 15 now comes with 128 gigs of storage, up from 64 gigs on last year's phone. This is great news for anyone who wants to store more photos, videos, or apps on their device without breaking the bank. And while the Pro Max has actually gone up in price in the US by a hundred dollars, the standard iPhone 15s and 15 plus have stayed the same at $799 and $949 respectively.

**The Verdict: A Great Value for Money**

Overall, I think the cheapest option, the base iPhone 15, is the best bang for buck. If you can live with 60Hz, which you probably can, this is a great choice. The jump up from last year's model is quite significant, and it's definitely worth considering if you're in the market for a new phone. And while the Pro models offer some additional features, they also come at a higher price point, making them less accessible to budget-conscious buyers.

**Who Should Consider Upgrading?**

So, who should consider upgrading to an iPhone 15s? If you're due for an upgrade and want a new phone, I think anyone would benefit from the improved cameras, faster chip, and USBC Dynamic Island. Even if you've got last year's model, it's not worth sticking with unless you're really attached to its hardware. The differences are just too significant to ignore.

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, the iPhone 15s offers a great camera experience that's accessible to everyone, not just professional photographers. With improved cameras, faster chip, and USBC Dynamic Island, this is a great option for anyone who wants a new phone. While the Pro models offer some additional features, they also come at a higher price point, making them less accessible to budget-conscious buyers. If you're due for an upgrade and want a new iPhone, I think the base model iPhone 15s is the best choice.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: ennow everyone and their dog are raving about the iPhone 15 Pro and the pro Max these fancy titanium action buttoned flagships from Apple but the problem is they're very expensive and I contend actually after having spent a week with well every new iPhone but it's these guys the regular iPhones the 15 and 15 plus are actually the most compelling and also best value iPhones this year I say good value but I mean even the cheapest iPhone 15 is 800 pounds uh same in dollars although that actually is a little bit cheaper than last year's 14s here in the UK at least it's an awful lot of money and there are a couple of issues with this but I reckon compared to the Pro Models and also compared to last year's 14s these guys are actually the better option let me explain and first of all all iPhone 15s have now switched to a USB C Port after 11 years of lightning Apple have finally seen the light and it now means you can share the same charging cable as your friends with Android phones and it's just a lot more future proof we also now get the dynamic Island which is not just on the pros anymore and it's a genuinely awesome little notification widget for everything from timers gate information for your flight map directions Uber times your airdrop progress it seemed a bit gimmicky at first last year but I've grown to love this thing on the back we've gone from a glossy glass to a frosted sort of matte glass which is much closer to what you get on the Pro Models and I reckon that looks and feels a whole lot smarter and more premium the only downside compared to previous glossy versions is it feels more slippery in the hand so be careful not that any of that matters if you're putting a case on it anyway and of course the advantage of going from the 15 to the plus is that you get a bigger screen so it's a bit more immersive for your videos and games but more importantly for me at least this lasts a good deal longer and we'll come back to the battery in a second but it's 100 quid more for a bigger screen and bigger battery it is a big phone though possibly too big for a lot of people although if you are coming from say an iPhone 8 plus despite the fact that has a 5.5 inch screen and this has a 6.7 inch this only weighs one gram more it's about one and a half millimeters taller but it's actually a little bit narrower and on these big phones actually that sort of width is more important so if you're used to a plus size model shall we say of phones that is uh then you'll be fine with the 15 plus but I reckon for most people uh it is the regular 15 that's going to be more popular and it's also 100 quid cheaper and just like last year the 15s still get ip68 water and dust resistance so you could potentially take it in the shower with you might be a bit weird but it will survive a six meter dunk for half an hour in fresh water we still get Apple's ceramic Shield for the front glass and we still have magsafe wireless charging in addition to the new USBC port for wire charging although still at a sluggish 20 watts and all that's the same between the 15s and the 15 pros and unlike the pros we still have the classic mute toggle switch up here and not the fancy pants new action mode button so USBC the dynamic Island this new nicer frosted matte glass texture and that is about it for the design but let's talk about this screen because while it's the same size as last year it's a whole lot brighter in fact they've matched the screen brightness of the regular 15s to the Pro Models for the first time and it really does make a difference what hasn't changed and you can probably guess what I'm going to say here is this refresh rate still 60 hertz well it's essentially a 2024 high-end phone I mean this starts at 800 pounds same in dollars we're still limited to 60 hertz you can get a nothing phone one for about 500 less than this and that has a 120hz OLED screen I don't understand either apple or just being lazy or they're being a bit cheap even if they bumped it up to maybe 90 Hertz out of taking it at least then there's still a bit of a difference between the regular ones and the pro but it's such a shame and because we also have this new a16 chip well I say new but we'll come to that in a second you just don't really feel the extra performance year on year when you're limited to 60 hertz does was the average person the Normie if you will outside of YouTube and the tech space really care about it I don't know probably not it's not an excuse to not give it to them to be honest it is my number one issue with the iPhone 15s and I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a deal breaker by any stretch it's just a bit disappointing so let's move on and talk about the chip inside here we have the a16 bionic which is the same processor if I get the right phone no that's the wrong one this one has the same chip that you get in last year's 14 pros this is the new sort of routine where the regular phones get last year's Pro chip so it is a your new upgrade but they continue to be one year behind the more expensive versions and to give you an idea of relative performance I have the 14 and the 14 plus the 15 and 15 plus and the 15 pro and pro Max and you can see at least in numbers how the base 15s compared to last year and also the beefier pro models that now come with the a17 pro chip the thing is though they're all incredibly capable and in day-to-day use you'd probably struggle to tell them apart except of course for the refresh rate difference although one of the new features of the a17 pro chip in the 15 Pros is its support for Hardware Ray tracing but this is a very Niche use case right now barely any game supported although what is more exciting about the 15 Pros is their ability to play console level games this a17 Pro chip has a redesigned and much beefier Graphics engine which means I can actually play Resident Evil Village natively using what I'm told are PS4 level assets or be a low to medium settings 720p 30fps on the 15 Pro which is very impressive and we have the likes of the Rezi 4 remake we have a division game Assassin's Creed Mirage and even death stranding coming out over the next few months but I reckon if you're coming from an iPhone 11 or older then you'll probably notice the difference in performance with the a6d which is an incredibly powerful chip particularly in games and because we get six gigs of ram in here which is the same as last year and not quite the eight gigs you get in the Pro Models but compared to older iPhones you can now keep lots more apps pause on the background and then quickly switch back to resume so yes the pros get the a17 pro chip which allows them to play some console level games and it is a little bit quicker generally uh particularly with raid tracing in like the handful of games to support it and we have those couple extra gigs of RAM but really what you'll notice is the refresh rate it just feels much smoother and more responsive now before we get to the camera I just want to mention the battery life over the course of the last week where I've been testing all these iPhones the 15 plus has got me to about 11 p.m at night with around 35 of this battery remaining whereas the iPhone 15 has about 22 maybe 23 left so a good sort of three hours difference between these guys it depends how you use it but a day and a half of use with this is pretty reasonable we also get USBC of course which is a bit more future proof and I think For Me Above anything else it's these camera improvements on the iPhone 15s that make these a genuinely worthwhile upgrade so let's get into it let's talk about this camera and there's a really satisfying difference between the 14 the 15 and the 15 Pros each one gets you a noticeably better camera and going left to right it looks like a bad wax work of me and then a good wax work and then maybe the real me at the end so in the camera Department yes the pros are still better they have bigger sensors so they capture more light they have the third lens for either a three or five times telephoto zoom and you get higher quality Pro raw and prores options but for everyday stuff I think the 15 and 15 plus offer a more significant Improvement year on year than the pros for starters all iPhone 15s share the same 48 megapixel resolution for the main camera including now combining a full fat 48 megapixel photo with a more traditional four into one pixel Bend 12 megapixel photo giving us a new 24 megapixel image and if none of that means anything to you don't worry it just means photos are a bit more detailed particularly if you crop in and yes the file sizes are a bit bigger but only about 50 bigger not double that you might expect having double the resolution the 48 megapixel sensor also means we can get what is essentially a two times lossless Zoom despite not having a third lens like the pros and that gives you a much nicer focal length for taking portrait shots we also don't get Apple's smart hdr5 for the processing and how it handles the dynamite range and the colors and all that good stuff although what I am most excited about and all 15 to get are these next Generation portraits which means if you just take a regular old photo it now also captures the depth information so you can turn it into a portrait photo with all that lovely bokeh background after the fact and even change the intensity of the blur and the focal point now yes Samsung and pixel users have had a similar feature for a while now but it's the first time for an iPhone and all 15s get it not just the pros so if you can live with a slight reduction in picture quality and also no sort of long range zoom and you're not that bothered about prores or Pro raw or being able to shoot spatial video eventually for the upcoming Apple Vision Pro headset the cameras on these are actually really bloody good and the selfie camera is exactly the same the only difference is it can't shoot prores or log video okay enough waffling let's wrap up this review should you buy an iPhone 15 or 15 plus well it really comes down to what phone are you using at the moment are you doing upgrade but broadly my answer is yes USBC Dynamic Island brighter screens much improved cameras a faster chip and that's all just versus last year's phone if you've got one from two three four years ago it'll definitely be worth the upgrade couple of things to bear in mind though if you do own an iPhone 12 or earlier than the base the cheapest model there was always 64 gigs of storage now with iPhones you get 128 gigs as the sort of entry level which is great so you are sort of doubling your storage if you're going from a base iPhone 12 or earlier also while the pro Max has actually gone up in price in the US by a hundred dollars the 15s have stayed the same at 799 same in pounds for the regular 15. and actually that does make this iPhone 15 50 Quid cheaper than last year's 14. but if you want the bigger screen and longer battery then the 15 plus will cost you 100 more whereas the 15 Pro which gets the new titanium frame the action button the smoother 120hz screen the a17 pro chip for those upcoming console games slightly better quality cameras with the extra zoom lens and those Pro options plus a faster version of USBC although that's mostly there just to help transfer the bigger prores video files all that will cost you 200 more than the base iPhone so all good options but my recommendation for most people is the cheapest one it'll be pleased to hear just the regular old iPhone 15 and don't really consider the previous 14s I think they're about 100 pounds less it's not worth it the jump up to this is quite significant so if you do an upgrade and you fancy yourself a new iPhone I reckon this is the best bang for buck if you can live with 60 hertz which you probably can but what about you have you bought one are you thinking about ordering one or just not at all interested this year let me know in the comments below and also drop a comment if you've got any questions and I'll see you next time right here on the tech chatnow everyone and their dog are raving about the iPhone 15 Pro and the pro Max these fancy titanium action buttoned flagships from Apple but the problem is they're very expensive and I contend actually after having spent a week with well every new iPhone but it's these guys the regular iPhones the 15 and 15 plus are actually the most compelling and also best value iPhones this year I say good value but I mean even the cheapest iPhone 15 is 800 pounds uh same in dollars although that actually is a little bit cheaper than last year's 14s here in the UK at least it's an awful lot of money and there are a couple of issues with this but I reckon compared to the Pro Models and also compared to last year's 14s these guys are actually the better option let me explain and first of all all iPhone 15s have now switched to a USB C Port after 11 years of lightning Apple have finally seen the light and it now means you can share the same charging cable as your friends with Android phones and it's just a lot more future proof we also now get the dynamic Island which is not just on the pros anymore and it's a genuinely awesome little notification widget for everything from timers gate information for your flight map directions Uber times your airdrop progress it seemed a bit gimmicky at first last year but I've grown to love this thing on the back we've gone from a glossy glass to a frosted sort of matte glass which is much closer to what you get on the Pro Models and I reckon that looks and feels a whole lot smarter and more premium the only downside compared to previous glossy versions is it feels more slippery in the hand so be careful not that any of that matters if you're putting a case on it anyway and of course the advantage of going from the 15 to the plus is that you get a bigger screen so it's a bit more immersive for your videos and games but more importantly for me at least this lasts a good deal longer and we'll come back to the battery in a second but it's 100 quid more for a bigger screen and bigger battery it is a big phone though possibly too big for a lot of people although if you are coming from say an iPhone 8 plus despite the fact that has a 5.5 inch screen and this has a 6.7 inch this only weighs one gram more it's about one and a half millimeters taller but it's actually a little bit narrower and on these big phones actually that sort of width is more important so if you're used to a plus size model shall we say of phones that is uh then you'll be fine with the 15 plus but I reckon for most people uh it is the regular 15 that's going to be more popular and it's also 100 quid cheaper and just like last year the 15s still get ip68 water and dust resistance so you could potentially take it in the shower with you might be a bit weird but it will survive a six meter dunk for half an hour in fresh water we still get Apple's ceramic Shield for the front glass and we still have magsafe wireless charging in addition to the new USBC port for wire charging although still at a sluggish 20 watts and all that's the same between the 15s and the 15 pros and unlike the pros we still have the classic mute toggle switch up here and not the fancy pants new action mode button so USBC the dynamic Island this new nicer frosted matte glass texture and that is about it for the design but let's talk about this screen because while it's the same size as last year it's a whole lot brighter in fact they've matched the screen brightness of the regular 15s to the Pro Models for the first time and it really does make a difference what hasn't changed and you can probably guess what I'm going to say here is this refresh rate still 60 hertz well it's essentially a 2024 high-end phone I mean this starts at 800 pounds same in dollars we're still limited to 60 hertz you can get a nothing phone one for about 500 less than this and that has a 120hz OLED screen I don't understand either apple or just being lazy or they're being a bit cheap even if they bumped it up to maybe 90 Hertz out of taking it at least then there's still a bit of a difference between the regular ones and the pro but it's such a shame and because we also have this new a16 chip well I say new but we'll come to that in a second you just don't really feel the extra performance year on year when you're limited to 60 hertz does was the average person the Normie if you will outside of YouTube and the tech space really care about it I don't know probably not it's not an excuse to not give it to them to be honest it is my number one issue with the iPhone 15s and I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a deal breaker by any stretch it's just a bit disappointing so let's move on and talk about the chip inside here we have the a16 bionic which is the same processor if I get the right phone no that's the wrong one this one has the same chip that you get in last year's 14 pros this is the new sort of routine where the regular phones get last year's Pro chip so it is a your new upgrade but they continue to be one year behind the more expensive versions and to give you an idea of relative performance I have the 14 and the 14 plus the 15 and 15 plus and the 15 pro and pro Max and you can see at least in numbers how the base 15s compared to last year and also the beefier pro models that now come with the a17 pro chip the thing is though they're all incredibly capable and in day-to-day use you'd probably struggle to tell them apart except of course for the refresh rate difference although one of the new features of the a17 pro chip in the 15 Pros is its support for Hardware Ray tracing but this is a very Niche use case right now barely any game supported although what is more exciting about the 15 Pros is their ability to play console level games this a17 Pro chip has a redesigned and much beefier Graphics engine which means I can actually play Resident Evil Village natively using what I'm told are PS4 level assets or be a low to medium settings 720p 30fps on the 15 Pro which is very impressive and we have the likes of the Rezi 4 remake we have a division game Assassin's Creed Mirage and even death stranding coming out over the next few months but I reckon if you're coming from an iPhone 11 or older then you'll probably notice the difference in performance with the a6d which is an incredibly powerful chip particularly in games and because we get six gigs of ram in here which is the same as last year and not quite the eight gigs you get in the Pro Models but compared to older iPhones you can now keep lots more apps pause on the background and then quickly switch back to resume so yes the pros get the a17 pro chip which allows them to play some console level games and it is a little bit quicker generally uh particularly with raid tracing in like the handful of games to support it and we have those couple extra gigs of RAM but really what you'll notice is the refresh rate it just feels much smoother and more responsive now before we get to the camera I just want to mention the battery life over the course of the last week where I've been testing all these iPhones the 15 plus has got me to about 11 p.m at night with around 35 of this battery remaining whereas the iPhone 15 has about 22 maybe 23 left so a good sort of three hours difference between these guys it depends how you use it but a day and a half of use with this is pretty reasonable we also get USBC of course which is a bit more future proof and I think For Me Above anything else it's these camera improvements on the iPhone 15s that make these a genuinely worthwhile upgrade so let's get into it let's talk about this camera and there's a really satisfying difference between the 14 the 15 and the 15 Pros each one gets you a noticeably better camera and going left to right it looks like a bad wax work of me and then a good wax work and then maybe the real me at the end so in the camera Department yes the pros are still better they have bigger sensors so they capture more light they have the third lens for either a three or five times telephoto zoom and you get higher quality Pro raw and prores options but for everyday stuff I think the 15 and 15 plus offer a more significant Improvement year on year than the pros for starters all iPhone 15s share the same 48 megapixel resolution for the main camera including now combining a full fat 48 megapixel photo with a more traditional four into one pixel Bend 12 megapixel photo giving us a new 24 megapixel image and if none of that means anything to you don't worry it just means photos are a bit more detailed particularly if you crop in and yes the file sizes are a bit bigger but only about 50 bigger not double that you might expect having double the resolution the 48 megapixel sensor also means we can get what is essentially a two times lossless Zoom despite not having a third lens like the pros and that gives you a much nicer focal length for taking portrait shots we also don't get Apple's smart hdr5 for the processing and how it handles the dynamite range and the colors and all that good stuff although what I am most excited about and all 15 to get are these next Generation portraits which means if you just take a regular old photo it now also captures the depth information so you can turn it into a portrait photo with all that lovely bokeh background after the fact and even change the intensity of the blur and the focal point now yes Samsung and pixel users have had a similar feature for a while now but it's the first time for an iPhone and all 15s get it not just the pros so if you can live with a slight reduction in picture quality and also no sort of long range zoom and you're not that bothered about prores or Pro raw or being able to shoot spatial video eventually for the upcoming Apple Vision Pro headset the cameras on these are actually really bloody good and the selfie camera is exactly the same the only difference is it can't shoot prores or log video okay enough waffling let's wrap up this review should you buy an iPhone 15 or 15 plus well it really comes down to what phone are you using at the moment are you doing upgrade but broadly my answer is yes USBC Dynamic Island brighter screens much improved cameras a faster chip and that's all just versus last year's phone if you've got one from two three four years ago it'll definitely be worth the upgrade couple of things to bear in mind though if you do own an iPhone 12 or earlier than the base the cheapest model there was always 64 gigs of storage now with iPhones you get 128 gigs as the sort of entry level which is great so you are sort of doubling your storage if you're going from a base iPhone 12 or earlier also while the pro Max has actually gone up in price in the US by a hundred dollars the 15s have stayed the same at 799 same in pounds for the regular 15. and actually that does make this iPhone 15 50 Quid cheaper than last year's 14. but if you want the bigger screen and longer battery then the 15 plus will cost you 100 more whereas the 15 Pro which gets the new titanium frame the action button the smoother 120hz screen the a17 pro chip for those upcoming console games slightly better quality cameras with the extra zoom lens and those Pro options plus a faster version of USBC although that's mostly there just to help transfer the bigger prores video files all that will cost you 200 more than the base iPhone so all good options but my recommendation for most people is the cheapest one it'll be pleased to hear just the regular old iPhone 15 and don't really consider the previous 14s I think they're about 100 pounds less it's not worth it the jump up to this is quite significant so if you do an upgrade and you fancy yourself a new iPhone I reckon this is the best bang for buck if you can live with 60 hertz which you probably can but what about you have you bought one are you thinking about ordering one or just not at all interested this year let me know in the comments below and also drop a comment if you've got any questions and I'll see you next time right here on the tech chat\n"