iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max hands-on

We’ve just had our first chance to check out the new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, which Apple just announced at its annual fall event in Cupertino. There are lots of new things about the devices — camera upgrades, the new A17 Bionic chip — but there are three things about the phone you notice right away. The thing is made of titanium; there’s an Action Button on the left side; and that’s a USB-C port on the bottom. Oh, and a fourth thing: the sides of the phones on display were instantly and immediately covered in fingerprints.

At first glance, the 15 Pro looks just like the iPhones Pro before it, but pick one up and the lighter weight due to the titanium frame is obvious, as are the curved edges. It’s just nicer to hold. Apple says the titanium has allowed it to make the sides of the device thinner, which certainly makes the display look bigger than usual, but it’s the same 6.1 inches on the Pro and 6.7 inches on the Pro Max.

There’s a USB-C port on the bottom now, which Apple says supports 10gb/s transfers using a USB3 cable — enough to support live shooting 48mp photos using Capture One and shooting 4K video directly to external storage. But from the outside, it just looks like a USB-C port — we’ll have to test it out to know more.

On the side, you’ll find the new Action Button, which can be remapped using a delightfully designed menu in settings — you can set it to launch voice memos, open the camera, launch various accessibility features, or even launch Shortcuts, which means it can do anything you want it to do.