The iPhone 15 Pro is up for preorder right now — and we tried it early

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are official, bringing the kinds of performance and camera upgrades we’ve come to expect for Apple’s priciest, most capable phones. But for the first time in a while, it’s the look and feel of these new Pro devices — not to mention a neat new button — that stand out more than all of the fancy tech Apple managed to stuff into these sleek slabs of titanium.

The $999 iPhone 15 Pro and $1,199 Pro Max are available for preorder right now, and will hit stores on Sept. 22. Wondering if this is your time to upgrade? Here’s what I think after some early hands-on time with Apple’s new devices.

A fresh look and feel (and finally, USB-C)

The iPhone 15 Pro is the first iPhone to make the leap from an aluminum body to a titanium one, which gives Apple’s highest-end phone a new texture while also allowing it to be even thinner and lighter than last year’s models. As an iPhone 14 Pro owner, I immediately noticed the difference — between the matte brushed material, contoured edges and lighter weight, the iPhone 15 Pro just feels better to hold. I’m still irked that Apple gives the Pro series its most boring colors (why can’t I have a high-end phone in Barbie pink?), but the Blue Titanium option did look quite nice up close. If blue’s not your thing, you can also grab the phone in Black Titanium, White Titanium and Natural Titanium.

But perhaps the 15 Pro’s most significant change is the addition of the Action button, which replaces the silent/ring switch above your volume buttons with a clicky physical button that you can program to perform a bunch of different (and handy) actions. It’ll still silence or louden your phone by default, but you can also have it turn on your flashlight, open apps like Voice Memos or Translate, activate any Shortcuts you’ve set up and fire up your camera app. The camera functionality can even be customized, with options that’ll immediately put you in selfie, portrait or video mode with the click of a button.

I got to play around with this feature for a few minutes, and using the button to instantly snap a selfie or turn on my flashlight felt easy and intuitive, as did customizing the button via Settings. You tap the button to preview the action and hold it down to perform it, and, in a useful touch, the Dynamic Island on your screen will let you know what’s about to be activated. As someone who almost never uses the silent switch (who ever takes their phone off silent?), I’m very excited to spend more time with the Action button — if only to have a quicker way to open up Voice Memos to record my sloppy song demos.

Of course, the other big design change here is the long-awaited switch from Lighting to USB-C, which is happening across the entire iPhone 15 range. This is notable for a number of reasons, including the fact that you’ll now be able to use the same cable to charge your MacBook, iPad, iPhone and just about every non-Apple device that uses USB-C these days. It’s also particularly handy for the power users the Pro series is aimed at, as you’ll be able to transfer files at up to 20 times the speed of previous iPhones.

Promising power-user cameras

The iPhone Pro has always been the go-to option for folks serious about their photography, and this year’s models bring some notable upgrades to the usual triple-camera setup that should make creative pros happy. Some highlights include the ability to instantly switch between commonly used focal lengths of 24mm, 28mm and 35mm, as well as a new 48MP HEIF option in ProRAW mode that delivers 4x the resolution for folks who like to shoot photos and edit them on their computer after the fact. Pro videographers can even use that handy new USB-C port to record directly to an external storage drive at up to 4K resolution and 60 frames per second (fps), which should make the postproduction process even smoother.

Both Pro models get a big boost when it comes to taking shots from a distance, with the 15 Pro getting 3x optical zoom and the Pro Max getting a whopping 5x lens. This should allow for zoomed-in shots with more clarity and detail than we’ve seen from previous Pro models. As usual, Apple also promises better Night mode for shooting in the dark, improved HDR with better skin tone capture and clearer low-light and Action mode video. And just like on the standard iPhone 15, the Pro models always capture depth information, meaning you can add that slick bokeh effect after the fact without having to activate Portrait mode.

A big performance boost — especially for gamers

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max pack the new A17 Pro chip, which promises significant improvements in everything from autocorrect to energy efficiency. But all iPhones are absurdly fast these days — what really has me excited is that the iPhone 15 Pro might end up being Apple’s most legit gaming device yet.

The GPU in Apple’s new chip is built to deliver up to 20% faster graphics performance, which should provide a major boost in everyday processing, video editing and, you guessed it, gaming. Apple’s gaming performance claims usually don’t feel like a big deal — after all, a mobile game only needs so much power — but this upgrade will purportedly allow the new iPhones to run full-on console blockbusters for the first time. Major releases like Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding and Assassin’s Creed Mirage are all set to come to iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, complete with all of the cinematic visuals and expansive features you’ll find on their console and PC counterparts.

I got to put the A17 Pro’s gaming prowess to the test with some Diablo Immortal, a chaotic hack-and-slash that’s made for mobile but still touts some very high-end visuals. It ran fluidly and looked fantastic, but what really stood out were the dynamic, realistic reflections I noticed every time my character stood near a puddle. This is made possible thanks to the phone’s hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is a technology that allows for ultra-realistic lighting and shadows — and is four times faster than the software-based version found on other devices. I’m very curious to see how well the likes of Resident Evil and Death Stranding hold up, considering you’d typically play those on a PS5 or high-end PC. But with quality console ports — paired with controller options like the excellent Backbone One — I could see the iPhone 15 Pro serve as a secondary Switch for when I don’t feel like lugging around a console.

The takeaway

As someone expecting an iterative upgrade highlighted by USB-C and the usual speed improvements, I’m pleasantly surprised by how notable of a step up the iPhone 15 Pro is shaping up to be. Much like last year’s Dynamic Island, the Action button could prove to be one of those small additions that ends up making a big difference in day-to-day use. The upgraded camera (not to mention the USB-C port) shows lots of promise for power users and creative pros, and if you’re a big mobile gamer, these could end up being the handsets to get.

That said, as an iPhone 14 Pro owner, a cool new button and better gaming performance isn’t quite enough to get me to switch just yet. But if you’re a few years into your old phone and ready to step up, the 15 Pro should be on your radar. We’ll have a lot more to say on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max once we get them in for a full review, so stay tuned.