That’s one of my quandaries as well…although I’m waiting on the initial flood of orders to die off before ordering. The best alternative I’ve seen so far was on Daring Fireball and he’s got it set to run a Shortcut that allows him to hit still image, video, or enable/disable mute so unless I find something else I like better I’ll probably go with that. I also saw one that had it set to Shortcut to select the camera and then with a second press take a shot…but I’m not sure that I’m Shortcut savvy enough to figure out how to do that yet although TBH I haven’t really looked at setting it up at this point.
I agree that the weight differences are minimal and do not make significant differences in experience over time. However, the discussion did prompt me to think of the justification for Pro iPhones to use steel or titanium instead of aluminium. If anything, the ‘premium’ materials just add weight without making any meaningful difference in durability (I don’t think forcefully bending the phone is a normal use case). I once handled a Mini and was struck by just how light and easy to handle it is - if there is a Pro Mini made of aluminium, I will take that over steel or titanium.
There is also the question of ‘recyclability’ - it seems that the new chassis is a combination of titanium rail and aluminium plate fused/welded together, and I am wondering how one can separate these two distinct types of alloys.
The differences are truly minimal and other factors may contribute to the perception - better modem/network capability or just because the phone is not worn in (or down) with digital detritus yet. (Or just the psychological effect of a shiny new phone.)
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It turns out that the melting points of the two are quite different. There is already at least one Youtube video in which somebody melted off the aluminum to weigh the titanium rails and estimate their cost.
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Having used the iPhone 15 Pro for a month, I think the biggest daily improvement over iPhone 14 Pro in my use case is the much improved power consumption when cell reception is poor. This is likely due to the use of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 modem. The improved networking performance may have contributed to the perception that the phone was snappier.
Together with other incremental improvements in app optimisation and hardware, I am experiencing considerable improvements in battery life. I used to end my day with 30-40% charge remaining while using the 14 Pro; now I usually end my day with 50%. My average screen-on time is about 2.5-3.5 hours. Also, the 15 Pro does not usually get warm the way the 14 Pro did when cell reception is poor.
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I can relate. Previously, my iPhone 14 Pro would typically have only 50% or less battery left by the end of the day. However, with my new iPhone 15 Pro Max, the lowest percentage of remaining charge I have seen so far is 70%.
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