My iPhone 15 Upgrade: What's Changed and What's Still the Same

Twenty-five years ago, flip phones were a rare sight in my hometown in Siberia. I'm talking about a small town where I grew up, not some big city. And forget about touchscreens – they were the ultimate dream purchase back then.

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Fast forward to today, and one phone still holds a special place in people's hearts. And that's the Apple iPhone.

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My first iPhone was the iPhone SE way back in 2018. I then switched to Android, but eventually returned to the Apple ecosystem with the iPhone 12 and the Apple Watch SE2 to match.

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Now, three and a half years later, my iPhone 12 was starting to let me down with its battery life. I use my phone constantly, and even with the Apple Watch taking some of the load, I found myself charging it two or even three times a day. Its battery was already at 76% capacity.

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I spent months researching and reading reviews to find the perfect model that fit my budget, and I landed on the iPhone 15 with 256GB of storage. Yeah, I know its release was way back in 2023, and now the iPhone 16 is the flagship, with the iPhone 17 just around the corner, but it was perfect for me.

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I opted for the 256GB built-in storage, not the 128GB. It somehow seemed more interesting. A 'smart' person on a video hosting site recommended it, saying that buying more storage than you need is just a waste of money.

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I have to agree, on my previous 128GB iPhone, I was literally running out of space just before I replaced it with a new one, although I did regularly transfer photos to my PC to avoid losing them. My smartphone's cloud storage had been full for ages.

By the way, the iPhone 15 no longer comes with 64GB of storage, like the iPhone 12 did. It now has 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB options. And let's not forget that the iPhone 15 has 6GB of RAM (the iPhone 12 had 4GB).

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The price: 62,500 rubles.

I ordered it through a friend of my friend from Kazan, so it ended up being almost 22,000 rubles cheaper than buying it from the official DNS store.

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I'll be honest, after I listed my iPhone 12 for sale, I realized one thing - you need to sell Apple tech before it goes out of style, because the price plummets as soon as a new model comes out. If my 3.5-year-old iPhone 12 128GB was worth almost 69,000 rubles on DNS, today its average price in perfect condition (no scratches, cracks, or dents) with a good battery is around 18-000 to 20,000 rubles. It's a shame to lose that much money. That's the price you pay for the Apple brand. I ended up selling my 12 for 17,000 rubles.

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Body color: black.

I didn't see the standard white in the lineup for the 15, and the colors there are more pastel, more muted (green, yellow, and pink). Although you can't really tell the color under a case. I don't wear it without a case, as it keeps falling out of my hands.

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I really liked the matte finish. My 12 had a glass finish and was all smudged up without a case. A matte finish can get smudged too, but it's more tactile and pleasant to hold than my previous one. It has a smooth frame and it's not as slippery as my old glass 12, which always tries to slip out of my hands.

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The 12 has a glossy back, while the camera block is matte. The 15 is the opposite - glossy camera block and matte back.

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Dimensions are almost identical to my old 12-series:

Height 147.6 mm;Width 71.6 mm;Depth 7.8 mm.xa0

Weight is a tad heavier than my 12-series: 171 grams (my 12-series weighed 164 grams).

I think it's because of the aluminum rear panel, not glass.

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Battery capacity on my iPhone 15 is higher than my old one. Here are some examples of what my 15 can do compared to the 12-series.

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Video playback: up to 20 hours (my 12-series maxed out at 17 hours).

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Video playback (streaming): up to 16 hours (my 12-series lasted 11 hours).

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Audio playback: up to 80 hours (my 12-series maxed out at 65 hours).

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Fast charging support: up to 50% charge in just 30 minutes (with a 20W or higher adapter). Keep in mind that the adapter isn't included in the box, as the company is trying to be eco-friendly. I mean, my husband's Android-loving friends always seem to have adapters lying around the house, but they only use them one by one with their kids.

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This thing is pretty fast, but I didn't notice a huge difference compared to my old 'super speedy apple' iPhone 12. The iPhone 15 has a 6-core processor, just like mine, but the graphics processor is now 5-core instead of 4-core. Plus, the iPhone 15 has a processor that's two generations newer - A16 Bionic.

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The screen is way brighter, colors are deeper, and all the images (letters, icons) look like they're 3D and you can touch them with your fingers if you tap the screen.

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I also like that now the cable is USB-C on both sides, so I don't need a separate adapter or cable to connect my phone to my computer or laptop - I can just use the one from my son's or husband's Android phone.

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What's in the box:

instructions;cable;stickers with the apple logo;sim ejector (SIM card removal tool).xa0

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It also supports MagSafe wireless charging:

Wireless charging MagSafe with a power of up to 15W with an adapter of 20W or higher.

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This apple has the same maximum water, dust, and splash protection as my old one:

IP68 protection (maximum immersion depth of 6 meters for 30 minutes) according to IEC 60529 standard

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One thing that's been a bit of a pain is when my phone's speaker got clogged with dust and I lost connection. When I called, the person on the other end couldn't hear me. What's weird is that I could hear them, but they couldn't hear me. I was getting pretty worried that the whole thing had blown. Luckily, I did some research online and talked to a colleague at work who's into electronics. They cleaned out the speaker with a special solvent and a cotton swab, and suddenly I could hear them again. It's funny how that works.

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I'm not a fan of the way the rear camera lenses stick out.

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My old phone didn't have them sticking out like that. Now I'm definitely going to need a case to protect them. I actually ran into a friend on social media who was trying to stick a protective film onto her camera lenses. I was like, 'What are you doing? That's crazy!' And she said, 'You don't get it, this is a 15th-generation iPhone!' I thought to myself, 'Yeah, it costs an arm and a leg.' Now it's not that expensive, but I'm not going to risk messing up my photos by trying to fix it. And it's a good lesson that my old iPhone is basically worthless.

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To be honest, the 12 and 15 models don't differ much on the outside: just the USB port and those now slightly protruding cameras. All the other buttons, antennas, and switches are identical.

But what a difference the camera makes in terms of zoom! The 12 model had a maximum zoom of 5x for photos and 3x for video, whereas the 15 model has a whopping 10x zoom for photos and 6x for video. That's a real game-changer.

I have to say, I already put this feature to the test just a few days after buying the device: my husband got something in his eye and we couldn't figure out what it was - a lash, a hair, or something worse. The stakes were high: should we drive 80 km to the nearest city's emergency clinic in the middle of the night, or not? Thanks to the 10x zoom, we were able to take a closer look and see that it was just a few tiny metal shavings from a welding job. Needless to say, we didn't hesitate to rush him to the clinic to save his eyesight.

If you're squeamish, you might want to look away from the photo below, but the zoom is definitely visible. Plus, the photo was taken in artificial, somewhat dim lighting with a flash, which made it hard to look at and even harder to blink.

Zoom

The 15 Pro has a 48-megapixel primary ultra-wide-angle camera, which is a big upgrade from the 12 Pro's 12-megapixel primary ultra-wide-angle camera.

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At first, I thought the 12 Pro was actually taking better photos than the 15 Pro. But that was before I figured out how to set it up to my liking. Here's a collage of the 12 Pro set up and the 15 Pro still in its default settings.

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I'm really impressed with how the iPhone 15 handles low-light photography. It makes the photos look brighter and automatically seeks out well-lit areas. This photo was taken in a room with a window, just before sunset.

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Low lightAnd check out the nighttime photos taken indoors without a flash. The camera automatically focuses and, even with shaky hands, the photos aren't blurry.

Night without flash I'm not even going to talk about daytime shots - they're love at first sight. I've got a trip planned to a beautiful resort in the Altai region in a month, and I'll be sure to post some stunning photos to give you a better idea of just how amazing the iPhone 15 camera is.

A typical evening shot in the woods

Sunny evening Sunset Sunset

Sunset Twilight Evening Evening Eveningxa0

Portrait mode Portrait modexa0

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Sharpness when moving objects at super-fast speedsxa0

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But what really impressed me is that the 15-shka can take photos with super-high resolution (24 MP and 48 MP), which the 12-shka couldn't even come close to (maxing out at 12-14 MP).

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The sound quality of the 15-shka's speakers is also a major win, as the sound is way more immersive than the 12-shka's speakers.

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I have to say, it wasn't a problem buying this expensive device from a private seller, rather than a reputable electronics store.

Honestly, it was a bit scary. Even after seeing the entire packaging process for a smartphone on camera at a logistics company (SDEK) in online mode, even after my friend, whom I trust, swore to me that she had bought her entire tech from him, that he wouldn't scam me and the tech would be normal.

Well, I'm not me if I don't check it myself. I even found a whole list from one blogger on how to check an iPhone for originality and newness (not refurbished, not after repair). By the way, my 15-series was assembled in India, and my previous 12-series was assembled in China.

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After visually inspecting my brand-new smartphone for newness (no dust, no dirt in the speakers, no dirt in the gaps between the frame and the glass, no scratches, no wear and tear), I went online to check its originality and warranty period on several websites. Everything turned out to be perfectly original.

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Although the official website claims that the screen is ridiculously durable

Front Ceramic Shield is more durable than any smartphone screen

I'm not gonna risk it and put a new screen protector on it. I feel way more at ease. By the way, if you take a look at the screen of the fully charged 15th 'iPhone' already in use, you'll notice that the island (monobrow) on the screen, which displays a lot of quick info like charge, phone unlock (lock icon), and Face ID, has shrunk on the 15th model. This island is called Dynamic Island and it shows you what's currently happening on your phone. For example, when you're on a call or recording a voice message, or listening to a voice note outside an app – it all shows up there.

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I'm a huge fan of iPhones for how seamless the transition is from one iPhone to another. When you touch two iPhones together (using AirDrop), all your data, account, and files automatically transfer to the new device. By the way, don't forget to clean the old one before selling it and log out of your account.

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I've noticed my phone can get pretty hot when I'm charging it or binge-watching videos. Thankfully, it's got built-in heat protection, just like my previous models. If it starts to overheat, it'll pause the charge and send me a notification on the screen. It's a really cool feature that helps extend the phone's lifespan.

I've seen it happen to my son's Android phone - the charging port literally melted due to overheating. That's why I always say to avoid using your phone while it's charging.

The 15-series phone has Bluetooth 5.3, whereas the 12-series had Bluetooth 5.0. What's the difference?

Bluetooth 5.3 offers improved data protection and overall better connectivity quality compared to Bluetooth 5.0.Both Bluetooth 5.3 and Bluetooth 5.0 have a range of around 200 meters, but version 5.3 can choose the optimal channel with a higher signal level.When it comes to speed, Bluetooth 5.3 doesn't differ from 5.0, offering the same 50 Mbps, but with support for more advanced audio codecs that result in zero or minimal sound quality loss.From a compatibility standpoint, Bluetooth 5.0 is more universal, while support for connections via the newer Bluetooth 5.3 standard may depend on device manufacturers.Bluetooth 5.3 is recommended for ensuring safer and more stable connections and higher-quality audio transmission without loss.Frankly, I got a bit lost in those digital terms, but for myself, I noted that connecting to my Redmi Buds 4 and 6 wireless earbuds is way faster - they immediately find the nearest devices. My Apple Watch also instantly finds my phone in working mode, as soon as I put it on my wrist.

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The Verdict.

If this were my first iPhone, I'd probably be over the moon. But this is my third, and it's better than the previous 12. It's like comparing cars: same brand, same model, but with a more interesting trim than the last one. I'm really enjoying my 15.