The iPhone 15 Pro was unveiled officially a fortnight ago, with Apple naturally boasting about all the things they can do. But it looks like, on the hardware side of things, the phone has its fair share of issues. This ranges from the durability of the glass back, to the titanium frame itself, and even the A17 Pro chip on the inside.
First is the glass back if the iPhone 15 Pro. In a drop test done by Youtube channel AppleTrack, the latest phone in the line is compared to its direct predecessor, the iPhone 14 Pro, in a drop test. The key difference in material here is the titanium frame on this year’s model, compared to the stainless steel from the older model. When dropped from similar height, the stainless steel frame was the first to take damage, but when it comes to the glass back, it’s the newer model that gives way first. Ditto the display in front, as well as the camera lenses.
One of the working hypotheses is that the curves at the edges of the titanium frame curves into the glass of the iPhone 15 Pro, the shock of the drop is transferred more directly to the glass. A similar explanation also applies to the material itself, as titanium is a stronger material that flexes less, and therefore transfers more of the impact to the glass. Whereas stainless steel is not as solid, therefore absorbs more of the impact before the force gets transferred to the glass.
While on the subject of the titanium frame of the iPhone 15 Pro, it is also prone to temporary colour change when exposed to oily fingerprints. Apple even has a support document acknowledging the issue. Of course, this is a much smaller issue compared to glass shattering, and one that a simple wipe will solve.
And finally, we get to the insides of the iPhone 15 Pro. The brains of the phone is the new A17 Pro, which may have a thermal throttling issue according to Chinese content creator Geekerwan. In a Bilibili video, the phone is shown to run Resident Evil Village with frame rates initially running in the mid 40s dropping to around 30fps. While thermal throttling is to be expected when a phone is heating up due to intense use, it shows that the drop in performance for the A17 Pro is greater than that of the A16. Which paints quite a different picture compared to what was showcased before.
All in all, it looks like this year’s batch of iPhones are stumbling across the start line. And it’s not limited to the Pro models either, as a software issue was plaguing the regular and Plus versions of the phone as well, before a fix was pushed out.
(Source: Apple, AppleTrack, Geekerwan)
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