The four new models of the iPhone 15 collection are the big thing on everyone’s minds right now, but can Samsung claw its way back into the limelight?
The Apple September 2023 Wonderlust event was a doozy, as always. Not only was the Apple Watch Series 9 announced, but Apple treated us to a new generation of iPhone, including the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
With so many models to choose from, you might’ve forgotten about all the other fantastic smartphones already available. To that end, we’re going to be running through everything you need to know about the iPhone 15 Pro and the iconic Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus.
Keep scrolling to find out all the key differences and similarities between these top-end smartphones so you can decide which brand is right for you.
A decked-out display on the iPhone 15 Pro
While it remains unchanged compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple has the upper hand in the display department; the iPhone 15 Pro comes with a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display with a 2556×1179 resolution. That’s impressive enough on its own, but it also comes with Dynamic Island and 120Hz ProMotion. The former shows you surface-level information at the top of the screen while the latter allows the display to adapt the refresh rate to ensure smooth scrolling, ranging from just 1Hz up to a speedy 120Hz.
Samsung went in a slightly different direction, opting to use a larger 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with a Full HD+ (2340×1080) resolution. We found the high 120Hz refresh rate to be smooth and streamlined, but we were disappointed to see that it couldn’t drop down further than 48Hz.
50-megapixel camera on the Galaxy S23
The iPhone 15 Pro comes with a very impressive camera array on paper; there is a 48MP main sensor, a 12MP ultrawide sensor and a 12MP telephoto sensor that has 2x and 3x optical zoom.
Samsung went even further with the Galaxy S23’s camera. It comes with a slightly higher-pixel 50MP main sensor alongside a 10MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultrawide sensor. We found that all the cameras produced clear and crisp imagery and that they worked best in well-lit environments.
Apple Music
Apple Music gives you access to over 100 million songs and 30,000 playlists, ad-free. Listen online or off, across all your devices, and hear sound all around in Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. You can now try 1 month for free!
- Apple
- Get 1 month free
- £10.99 p/m
A17 Pro vs Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy
Processing power is another area where the two smartphones differ wildly. The iPhone 15 Pro sports Apple’s new 3nm A17 Pro chipset, one of the first to be built on the process in the smartphone world. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus, on the other hand, sports a custom version of Qualcomm’s top-end chipset dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy.
One of the biggest claims from Apple about the A17 Pro is that it comes with up to four times faster ray tracing than its predecessor. This suggests that the A17 Pro should be a powerhouse when it comes to gaming and other intensive workloads. Qualcomm has similar claims when it comes to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, stating support for real-time Hardware-Accelerated ray tracing, Unreal Engine 5 and the Metahuman framework for photorealistic human characters, allowing for a streamlined and immersive gaming experience.
This should make both handsets more than capable of running triple-A games and could be a great alternative to all the latest handheld consoles that have entered the market.
Pastel colourway options on the Galaxy S23
The iPhone 15 Pro range may be packed with power, but it looks like Apple hasn’t put a lot of thought into the colourways this year. The four available finishes are relatively bland and muted, with no pops of colour to be found. The iPhone 15 can be brought in Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium.
Samsung did a much better job in this area, with more colours available and a lot more variety. The Galaxy S23 Plus can be found in Lavender, Cream, Phantom Black, Green, Lime and Graphite. It’s worth noting that each colourway will be subject to your region and mobile carrier, but you may find that you resonate with these colours a little more than what the iPhone 15 Pro has to offer.
