this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
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At the launch of the new iPhone, I upgraded my phone (iPhone xs max) to the iPhone 15 pro.

I assumed that it would be a bigger upgrade for me, since a few years has passed, but oh man this is a huge let down. Sadly don't have a return policy where I live in Europe.

The camera somehow seems worse. I'm not saying the camera is bad, but it does not seem better photos than my previous phone. I don't feel like I can just take out my phone and take a picture of something quickly anymore. Now I gotta focus and take more time with it.

The battery is not good. I'm a very light user, yet the battery drains just as fast as my xs max and that phone has 85% battery health.

The only real upgrade for is the 120hz screen. Charing with a usb-c cable or lightning really does not effect me at all.

Anyone else experiencing the same?

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[–] stef_brl_aesthetic@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

i went form a regular 12 to 15pro max and tbh i am not impressed either. battery is good that's why i really wanted a new phone but anything else... it's an iphone.

[–] SLJ7@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Did you get a fake Android phone pretending to be an iPhone?

[–] NickyGi@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

You should have upgraded to the 15 Plus.

[–] strongr_togethr@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

If you wanted the best battery, I would've gotten the 15 pro max or 15 plus. The smaller pro has always only had like average battery life.

[–] Economy-Weird-2368@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope.

15PM from iPhone XS. Light years difference in every aspect (camera, battery life, screen, speed, EVERYthing).

Maybe you need to fine tune and adjust your settings (update iOS, background app refresh, etc, etc...)

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Someone else here suggested the 15 PM if I wanted better battery, but I spent years regretting getting the xs max, due to it's size.

[–] Famous_Ant_2825@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Why did you get the max then? 💀 someone’s gonna told you to jump off a bridge and you gonna do it? 😭 spending years to regret and getting the same thing is wild

[–] allhaillordfrieza@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Did you tweak the camera settings? If you’re not shooting in RAW, you’re not gonna full results.

[–] Mapleess@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Battery life being worse on the smaller phone is no surprise, at all.

If the camera is also bad, then maybe yours is defective. I've got an X that I was playing around this morning because I'm about to sell it, and the camera is worse on the X, and I'd assume it's the same on the Xs lineups.

[–] TimTebowMLB@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

To be fair, the iPhone 15 pro has a bigger battery than the XS Max (3274mAh vs 3174mAh)

[–] Ayonanomous@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You went from a Max to a Pro not gonna be too crazy of an upgrade..

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I wasn't expecting crazy. I mainly upgraded for battery and a better screen. The screen is 10/10, but battery already feels like a reason to upgrade to a better phone.

Not true at all. The specs differ a lot between two iPhone gens. That is, except for the camera (not this gen) and sometimes RAM.

[–] LadaFanatic@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I mean the battery life was pretty much out in public, and the form factor is what is going on for the pro.

It’s not the best, but I would prefer to maybe plug in one more time a day (only on days with heavy usage in my case personal) rather than be uncomfortable for years to come.

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I get that the smaller phone has worse battery, but it still has a bigger battery than my old one. I would at least expect it to be better at first.

[–] __niklaus__@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

It also has a higher refresh rate and brighter display so maybe that’s what’s causing extra battery drain compared to xs max.

[–] MrViech@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I had the xs before to and upgraded to the 15PM and the camera is way way better

[–] akaishuichi1872@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Nope, I upgraded from an iPhone Xs to 15 pro max and immediately noticed the improvements in camera from details, better quality indoors and night mode. And more than double the battery life.

[–] IllAd731@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just an observation I've made and experienced myself: but I see a lot of posts where users find that cameras on the latest phone models are not an upgrade and look slightly worse to them. Maybe when you have a particular phone model for so many years, you get used to the look and style of the pictures it takes. I came from a Pixel 6 Pro to iPhone 15 Pro and was in the same boat - questioning myself if it was actually worth the money for the upgrade. Until I took side by side comparison pics and could see the detail the iPhone was producing when zooming in, and also tweaking the preset to add a bit more saturation and warmth.....it was only then when I became more satisfied with the results.

Despite saying all that, smart phones are peaking with technological innovation, especially with the camera systems. The upgrades with newer models are getting smaller. We're at a time now where Pixel / Samsung / Apple are producing such good comparison photos that it comes down to the user's choice of what style they prefer. I remember the days when I first got my Pixel 3XL - the camera and software processing blew Apple and Samsung away (in my opinion). Nowadays they all seem on par.

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

This could probably be it. Just used to the same type of photo for years.

Guess I just expected to be blown away, as I was with my xs max.

[–] seanroberts196@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

You are probably seeing the over processing of the camera app, I noticed it on my 14PM from the 13 and looking back I think the phone was better before. I particularly hate the current desire to have a night photo look like it's took at mid day. Try taking a night street photo, its awful. I think the phones are about the same personally very little improvement between years due to the fact that phones do so much now there is nothing new. Oh yes I'll be down voted but I think a certain amount of people convince themselves that the phone is better to justify to themselves that they cost was worth it.

[–] jredgiant1@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

iPhone 15 Pro Max from iPhone 8. Huge upgrade.

[–] Bompah@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Sorry to hear you are disappointed, and that you live in a country without a right to return. I’m guessing it isn’t an EU country as the DMA requires at least 14 days for distance sales (I never buy electronics in store unless they honour open box returns).

My experience having been on every generation since the 4, is that the 15pro is the most polished I’ve used. Like you I have up on Max phones after the XS max, and the jump down in battery life was reasonably noticeable, but hasn’t bothered me. I used the 12pm for a year and everything since that had been a big upgrade.

I’m a fairly light user and could probably go two days without charging a lot of the time. With heavy use I still tend to end up with 35% left at the end of the day.

Cameras etc are fine, better than XS for sure, but they are phone cameras, they can only cheat physics so far with digital trickery before it starts to show. Stick to the main lens and you’ll get the best pictures most of the time, even the digital 2x has been good for me.

Other than that things by far the best industrial design of the iPhone to date, the striking looks of the 4, combined with premium materials, better screen and superior UI. And a faster SoC than most of us can out to any good use.

But I understand the disappointment from buying new premium phones as the updates aren’t exciting anymore, they are iterative improvement. So you probably expected revolution and got evolution. Until Apple adapts foldables or another unique form-formfactor I’d get used to disappointment if you set your expectations high.

On a more positive note, I agree with others here who have said to just enjoy it. The 15pro is the best most reliable phone I’ve ever owned, the most comfortable to hold and use, and it finally has the near unending flexibility of USB-C. The only true revolution on an iPhone since the X.

[–] psyhke@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From 13 PM with 87% battery health to 15 PM, my battery somehow feels worse and AOD etc are off

[–] allhaillordfrieza@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Idk I had 13PM and now 15PM battery is slightly better on 15PM but 13PM had the best battery on any phone ever.

[–] rlaw1234qq@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve had some strange problems with the main x1 camera. I use it to photograph documents, which my old 12PM did well. Some of the pictures are very soft and blurry except in the centre, even with a tripod.

[–] Britty51@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

85 percent battery health? You have a defective phone. That’s not normal after 1-2 months

[–] KingofChocoFl@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I had an iPhone 7 but my dad gave me the 15 pro for Christmas (which was very nice of him) but man, it does exactly the same thing as the 7 just takes better photos. For 1100 bucks I don’t get why people even upgrade from whatever they were using prior.

[–] TheLord67@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not experiencing your issues. Also, if you live in a EU country, you have customer's protection law covering you to return the product. If you live in a 3rd world country, I'm sorry for you, you should have spent your money more wisely on something else.

Also please note that the technological innovation graph pretty much flattened over the years, don't expect any new changes even for the next 5 years too! Right now the biggest bottlenecks are batteries, but since they work via chemical reaction, material researchers need to find a new way to store power.

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I live in Sweden, so not a 3rd world country. I just bought it in store and not online.

[–] Caustii@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I was disappointed too but as the days pass I realise how much better the upgrade is

[–] At3key@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Lot of people saying no and downvoting probably just apple sheep. Based on what you said you might have a lemon which can for sure happen and is something I’ve experienced. The cameras have so much post processing now that photos look very different and not always better, you can turn off some of it in settings. For battery try switching to lte over 5g and turn off aod maybe that’ll give you some better standby

[–] apreslanuit@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I came from the 11 and I‘m with you with the camera. It doesn’t seem like a big upgrade. But overall it’s a good phone. And the battery seems fine to me.

[–] Flimsy-Bill-5474@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I have a 15 pro and from my experience i really dont have much to complain about. I really like the battery especially for the size of the phone it is still fairly competitive compared to other phones not just iphones but also androids. My point is that my only major annoyance with this phone would be the keyboard if im honest because most keyboards even gboard on the iphone kinda suck.

[–] ZakiYdSBgH@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I'm not a huge fan of the last couple of generations of iPhones, but I'm gonna say if you're coming from a XS Max and find the 15 Pro's camera worse then there's definitely some issue with your phone. Probably a damaged camera or something.

[–] flowinginthewin@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You are likely the demographic that use an iphone for : scroll, swipe, call , write and snap a picture.

This demographic can’t tell the difference between all iPhone models if it were presented to them, and will probably tell the 12 is more recent and better than the 13 because of…well….feelings…

They can’t tell what lenses do, don’t likely use new software features from each iOS, can buy a Pro model because they were told it is better by a seller, but will never use its features or if they do, it will be without knowing it or thinking it is software instead of hardware.

All the people I meet are like this.

Sadly, any iPhone would have been a disappointment for you since there is not a lot of upgrades anymore that really stand out to the casual user.

And sadly, that’s why “Pro” features like refresh rate, telephotos, AOD, and more will come to the base iPhone very late : casual user don’t notice it and don’t care.

[–] bulfinator@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Well, I work in IT and none of my purchases are because someone told me. I do my own research and have a high interest in IT as my hobby. I love new features and install them often on day one, but I'm not very interested in camera tho. Pro Features are definitely coming late to regular models, because Apple is pushing people to their pro phones.

The people you are describing most likely buy the regular 15 or 15 plus.

You on the other hand seem to be in the demographic of people who think they know stuff, because they watched someone else on youtube tell them the specs. Sadly, a lot of people I see on here are like this.

[–] blizzach@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Youre describing the exact demographic apple is targeting

[–] Voldamortt@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

The cameras on the 15 pro’s and pro maxes are the best on the market. Anyone with eyes can see that. OP hate to say it but you are suffering a major Mandela effect if you think and Xs takes better photos🤣

[–] Voldamortt@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Op you are delusional. The 15 pro and max lineup is easily the best and most game changing iPhone since the original X. Everything is vastly superior and a leapfrog upgrade. The camera’s have been reviewed by many pros as some of the best cameras on the market. For someone like you I’d stick with the regular 15 if you can’t see the difference

[–] NandroloneUA@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

in the next topic I was disliked for saying that USB-C is not that important, since the phone is very rarely connected to anything other than charging. You are further confirmation that I am right. Phone nerds, of course, are interested in all these innovations that use the phone to connect to a monitor. Some kind of perversion.

[–] GnrySgtRageman@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Haha, how all the sheeps are here. Maybe they dont love to hear the truth

[–] AntiGrieferGames@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

"Sadly don't have a return policy where I live in Europe. "

You can return this back or give that back, if you bought from big non apple shops. Make sure that needs the same condition as brand new like i did with ipad pro m2.

[–] Trash2030s@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

u/bulfinator, this sub is fucked up imo after reading your other post. Everyone, this is not a religion, ITS A PHONE.

[–] 99OBJ@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But I don’t see any of the comments he was talking about on that post? I was expecting to see death threats and insults on here. I haven’t found any that…

Deleted by mods

[–] Trash2030s@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

There are 3 options, that could be together.

  1. Deleted by mods
  2. The bad messages were sent via DMs
  3. It’s all BS
[–] MediumLong2@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

The camera somehow seems worse. I'm not saying the camera is bad, but it does not seem better photos than my previous phone. I don't feel like I can just take out my phone and take a picture of something quickly anymore. Now I gotta focus and take more time with it.

The battery is not good. I'm a very light user, yet the battery drains just as fast as my xs max and that phone has 85% battery health.

Maybe your phone is defective? You can take it to an Apple Store and they can run some tests on it.