It’s official, the Pro is the way to go when it comes to new-age of Apple.
As Techradar reports, last year’s Pro Max had a 23% share of iPhone sales in the US in March 2024, while the Pro had 22%. Trailing behind was the 15 proper with 14% and then the iPhone 15 Plus at 9%.
For years, the opposite was true. And considering the Pro models represent a big jump in price over the standard models, it’s clear that people are willing to pay big bucks for Apple’s latest technological advancements. Which, as per the past few years, always debut with the Pro models and then trickle down the standard models the following year (which the subsequent Pro models get the new substantial upgrades).
The 15 models symbolised a new-age for Apple, a company that has been more focused on providing value in the past few years than ever before.
And by new age, I’m talking about the post-Lightning stage, when Apple finally made the long-awaited (and long-asked-for) switch to USB-C.
It was a big deal getting rid of the Lightning port. And, yeah, sure, functionally had a lot of to do with. As was accessibility (and a new rule by the European Union). But the change was symbolic as well. It took Apple into a new era with a Titanium build that’s sturdier, lighter and just generally felt much more premium.
For the past few generations, an iPhone has been considered a luxury item. It never really matched that reputation until now.
If I’m fawning, it’s because I’m excited. This is the very first time I’ve spent a year with an iPhone model and not gotten sick of it. The iPhone 15 Pro is very much the real deal… and it’s built to last, which makes it all the more exciting to see what the company does with the iPhone 16 series later this year.
But that’s still a few months away.
What I Still Love About the iPhone 15 Pro
Wait, I’m not done talking about USB-C yet. Isn’t it great having all your devices charge with the same cable? The iPhone is no longer an outlier when it comes to your cable ecosystem. Apple is no longer being precious about needing a special cable just for the iPhone when you’ve got just about everything else you own using USB-C. It’s a major quality-of-life change to Apple users and while it may seem insignificant, seeing as Android has been using USB-C forever, the move is still a major step forward for convenience and shows that Apple does listen to the consumer (even if they it took Europe to force its hand sooner).
Then you’ve got the titanium construction, and this is what other phone manufacturers are likely kicking themselves over. This is the most beautiful design for an iPhone to date, representing an almost 20g drop from the previous generation while still building the phone to feel compact, light in the hands, and subtle. The curves, the fact that you can hold it very comfortably in one hand, and – on the front – the seamless way the Dynamic Island has become part of the display. It’s gorgeous.
That said, the two introductions that are largely still nominal are Dynamic Island the Action Button. The latter, while exciting me when the iPhone 15 models were first released back in September 2024, is just a nice thing to have rather than anything game-changing. I’ve played around with the customisation before, but always come back to using it as a mute button.
Apple has nailed the ProMotion display. 6.1-inches is not only the perfect size for everyday use and content, but 1Hz to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate is smooth, fast and polished. The only time I notice a lag is when I’m overloading CapCut and the battery is quite low. Aside from that, I haven’t had a single issue with the display, which is remarkably colour accurate.
The A17 Pro Chip is the workhorse here. Tightening the entire process and making sure everything plays its part. This leaves more room for the software and hardware to work more seamlessly together, which is most obviously with how good the camera has gotten.
Truth be told, I still think the Pixels take slightly better photos when it comes to wide-angle, portrait and night mode. For everything else, the iPhone catches up with its superior computational photography and advanced image signal processing.
But where the camera really impresses is video. Stabilisation, editing, putting the video on social media apps. It all works much better than any Android phone I’ve played with. And for content creators (that is, everyone under the age of 35) there is little more important.
Editing videos on Instagram on the iPhone is an infinitely better experience than the same on a Pixel. And that’s generally because the app experience is better on iOS, whereas it’s a much different ball game on Android and can be hit-or-miss. With Instagram and TikTok, the two most important social media apps for youth, Android can still miss quite annoyingly. Apple is king when it comes to this.
What’s Next?
I’m actually ridiculously excited about the iPhone 16 Pro. Moreso than any iPhone that has come before it. Apple is accused of only nudging forward ever-so-slightly with each generation, giving us a largely iterative update instead of anything meaningful. Some of the changes from the iPhone 14 to iPhone 15 were meaningful (titanium and USB-C mainly), so I’m very interested to see what the iPhone 16 Pro has in store, even if it’s just an iterative update like many expect.
Apple has seen that its changes matter, and evidently the market has approved greatly of all the new changes. That means the iPhone 16 Pro could be the most important release for Apple to date, testing if they can then take this new life for the iPhone and expand upon it in ways that aren’t just “slightly better camera, more RAM, and smarter battery maintenance”.
For the past few generations, it seems Apple’s focus has been on providing more value without compromising on quality and refining its accessibility features. For the average user, iterative changes (as above). For people with specific requirements, a series of meaningful changes that makes Apple’s flagship smartphone much more accessible for all. And really, that’s a big, admirable goal that Apple has been chasing for years. I think they’ll make their biggest jump yet come September.
The iPhone 16 models will be released in Australia around September 20, 2024.
