iPhone 15 Announcement September 12 Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

@DaveF not a comparison, but here's a nice shot I took the other day, straight from the camera's default settings, no post, no advanced settings. I do set my iPhone to HEIC format, though, to save space so I did have to use an Automator Workflow to convert HEIC to JPG because this forum's software doesn't support HEIC. I did zoom in 1.5X and could not detect a visual difference between the original and converted file (though the file size did go up from 2.9MB to 5MB, which is why I choose HEIC). Also I do have "Prioritize Faster Shooting" set to OFF in the Camera settings.

View attachment IMG_6081.jpg

So if this doesn't represent a substantial difference from your typical 13PM result, it is likely not worth the upgrade for you.

Oh I'll add another one from a restaurant the other day. It was during dinner and inside the restaurant it was pretty low-lit (to the point where it was a little difficult to read the menu). I decided to take this shot outside of the front window (I had just gotten my iPhone) to see how it would contend with the dim interior, and the lights outside in the patio, and it was past sundown. The actual photo is un-retouched, and to my eyes the scene looks a tad brighter in the photo than it did in real life (my friend and I thought the same when we looked at the result on my iPhone screen when the picture was taken, so this isn't a Monday morning quarterback observation).

The camera's processing brightened up the inside to bring out features, but didn't blow out the patio lights and details. While I said scene this looks a little brighter than it did in real life, I will say the overall details and relative light levels are pretty representative of what was visible to the naked eye. Just a little overall brighter which one could edit in post by reducing exposure slightly by about 1/3 stop, if one wanted to try and re-create exactly what it looked like. I'd rather have the camera capture all that shadow detail and keep highlights from being blown out, and reducing the exposure in post, than to have it be incapable of capturing the shadow detail or over-exposing the bright areas. In the latter instance you're signed up for a lot more post-processing work in Lightroom and you're not guaranteed to get the same result as the superior in-camera result will get you.

View attachment IMG_5904.jpg

Maybe your 13PM was a much better camera than my 12PM and this isn't impressing you. But for me the improvement of the 15PM is pretty night-and-day compared to my 12PM.

 

[DaveF]

Look again. Battery Health is a sub-setting of Battery on all Apple Watches and Optimized Charging is on all watches running watchOS 7 or later. Direct from Apple .

Thanks. I’d gone to the squircle-button settings which doesn’t lead to that option.

 

[DaveF]

Maybe your 13PM was a much better camera than my 12PM and this isn't impressing you. But for me the improvement of the 15PM is pretty night-and-day compared to my 12PM.

The 13 and 13PM have great cameras. In my comparison two years ago I found the improvements from the 8 subtle. The camera improvements are real. But they’re so good now that the improvements can be hard to see in isolation and even in direct comparison might not be huge.

 

[Carlo_M]

The 13 and 13PM have great cameras. In my comparison two years ago I found the improvements from the 8 subtle.

When I went from the X to the 12PM (the first time I waited 3 revs instead of 2 between upgrades) I found the improvements to be fairly pronounced in both challenging situations and routine every day outdoor photography. Picture quality, feature set, responsiveness, etc. were all substantially better for me. That's probably why I have now settled into a 3 year cycle because I feel like that's enough time for the improvements to definitively be felt (for my uses) vs. every other year.

All this said, getting the 15PM did the exact opposite for me than I hoped. For the first time in over a decade (maybe 12-13 years) I just bought a new mirrorless camera (upgrading my 13 year old DSLR).

I know what you're asking: "If you find the 15PM camera to be so great, why did you just drop ducats on a new mirrorless kit?"

The answer...in a separate post in the Photography subforum

 

[DaveF]

iOS 17’s Check In Feature Provides Peace of Mind and Could Even Save Lives - TidBITS

Glenn Fleishman explores iOS 17’s new Check In feature, which lets you specify someone as a temporary safety partner who can confirm you got where you intended to to go. It’s a welcome addition to Apple’s collection of features aimed at increasing personal safety.

tidbits.com

 

[Carlo_M]

When I upgraded from 8 to 13 in 2021, my trade in wasn’t due for a few days after receiving the new phone so I was able to do a direct comparo. Was hoping folks had opportunity to do the same this year.

I did not. Focused on getting all the data safely transferred and then sent it back pretty quickly so I made sure I'd get my trade in value applied ASAP.

However I did go to a local restaurant and remembered I'd taken a pic of their dessert during their grand opening many months ago. I took another photo with the 15PM. This is not a scientific A/B like-for-like comparison. I had forgotten that I used the square photo feature for the original 12PM shot months ago so when I dug back through my pics, they're not even close to being framed the same.

With that full disclosure here they are:

12PM

15PM (sorry, not sure why the forum won't load a preview and is showing it as an attachment...but you can right click on both and open in new tabs to see the full sized images)
View attachment IMG_6139.jpg

 

[TonyD]

Just popped up on my FB memories..

 

[Clinton McClure]

That was the point in time when I began to reevaluate my AT&T mobile options and # of texts per month was no longer part of the equation.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Well, after three years (I think it’s been three years) my iPhone 12 has started failing. It began with lots of missed calls and texts, mainly from my wife because suddenly there was no ring tone or message chime. Restarting the phone would fix this for a week or so then alert sounds would stop again. Now, charging via MagSafe doesn’t work. I’ve rebooted the phone multiple times, performed several hard resets, and even completely wiped and restored it from my last backup, but to no avail. I’m using an OEM Apple MagSafe charger with an Apple 20W adapter but wireless charging is a no-go. The charger works fine with my work phone, an iPhone 13, so I know there’s nothing wrong with the charger.

Verizon is offering me $850 for my 12 if I trade it in (it’s still in fantastic condition, otherwise) so I’m moving up to a 15 Pro that’s only going to cost me about $5/mo for 36 months. I don’t plan on going to another provider so I can live with paying $180 over the next 3 years.

The new phone should be delivered this afternoon and I’ll set it up late today or in the morning. This 12 is the first iPhone I’ve owned (I first bought into the Apple ecosystem with a 3GS around 2009) that’s really given me trouble, and it’s only been within the last 3 months or so. I can live with that track record so I’m not messed up about having to upgrade.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, after three years (I think it’s been three years) my iPhone 12 has started failing. It began with lots of missed calls and texts, mainly from my wife because suddenly there was no ring tone or message chime. Restarting the phone would fix this for a week or so then alert sounds would stop again. Now, charging via MagSafe doesn’t work. I’ve rebooted the phone multiple times, performed several hard resets, and even completely wiped and restored it from my last backup, but to no avail. I’m using an OEM Apple MagSafe charger with an Apple 20W adapter but wireless charging is a no-go. The charger works fine with my work phone, an iPhone 13, so I know there’s nothing wrong with the charger.

Verizon is offering me $850 for my 12 if I trade it in (it’s still in fantastic condition, otherwise) so I’m moving up to a 15 Pro that’s only going to cost me about $5/mo for 36 months. I don’t plan on going to another provider so I can live with paying $180 over the next 3 years.

The new phone should be delivered this afternoon and I’ll set it up late today or in the morning. This 12 is the first iPhone I’ve owned (I first bought into the Apple ecosystem with a 3GS around 2009) that’s really given me trouble, and it’s only been within the last 3 months or so. I can live with that track record so I’m not messed up about having to upgrade.

Are you switching from AT&T to Verizon for this? Sounded like you were on AT&T before -- and would be why Verizon's giving you that trade-in offer... which probably also requires joining an unlimited data plan (although they might also offer that if you were previously on a legacy data plan)...

_Man_

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Well, after three years (I think it’s been three years) my iPhone 12 has started failing. It began with lots of missed calls and texts, mainly from my wife because suddenly there was no ring tone or message chime. Restarting the phone would fix this for a week or so then alert sounds would stop again. Now, charging via MagSafe doesn’t work. I’ve rebooted the phone multiple times, performed several hard resets, and even completely wiped and restored it from my last backup, but to no avail. I’m using an OEM Apple MagSafe charger with an Apple 20W adapter but wireless charging is a no-go. The charger works fine with my work phone, an iPhone 13, so I know there’s nothing wrong with the charger.

Verizon is offering me $850 for my 12 if I trade it in (it’s still in fantastic condition, otherwise) so I’m moving up to a 15 Pro that’s only going to cost me about $5/mo for 36 months. I don’t plan on going to another provider so I can live with paying $180 over the next 3 years.

The new phone should be delivered this afternoon and I’ll set it up late today or in the morning. This 12 is the first iPhone I’ve owned (I first bought into the Apple ecosystem with a 3GS around 2009) that’s really given me trouble, and it’s only been within the last 3 months or so. I can live with that track record so I’m not messed up about having to upgrade.

Clinton, just wanted to come in and say CONGRATS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Are you switching from AT&T to Verizon for this? Sounded like you were on AT&T before -- and would be why Verizon's giving you that trade-in offer... which probably also requires joining an unlimited data plan (although they might also offer that if you were previously on a legacy data plan)...

_Man_

I’ve been with Verizon and subbed to an unlimited data plan for quite a number of years now.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Clinton, just wanted to come in and say CONGRATS!

Thanks Ron! I wasn’t planning on upgrading this year but it is what it is.

 

[DaveF]

Bummer a three year old iPhone is dying young. That’s not normal. Hope you enjoy your new phone!

 

[TonyD]

My 12PM
Started giving me problems 18 or so months in.
Overheats and dims the screen when it does. Getting worse and worse.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Bummer a three year old iPhone is dying young. That’s not normal.

Yup, but since this is the 8th iPhone generation I’ve owned since 2009 (3GS, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7 Plus, & 12 for personal use and 8 and 13 for work use) and the first to exhibit issues at this point in its lifespan, I can’t complain.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Finally getting a chance this morning to set up the new phone. Holy crap at the size of those camera lenses compared to my 12!

 

[Clinton McClure]

So I’ve spent the day with the 15 Pro. A few quick observations:

It’s noticeably heavier than the 12 because of the titanium but it’s also not too heavy and feels good in my hand.

I like the Dynamic Island.

I was wary of the action button but I set it up as a silent / mute switch and it works well.

The camera bump is larger than the 12 was (larger lenses, duh) and makes the phone lay more unevenly on flat surfaces. I’m not a photog and I miss the days of no camera bumps. It’s not a deal breaker, just a minor gripe.

Since the phone is USB C and my CarPlay head unit is USB A, I had to run to Target and drop $30 on Apple’s lightning to USB C adapter. I know there are probably quality USB A to USB C cables on Amazon but I have to drive to San Antonio early Sunday morning for a business trip and can’t rely on one getting shipped tomorrow.

 

[Clinton McClure]

New discovery: With my iPhone 12 connected via USB A to Lightning cable, I could connect the phone to the cable and CarPlay would automatically launch as soon as the head unit booted up. With the 15 Pro, I have to let the head unit boot before I connect the cable or CarPlay never launches. I don’t know if this is intended behavior of the 15 Pro, the head unit firmware not playing nice with the 15 Pro, a handshake issue somewhere between the USB to lightning cable / lightning to USB C dongle, or a combination of the above.

 

[DaveF]

So I’ve spent the day with the 15 Pro. A few quick observations:

It’s noticeably heavier than the 12 because of the titanium but it’s also not too heavy and feels good in my hand.

I like the Dynamic Island.

I was wary of the action button but I set it up as a silent / mute switch and it works well.

The camera bump is larger than the 12 was (larger lenses, duh) and makes the phone lay more unevenly on flat surfaces. I’m not a photog and I miss the days of no camera bumps. It’s not a deal breaker, just a minor gripe.

Since the phone is USB C and my CarPlay head unit is USB A, I had to run to Target and drop $30 on Apple’s lightning to USB C adapter. I know there are probably quality USB A to USB C cables on Amazon but I have to drive to San Antonio early Sunday morning for a business trip and can’t rely on one getting shipped tomorrow.

Did you have a 12, not a 12 Pro? The 15P is reported lighter than the 13P and 14P, but don’t know it compares to the 12 or 12P.