For most of us, the days of upgrading to a new phone every year are long gone. And that makes comparisons like an iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 face-off especially valuable. Stacking up the two phones side by side can help you see if the new model offers enough improvements to justify an upgrade or whether you're better off sticking with your current phone.
Certainly, the iPhone 15 has a lot of life left in it, even if it's now more than two years old. The A16 Bionic powering the phone remains a top performer, and the cameras on the iPhone 15 still produce excellent images. With the iOS 26 update installed, the iPhone 15 figures to be a very capable phone for at least another year or two.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 specs
iPhone 17 | iPhone 15 | |
Starting price | $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 | $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 |
Display | 6.3-inch OLED, 120Hz | 6.1-inch OLED, 60Hz |
CPU | A19 | A16 Bionic |
Storage | 256GB, 512GB | 128GB, 256GB, 512GB |
Rear cameras | 48MP main (f/1.78), 48MP ultrawide (f/2.2) | 48MP main (f/1.6), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.4) |
Front camera | 18MP (f/1.9) | 12MP (f/1.9) |
Charging Speed | 35W wired, 25W wireless (MagSafe) | 20W wired, 15W wireless (MagSafe) |
Colors | Lavender, Sage, Mist Blue, White, Black | Pink, Yellow, Blue, Black, Green |
Size | 5.89 x 2.81 x 0.31 inches (149.6 x 71.5 x 7.95mm) | 5.81 x 2.82 x 0.31 inches (147.6 x 71.6 x 7.8mm) |
Weight | 6.24 ounces (177 grams) | 6.02 ounces (171 grams) |
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 price
Some things haven't changed since 2023. The iPhone 17 starts at $799, the same amount Apple charged for the iPhone 15 back when that phone debuted.
But not all $799 price tags are created equal. With the iPhone 17, you get 256GB capacity, double the storage of the iPhone 15's base model.
Apple used to keep older flagships around at reduced prices for up to two years after their release, but that's not the case with the iPhone 15. With the iPhone 16e now occupying that $599 slot in Apple's lineup, the iPhone 15 disappeared with the release of the iPhone 17 in September.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 design
In general, the look of the iPhone hasn't changed that much from the iPhone 15 to the iPhone 17, with the same slab design and rounded corners. Flip the phone over and you'll notice that the camera layout has changed — instead of the diagonally aligned main and ultrawide lenses of the iPhone 15, the iPhone 17 stacks its cameras on top of one another. That change, introduced with last year's iPhone 16, allows you to capture spatial photos and videos with the newer phone.
The iPhone 16 introduced two other design changes that continue with the iPhone 17 — a Camera Control button on the right side of the phone and an Action button on the left replacing the Mute switch. The Camera Control button serves as a shortcut for launching the iPhone's camera, and it can also access the Visual Intelligence feature that turns your camera into a search tool. I think so little of the button, I've disabled Camera Control, so I don't think iPhone 15 owners are missing out here.
The Action button is a different story. You can press it to silence your phone, or you can set the button to trigger a specific shortcut, from turning on the flashlight to launching the iPhone's Focus mode feature to minimize distractions. It's a nice addition for personalizing your iPhone for the tasks you turn to the most.
Apple has also made its iPhone more durable over time, with the iPhone 17 using Ceramic Shield 2 to protect the device's display. The new version is 3x more scratch resistant than the original Ceramic Shield found on the iPhone 15.
The iPhone 17 has a larger screen, making the new model fractionally taller than the iPhone 15, though other dimensions are essentially the same. The 6.24-ounce iPhone 17 does outweigh its two-year-old predecessor by 0.22 ounces.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 display
About that larger screen: the iPhone 17 features a 6.3-inch display compared to 6.1 inches on the iPhone 15. It's not a huge difference, though when I watched the "Wicked: For Good" trailer on both phones, the iPhone 17's wider viewing area certainly feels more expansive.
The bigger change is that Apple now turns to a Super Retina XDR panel for the iPhone 17, which means the screen's refresh rate can adapt based on what's happening on your phone. As a result, text scrolls more smoothly and game graphics feels more immersive than it does on the iPhone 15 and its 60Hz panel. In my opinion, the 120Hz refresh rate on the iPhone 17 practically justifies an upgrade all on its own.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iPhone 17 | iPhone 15 |
Display size | 6.3-inch OLED | 6.1-inch OLED |
sRGB (%) | 111.3% | 114.4% |
DCI-P3 (%) | 80.2% | 81.1% |
Delta-E | 0.20 | 0.18 |
Peak Brightness | 1,505 nits | 1,401 nits |
The iPhone 17 promises a brighter display, with a listed peak brightness of 3,000 nits to the iPhone 15's 2,000-nit max. In reality, the numbers are a lot closer, with the iPhone 17 outshining the iPhone 15 by 1,505 nits to 1,401 nits in our testing. Color reproduction numbers are virtually indistinguishable between the two displays.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 cameras
Apple has been tinkering with its camera setup since the iPhone 15 came out, and the end result should be better photos in more scenarios if you use the iPhone 17. While both phones still offer a 48MP main lens, the iPhone 17 replaces the 12MP ultrawide camera on the iPhone 15 with a second 48MP sensor. That should mean more detailed ultrawide shots, as well as better macro close-ups with the iPhone 17.
Up front, the 12MP TrueDepth camera on the iPhone 15 makes way for an 18MP Center Stage lens. Besides the higher megapixel rating, the Center Stage camera on the iPhone 17 has a square sensor to adjust the orientation of the shot without requiring you to reposition the phone.
To gauge how the iPhone's cameras have progressed since 2023, I took a handful of shots with an iPhone 17 and iPhone 15, starting with this photo of my apple tree. Colors look vibrant in both shots, with a good blend of light and shadow. I do think the iPhone 17 does a better job highlighting the water droplet on one of the apples, which I'd chalk up to improvements the Fusion Main camera used on the newer model.
The ultrawide shots of this old fighter jet look pretty similar, which surprised me given the jump in megapixels for the iPhone 17's camera. Both phones proved equally adept at calling out the blue patches in the cloudy sky, and there's a similar level of detail on the surface of the plane itself.
That said, to my eye, the edges of the wing in the iPhone 17 shot look a little sharper, particularly on the far side. I wouldn't be dismissive of the iPhone 15's effort, though.
My daughter took a pair of portrait shots to see what improvements Apple's made to that model over the years. And setting aside the slightly different shooting angles, I think the iPhone 17 has the better shot. My skin tone is warmer, while still realistic, and the background colors look a little more vibrant.
A night shot of some stuffed animals is essentially a wash between the iPhone 17 and iPhone 15. The pink critter in the back is more evenly colored in the iPhone 17 photo if you want to nitpick, but both cameras excel in low light.
Overall, I think the iPhone 17 takes better photos than the iPhone 15, though they're not significantly better. You'll have more tools at your disposal should you upgrade to the iPhone 17, but if you stick with your current phone, you're still going get some very well-composed shots.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 performance and software
You'd expect the iPhone 17 to outmuscle the iPhone 15 simply because Apple's newer phone uses a chip that's several generations ahead of the silicon powering the older model. Indeed, the A19 system-on-chip inside the iPhone 17 doesn't disappoint, beating the iPhone 15's A16 Bionic chipset handily in both CPU and GPU benchmarks.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | iPhone 17 | iPhone 15 |
Processor | A19 | A16 Bionic |
Geekbench (single core/multicore) | 3,701 / 9,460 | 2,518 / 6,179 |
Solar Bay Unlimited (fps) | 39 | 13.8 |
Adobe Premiere Rush (mins:secs) | 0:22 | 0:24 |
On Geekbench, the A19 beats the A16 Bionic's single core and multicore scores by 47% and 53%, respectively. The iPhone 17 can also churn out nearly 3x the frames per second as the iPhone 15 in 3DMark's Solar Bay Unlimited graphics test.
That said, in terms of real-world results, the iPhone 17 only beat the iPhone 15 by 2 seconds in a video transcoding test. Clearly, the iPhone 17 offers a faster chip, but you could argue that the real-world performance gains won't be all that noticeable on many tasks. For a lot of people, the iPhone 15's performance remains good enough.
There is one big difference between the two phones, though, even if both can run the latest version of iOS 26. The iPhone 17 supports Apple Intelligence, while the iPhone 15 does not, so the only way that iPhone 15 owners can experience Apple's AI tools is by upgrading to a newer phone.
I argued at the time of the iPhone 16's release that the current crop of Apple Intelligence tools aren't impressive or vital enough to justify an upgrade all on their own. It's possible that changes in 2026 when Apple hopes to release a more intelligent version of its Siri assistant. But at that point, iPhone 15 owners might prefer to wait for the iPhone 18 release in the fall to reap the benefit of even more upgrades.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 battery life and charging
The entry-level iPhone has always struggled to match the battery life of Apple's larger phones, which have more internal space for a bigger battery. That's the case with the iPhone 17, which turns in a time of 12 hours and 47 minutes on our battery test. That's certainly respectable, but a far cry from the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, which both landed spots on our best phone battery life list.
Still, iPhone 15 users who upgrade to the iPhone 17 will be jumping to a phone that lasts longer on a charge. When we tested the iPhone 15, it held out for just 11 hours and 5 minutes on our test, a little better than the average smartphone these days.
Even better, Apple has boosted the charging speeds on the iPhone 17. You can now enjoy wired charging speeds of 35W and 25W Qi 2.2 wireless charging. That compares to 20W and 15W, respectively, for the iPhone 15.
iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 15 verdict
The iPhone 17 offers notable improvements to anyone upgrading from an iPhone 15, with a larger, faster refreshing display leading the changes. But you'll also get a better performing phone that lasts longer on a charger while also taking better photos on average. Though the ability to use Apple Intelligence features wouldn't push me to upgrade, it is a nice bonus that guarantees future enhancements to your phone courtesy of software updates.
I think people who want to squeeze as much use out of their phone as possible before upgrading won't feel cheated should they stick with the older model. But the advantages offered by the iPhone 17 are pretty stark when you take a closer look at the two phones.
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