iPhone 13 vs 15: Time to upgrade?

October 22, 2023

9 min read

iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are Apple’s latest non-pro smartphones that come with a number of new features. But are they worth the upgrade if you have an iPhone 13? Follow along for an in-depth look at the iPhone 13 vs 15 for everything that’s changed.

We’ll focus solely on iPhone 13 vs 15/Plus below, for a look at how the 13 Pro compares to the 15 Pro, and 15 vs 15 Pro, check out our dedicated guides:

iPhone 13 vs 15

Screen sizes and design

The screen sizes between the iPhone 13 and 15 remain the same at 6.1 inches. However, the 15 Plus offers a 6.7-inch option that wasn’t available with the iPhone 13 lineup without stepping up to the 13 Pro Max.

New with the iPhone 15 displays is the Dynamic Island and an outdoor brightness of up to 2000 nits.

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

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Size	6.1-inches	6.1-inches	6.7-inches
Resolution	2532 x 1170 pixels	2556 x 1179 pixels	2796 x 1290 pixels
PPI	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi
Super Retina XDR OLED	✅	✅	✅
Dynamic Island	❌	✅	✅
ProMotion – adaptive refresh up to 120Hz	❌	❌	❌
Always-On display	❌	❌	❌
Typical brightness	800 nits max	1000 nits max	1000 nits max
HDR brightness	1200 nits max	1600 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 are also slimmer than the 13, which is what allows the very slight increase in pixels.

Size, weight, design

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

And as mentioned above, you’ve now got the larger iPhone 15 Plus option.

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

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Height	5.78 inches (146.7 mm)	5.81 inches (147.6 mm)	6.33-inches (160.9 mm)
Width	2.82 inches (71.5 mm)	2.82 inches (71.6 mm)	3.06 inches (77.8 mm)
Thickness	0.30 inches (7.65 mm)	0.31 inches (7.80 mm)	0.31 inches (7.80 mm)
Weight	6.14 ounces (174 grams)	6.02 ounces (171 grams)	7.09 ounces (201 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
Ceramic Shield front	✅	✅	✅
Back material	Glass	Glass	Glass
Edges	Aluminum	Aluminum	Aluminum

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:

Performance – A16 vs A15 Bionic

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

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
SoC	A15 Bionic	A16 Bionic	A16 Bionic
CPU	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency	6-core: 2 performance + 4 efficiency
GPU	4-core	5-core	5-core
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core	16-core
RAM	4GB	6GB	6GB

Both the A15 and A16 Bionic are powerful enough for almost everyone. But GeekBench offers a look at the performance difference between the A15 and A16 Bionic.

16% faster single-core score
21% faster multi-core score
29% faster GPU

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Single-core score	2188	2546	2559
Multi-core score	5181	6309	6371
Metal (GPU) score	17390	22456	22504

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, the iPhone 15 has one hour longer battery for video playback than the 13 and 5 hours longer for audio playback.

The iPhone 15 Plus offers 7 hours longer video use and 25 hours more audio than iPhone 13.

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Video playback	19 hours	20 hours	26 hours
Audio playback	75 hours	80 hours	100 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

iPhone 13 vs 15 cameras

Rear cameras

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

The iPhone 15/Plus main camera also has more powerful sensors and supports shooting both 24 and 48MP “super-high-resolution photos.”

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Main lens	12MP, ƒ/1.6 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.6 aperture	48MP, ƒ/1.6 aperture
Main lens sensor	1.9 µm pixel	2 µm pixel	2 µm pixel
Ultra Wide lens	12MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture	12MP, ƒ/2.4 aperture
Telephoto lens	❌	❌	❌
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization
Optical zoom	0.5x, 1x	0.5x, 1x, 2x	0.5x, 1x, 2x
Flash	True Tone flash with Slow Sync	True Tone flash	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	✅	✅	✅
Apple ProRAW	❌	❌	❌

Video recording

The main new feature for video recording with the iPhone 15/Plus compared to iPhone 13 is Action mode.

The other new video features this year are reserved for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
4K recording	✅ – 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
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR 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
ProRes recording	❌	❌	❌
Log video recording	❌	❌	❌
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
Time-lapse with stabilization	✅	✅	✅
Night mode Time-lapse	✅	✅	✅
QuickTake video	✅	✅	✅
Stabilization	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video	Sensor-shift optical image stabilization for video
Audio zoom	✅	✅	✅
Stereo recording	✅	✅	✅

Selfie camera

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

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
TrueDepth front camera	12MP, ƒ/2.2 aperture	12MP, ƒ/1.9 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
Cinematic mode	✅ – up to 1080p at 30 fps	✅ – up to 4K HDR 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
ProRes recording	❌	❌	❌
Slo-mo recording	✅ – 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

iPhone 13 vs 15 I/O

The major change for iPhone 15 I/O is the switch from Lightning to USB-C.

Unfortunately, it’s only the 15 Pro and Pro Max that offer much faster transfer speeds with USB 3 support at up to 10Gbps. The 15 and 15 Plus have USB 2 speeds up to 480Mbps.

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

Two more differences between the iPhone 15 vs 13 include Bluetooth and UWB upgrades.

	iPhone 13	iPhone 15	iPhone 15 Plus
Lightning	✅ – with speeds up to 480Mbps	❌	❌
USB-C	❌	✅ – USB 2 with speeds up to 480Mbps	✅ – USB 2 with speeds up to 480Mbps
Face ID	✅	✅	✅
WiFi	6	6	6
Bluetooth	5.0	5.3	5.3
Ultra wideband	✅ – gen 1	✅ – gen 2	✅ – gen 2
NFC with reader mode	✅	✅	✅
Cellular	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
GPS	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou	GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and BeiDou
Audio playback	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
SIM	Two active eSIMs or nano-SIM and eSIM	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries	Dual eSIM in US – physical included for most other countries
MagSafe	✅	✅	✅
Qi and Qi2	Yes and uncertain	Yes and yes?	Yes and yes?

Whether the new iPhone 15 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 will support Qi2.

Safety

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

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

iPhone 15 colors

iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in these five colors:

Black
Blue
Green
Yellow
Pink

Storage and pricing

iPhone 15/Plus comes in these storage options:

128GB – $799 / $899
256GB – $899 / $999
512GB – $1,099 / $1,199

What’s in the box?

iPhone 15/Plus 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 vs 15: Is it worth upgrading?

The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are fantastic smartphones, but whether upgrading from the 13 is worth it for you will depend on how you want to use your iPhone and what features you find important.

Reasons to consider upgrading to iPhone 15 or 15 Plus: