iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: the key differences

The iPhone 15 line – that's the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max – are Apple's latest and best smartphones. They rank among the best iPhones ever made, each offering features that trump their respective predecessors and maintain Apple’s status as mobile manufacturer supreme.

But these new phones don't represent upgrades in every way. Particularly in the case of the iPhone 15 Pro, there are a lot of similarities to the iPhone 14 Pro.

So, with that in mind, we've crafted this comparison, looking at what's changed and what hasn't, both in terms of their specs and the experiences we had in our iPhone 15 Pro review and our iPhone 14 Pro review.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: specs comparison

Below we'll look in detail at the key aspects of the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro, but if you just want a simple specs comparison, you'll find that in the following table.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: price and availability

The iPhone 15 Pro hit stores on September 22, 2023, and the starting price is $999 / £999 / AU$1,849. That's for 128GB of storage, but there are other models too, topping out at $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,749 for 1TB.

As for the iPhone 14 Pro, that starts at $999 / £1,099 / AU$1,749, which again gets you 128GB of storage. At the top end, it costs $1,499 / £1,649 / AU$2,599 for 1TB.

So, it's available in the same configurations as the iPhone 15 Pro, and for the same price in the US, while in Australia it costs slightly less, and in the UK it costs slightly more.

Or at least, it did at launch. With the arrival of the iPhone 15 line, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 14 Pro, so we don't have any officially reduced pricing for it, but you can expect stores to sell it for less than the iPhone 15 Pro. Though, at the time of writing, we can't see it for much less, and it may soon be hard to find new.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: design and display

On the display front, the iPhone 14 Pro sports an excellent 6.1-inch OLED screen, and the iPhone 15 Pro has the same.

Both the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro boast adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate technology (dubbed ProMotion) that automatically adjusts the smoothness of their displays to suit whatever’s happening on screen, and both offer always-on displays.

The Dynamic Island – Apple’s fancy screen cut-out – has transitioned across from the iPhone 14 Pro to the iPhone 15 Pro, too, and both phones also have a resolution of 1179 x 2556 and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits. So, they're basically the same on the screen font.

However, there are differences in the designs of these phones. The iPhone 15 Pro uses titanium for its frame for one, while the iPhone 14 Pro has stainless steel. The iPhone 15 Pro also has slightly more curved edges, and benefits from a new customizable Action button, which acts as a shortcut to a feature of your choice.

These differences lead to slightly different dimensions and weights too, with the iPhone 15 Pro coming in at 146.6 x 70.6 x 8.3mm and 187g, while the iPhone 14 Pro is 147.5 x 71.5 x 7.9mm and 206g.

The iPhone 15 Pro's colors also differ, as the new phone is available in Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium, while the older phone can be found in Space Black, Silver, Gold, and Deep Purple.

But the overall size and shape of these phones isn't drastically different, and both have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: cameras

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro both have a triple-lens rear camera, with a 48MP f/1.8 main sensor, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide with a 120-degree field of view, and a 12MP f/2.8 telephoto offering 3x optical zoom. They also both have a 12MP f/1.9 camera on the front.

So, there's hardly anything to choose between these phones if photography is your focus. That said, the iPhone 15 Pro is a slight upgrade due to some changes to the image processing, and clever options like the ability to turn a photo into a portrait shot after you've taken it.

We were keen on the cameras offered by both phones when we reviewed them, describing the iPhone 15 Pro's as "powerful and excellent", and the iPhone 14 Pro's as "high-quality".

Still, if you want the best cameras on an iPhone, you'll need to look to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, with its 5x optical zoom lens.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: performance

On the performance front, the iPhone 14 Pro rocks an A16 Bionic chipset, which even now makes it one of the fastest phones available.

And yet, the iPhone 15 Pro is even faster, as it has a new A17 Pro chipset. This has a CPU that's up to 10% faster and a GPU that's up to 20% faster, and it's joined by 8GB of RAM – up from 6GB in the iPhone 14 Pro.

Along with the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the iPhone 15 Pro is likely the most powerful phone on the planet. But there's still not much that can slow the iPhone 14 Pro down, so while power is a win for the new phone, it's not likely to be a massively meaningful one for most people.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: battery

The iPhone 14 Pro sports a 3,200mAh battery that delivers a full day (and night) of use if the phone is used normally for everyday tasks.

The iPhone 15 Pro features a marginally larger 3,274mAh battery, but according to Apple, the two phones have exactly the same life, which is in line with our experiences.

However, there are differences in how you charge the phones, with the iPhone 15 Pro using USB-C while the iPhone 14 Pro uses Lightning. The charging speeds are the same, though, with Apple claiming both can charge to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W charger.

There is a neat new trick in the iPhone 15 Pro's charging toolkit, as you can set it to only charge to 80%, which can help ensure it doesn't wear out as fast. This seems like something that Apple should be able to add to the iPhone 14 Pro through a software update, but so far it hasn't done.

iPhone 15 Pro vs iPhone 14 Pro: verdict

So, is the iPhone 15 Pro a better phone than the iPhone 14 Pro? Objectively, yes – but not vastly so.

It has a more premium design (thanks to its titanium sides), more power, an Action Button, and USB-C charging, along with a marginally larger battery and some slight improvements to the camera and charging features.

None of those upgrades are game-changing, and given that we described the iPhone 14 Pro as something close to “the perfect iPhone” in our review, the iPhone 15 Pro isn't a must-have device if you’re already rocking one of the best phones.

If you want a bigger upgrade, you should look to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, but for those using something older than the iPhone 14 Pro, or those who just like to upgrade yearly, there's enough here to be worthwhile. After all, it achieved 4.5 stars in our review – but so did the iPhone 14 Pro.