9to5Mac editor-in-chief Chance Miller shared his hands-on iPhone 15 video straight from the Apple event in Cupertino, focusing on the Pro models. This included his impression of the new titanium frame, a run-through of the various ways to use the new Action button, and a look at the new 5x telephoto camera.
These immediate hands-on videos are always brief, and of course only represent first impressions, but until the first iPhone 15 reviews are out, they do give us the best sense of what the new devices are like to actually use …
Many of these focus on the same two features highlighted by Chance, as they are the most interesting new hardware developments.
MrMobile, for example, was impressed by the subtly different shape of the sides of the iPhone 15 Pro models, coupled to the titanium finish.
By preserving the aluminum frame and replacing the steel with grade 5 titanium, Apple has brought the weight down, and by contouring the edges it’s made the phone more comfortable to hold. What I like about this, though, is that it didn’t go back to the more rounded pillowy footprint of the iPhone 6 era – you get the sharp looks that came back around with the iPhone 12, but an ergonomic grip that doesn’t dig into your palms.
iJustine voiced the same view as many on the titanium colors: They aren’t as vivid as many hoped, but they do look better in person than in photos.
When I say these things look really beautiful in person, there’s just something so immaculate about the titanium look. Of course, I was hoping for some more elaborate colors for the Pro series – there was even rumored at one point to have a red phone, what happened to that nobody knows – but I’m glad that they went with these more kind of Earth tone natural colors. Even this blue titanium is so pretty.
The Verge echoed comments on the titanium weight and feel, then highlighted the new camera features.
The Pro sticks out with the three times lens, so you gotta upgrade to the big phone if you want more zoom reach. So counting the macro, the ultrawide, and the telephoto and the crop options, you get seven lenses on the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Tapping on the main camera icon will give you a few more focal length options. So it really feels like a feature for photographers.
CNET liked the new finish on the base and Plus models of the iPhone 15.
If you take a look at the back of the iPhone 15 you’ll notice there’s this new, almost kind of cloudy frosted look, to the back of the phone. It has a matte finish compared to last year’s iPhone 14 – which was more glossy – and I really like it. I think it gives it a unique look, it’s almost kind of translucent, and most of all it does not seem to pick up fingerprint smudges as easily.
Engadget says that the long hold for the Action button takes some getting used to, but it’s likely to prevent accidental presses.
It’s a little bit smaller than the slider, I think, but it’s obvious it’s popping out, and it’s very identifiable by touch; you won’t accidentally press the volume button, you’ll definitely know that this is the action button. I thought it would be better if you had it one press to become the app trigger, but I’m realizing now that that might become too easy to accidentally start an app that you don’t want to start, so it’s actually probably a little smarter that long press is the action trigger.
UrAvgConsumer liked the degree of customization enabled with the Action button, like jumping straight to your preferred camera mode.
What’s dope about opening your camera is that you can actually select what it exactly it’ll do when you press that button, so if you’re more of a selfie taker you can select that if you want to take regular photos videos you get to pick what that action button actually does when you hold it down.
What most impresses you, based on what you’ve seen so far? Please let us know in the comments.
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