iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro: Enough changes to upgrade?

October 12, 2023

12 min read

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are Apple’s latest high-end smartphones that come with a range of new capabilities. But are they worth the upgrade if you already have an iPhone 13 Pro? Read along for an in-depth look at the iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro for everything that’s new and different.

iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro

Screen sizes and design

The screen sizes between the 13 Pro and 15 Pro remain the same with 6.1-inches for the Pro and 6.7-inches for the Pro Max.

But differentiators for the 15 Pro/Max displays include Always-On, 120Hz ProMotion, the Dynamic Island, and an outdoor brightness up to 2000 nits.

Here’s the full look at the display specs for iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro:

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Size	6.1-inches	6.1-inches	6.7-inches	6.7-inches
Resolution	2532 x 1170 pixels	2556 x 1179 pixels	2778 x 1284 pixels	2796 x 1290 pixels
PPI	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi
Super Retina XDR OLED	✅	✅	✅	✅
Dynamic Island	❌	✅	❌	✅
ProMotion – adaptive refresh up to 120Hz	✅	✅	✅	✅
Always-On display	❌	✅	❌	✅
Typical brightness	1000 nits max	1000 nits max	1000 nits max	1000 nits max
HDR brightness	1200 nits max	1600 nits max	1200 nits max	1600 nits max
Outdoor brightness	–	2000 nits max	–	2000 nits max
True Tone	✅	✅	✅	✅
Haptic Touch	✅	✅	✅	✅
Wide color (P3)	✅	✅	✅	✅

The bezels on the iPhone 15 Pro are also slimmer than the 13 Pro, which is what allows the very slight increase in pixels.

Size, weight, design

Overall, the physical design of iPhone 15 Pro remains very similar to the 13 Pro, but Apple has given the 15 Pro more rounded edges for a more comfortable feel.

And for the first time, Apple has used titanium for iPhone with the 15 Pro and Pro Max. That means new brushed finishes, high strength and durability, and lighter devices too.

The other major update for the 15 Pro and Pro Max is the change of the side switch to the new Action Button that offers customization.

For size, weight, and materials, here’s iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro:

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Height	5.78 inches (146.7 mm)	5.77 inches (146.6 mm)	6.33-inches (160.8 mm)	6.29 inches (159.9 mm)
Width	2.82 inches (71.5 mm)	2.78 inches (70.6 mm)	3.07 inches (78.1 mm)	3.02 inches (76.7 mm)
Thickness	0.30 inches (7.65 mm)	0.32 inches (8.25 mm)	0.30 inches (7.65 mm)	0.32 inches (8.25 mm)
Weight	7.19 ounces (204 grams)	6.60 ounces (187 grams)	8.46 ounces (240 grams)	7.81 ounces (221 grams)
Durability	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes	IP68 (splash, dust, 6 meters of water up to 30 minutes
Ceramic Shield front	✅	✅	✅	✅
Back material	Textured matte glass	Textured matte glass	Textured matte glass	Textured matte glass
Edges	Surgical-grade stainless steel	Aerospace-grade Titanium	Surgical-grade stainless steel	Aerospace-grade Titanium

Because the 15 Pro and Pro Max have slimmer bezels than the 14 Pro and Pro Max, the new phones are ever-so-slightly more compact – except for thickness.

Of course, the new iPhones also come in new colors, we’ll get into that in detail below. Here are some options to protect the iPhone 15 Pro:

Performance – A17 Pro vs A15 Bionic

When unveiling the A17 Pro, Apple focused its comparisons against the A16 Bionic. Year-over-year performance improvements are becoming more minor but Apple says the A17 Pro is the “fastest mobile CPU.”

Here’s a breakdown of the iPhone 13 Pro vs iPhone 15 Pro chip specs:

	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
SoC	A15 Bionic	A17 Pro	A15 Bionic	A17 Pro
CPU	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency
GPU	5-core	6-core	5-core	6-core
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core	16-core	16-core
RAM	6GB	8GB	6GB	8GB

In real-world use, the A15 or A16 Bionic and A17 Pro are more than powerful enough for almost everyone. But here are a few A17 Pro stats vs the A16 Bionic:

Up to 20% faster GPU than A16 Bionic (with AV1 decoding, Pro Display engine, ProRes codec, hardware-accelerated ray tracing)
Up to 10% faster high-performance CPU cores than A16 Bionic
Up to 2x faster neural engine, up to 35 trillion operations per second

And game developers like CAPCOM say the new A17 Pro GPU has made it possible for console-exclusive games like Resident Evil 4 to come to iPhone.

GeekBench scores:

GeekBench offers a good look at how the performance has improved between the A15 Bionic and A17 Pro.

27% faster single-core score
31% faster multi-core score
37% faster GPU

	iPhone 13 Pro/Max	iPhone 15 Pro/Max
Single-core score	2274	2894
Multi-core score	5483	7190
Metal (GPU) score	19798	27109

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, the iPhone 15 Pro has one hour longer battery for video playback than the 13 Pro and the same rating for audio playback:

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Video playback	22 hours	23 hours	28 hours	29 hours
Audio playback	75 hours	75 hours	95 hours	95 hours

For how that compares to iPhone 14 and more, check out our full post on iPhone 15 battery life:

iPhone 15 battery life: What you’ll get and how it compares to iPhone 14 and more

Cameras

Rear cameras

iPhone 15 Pro comes with a 48MP main rear camera, next-gen portrait with Focus and Depth Control, Smart HDR 5, and more.

A change this year is the 15 Pro Max gets the most capable camera with the telephoto lens having a 5x optical zoom (3x for 15 Pro like the 13/14 Pro).

The 15 Pro and Pro Max main cameras also have more powerful sensors and support shooting 24 and 48MP “super-high-resolution photos.”

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Main lens	12MP, ƒ/1.5 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.78 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.5 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.78 aperture
Main lens sensor	1.9 µm pixel	2.44 µm pixel	1.9 µm pixel	2.44 µm pixel
Main lens quick access focal lengths	–	24, 28, 35 mm	–	24, 28, 35 mm
Ultra Wide lens	12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture
Telephoto lens	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.8 aperture
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization
Optical zoom	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x	0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x
Digital zoom	Up to 15x	Up to 15x	Up to 15x	Up to 25x
Flash	True Tone flash with Slow Sync	Adaptive True Tone Flash	True Tone Flash with Slow Sync	Adaptive True Tone Flash
Photonic Engine	❌	✅	❌	✅
Deep Fusion	✅	✅	✅	✅
Smart HDR 4	✅	–	✅	–
Smart HDR 5	❌	✅	❌	✅
Next-gen portraits with Focus and Depth Control	❌	✅	❌	✅
Portrait Lighting with six effects	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode portraits	✅	✅	✅	✅
Photographic Styles	✅	✅	✅	✅
Macro photography	✅	✅	✅	✅
Apple ProRAW	✅	✅	✅	✅

iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro cameras focal lengths

More new features for the 15 Pro models include the option to quickly change (and set a default) for different focal lengths for the main camera – 24, 28, and 35 mm.

Video recording

There are a number of improvements for video recording between the 15 Pro and 13 Pro.

USB-C 3 support on the 15 Pro models means the ability to shoot ProRes directly to external drives – now at 4K60.

There’s also support for the Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) plus the ability to capture Spatial video that can be viewed on Apple Vision Pro.

Two more differences are Action mode and log recordings.

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
4K recording	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps
1080p recording	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 25, 30, or 60 fps
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps
Action mode	❌	✅	❌	✅
HDR/Dolby Vision recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps
ProRes recording	✅ – up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity)	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording	✅ – up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity)	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording
Log video recording	❌	✅	❌	✅
Academy Color Encoding System	❌	✅	❌	✅
Macro video recording	✅	✅	✅	✅
Spatial video recording	❌	✅	❌	✅
Slo-mo recording	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps	✅ –1080p at 120 fps or 240 fps
Time-lapse with stabilization	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode Time-lapse	✅	✅	✅	✅
QuickTake video	✅	✅	✅	✅
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	2nd-gen sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video
Audio zoom	✅	✅	✅	✅
Stereo recording	✅	✅	✅	✅

Selfie camera

Apple’s TrueDepth front camera on the iPhone 15 Pro gets a range of upgrades found on the main rear camera.

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
TrueDepth front camera	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 aperture
Retina Flash	✅	✅	✅	✅
Photonic Engine	❌	✅	❌	✅
Deep Fusion	✅	✅	✅	✅
Smart HDR 4 for photos	✅	–	✅	–
Smart HDR 5 for photos	❌	✅	❌	✅
Next-gen portraits with Focus and Depth Control	❌	✅	❌	✅
Portrait Lighting with six effects	✅	✅	✅	✅
Animoji and Memoji	✅	✅	✅	✅
Night mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Photographic Styles	✅	✅	✅	✅
4K recording	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps	✅ – at 24, 25, 30, or 60 fps
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 30 fps
HDR/Dolby Vision recording	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps
ProRes recording	✅ – up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity)	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording	✅ – up to 4K at 30 fps (1080p at 30 fps for 128GB capacity)	✅ – up to 4K HDR at 60 fps with external recording
Slo-mo recording	✅ – 1080p at 120 fps	✅ – 1080p at 120 fps	✅ – 1080p at 120 fps	✅ – 1080p at 120 fps
QuickTake video	✅	✅	✅	✅
Cinematic video stabilization	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p	✅ – for 4K, 1080p, 720p

iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro I/O

The major change for iPhone 15 Pro I/O is the switch from Lightning to USB-C. And the 15 Pro and Pro Max offer much faster transfer speeds with USB 3 support at up to 10Gbps.

USB 3 on the 15 Pro enables some neat new capabilities like shooting video straight to an external SSD and more.

iPhone 15 Pro supports 10Gbps USB 3 speeds, and it brings lots of cool features to the table

More differences with the iPhone 15 Pro vs 13 Pro include WiFi, Bluetooth, and UWB upgrades, plus Thread support.

	iPhone 13 Pro	iPhone 15 Pro	iPhone 13 Pro Max	iPhone 15 Pro Max
Lightning	✅ – with speeds up to 480Mbps	❌	✅ – with speeds up to 480Mbps	❌
USB-C	❌	✅ – USB 3 up to 10Gbps (20x faster than Lightning)	❌	✅ – USB 3 up to 10Gbps (20x faster than Lightning)
Face ID	✅	✅	✅	✅
WiFi	6	6E	6	6E
Bluetooth	5.0	5.3	5.0	5.3
Ultra wideband	✅ – gen 1	✅ – gen 2	✅ – gen 1	✅ – gen 2
NFC with reader mode	✅	✅	✅	✅
Thread	❌	✅	❌	✅
Cellular	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA	GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSPA+, DC-HSDPA
5G	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO	Sub-6 GHz and mmWave with 4×4 MIMO
GPS	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and NavIC)	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	Precision dual-frequency GPS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou, and NavIC)
Audio playback	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos	Spatial audio/Dolby Atmos
Video playback	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG	HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG
SIM	Two active eSIMs or nano-SIM and eSIM	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries	Two active eSIMs or nano-SIM and eSIM	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries
MagSafe	✅	✅	✅	✅
Qi and Qi2	Yes and uncertain	Yes and yes?	Yes and uncertain	Yes and yes?

On the question of whether the new iPhone 15 Pro devices will support Qi2, Apple is saying yes but it’s a bit confusing:

iPhone 15 supports Qi2 for wireless charging… but no one knows what that means

So it’s also unclear if iPhone 13 Pro will support Qi2.

Safety

iPhone 15 Pro has three more advanced safety features than iPhone 13 Pro:

	iPhone 13 Pro/Max	iPhone 15 Pro/Max
Emergency SOS	✅	✅
Emergency SOS via satellite	❌	✅
Crash Detection	❌	✅
Roadside Assistance via satellite	❌	✅

iPhone 15 Pro colors

iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are available in:

Natural titanium
Blue titanium
White titanium
Black titanium

Storage and pricing

iPhone 15 Pro/Max comes in at:

128GB – $999 (only 15 Pro available in 128GB)
256GB – $1,099 / $1,199
512GB – $1,299 / $1,399
1TB – $1,499 / $1,599

What’s in the box?

iPhone 15 Pro/Max just comes with the iPhone and a USB-C cable in the box.

If you need a power adapter, go with at least a 20W so you get fast charging for your iPhone. Good options include:

Anker 20W Nano Pro (super compact)
Nomad 20W power adapter (black finish and compact)
Apple’s official 20W adapter

iPhone 13 Pro vs 15 Pro: Is it worth upgrading?

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are powerful and capable devices, but whether upgrading from the 13 Pro is worth it to you will depend on how you want to use your iPhone and what features you find valuable.

Reasons to consider upgrading to iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max