Is the iPhone 15 still worth buying in 2025? The answer is complicated

For a while now, part of Apple’s modus operandi for making iPhones affordable (relatively speaking) has been to keep at least one older model on sale. The result is that while there are four versions of the

iPhone 16
available, including the

iPhone 16e
, you can still buy the iPhone 15 and

15 Plus
, which originally shipped in 2023. They may be tempting for some buyers, given that Apple tends to support its phones for a long time, and the 16e isn’t really meant to be a flagship — it’s a replacement for the budget-priced iPhone SE.

Should you actually drop cash on an iPhone 15 in 2025? You’ve probably already got an inclination, but the answer is a little more complex than you might be imagining. And even if you want one, you may need to think carefully about how, where, and when you buy it.

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How does the iPhone 15 stack up against the iPhone 16 and 16e?

Performance

The major difference is, of course, processor power. Whereas every iPhone 16 is equipped with some version of Apple’s A18 chip — the 16e having a four-core GPU, instead of the regular 16’s five-core unit — both the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are stuck with the A16. That means they’re incapable of running

Apple Intelligence
, including everything from notification summaries to Visual Intelligence and

ChatGPT integration
. It’s not a big deal at the moment (I rarely use ChatGPT myself) but AI will inevitably become a bigger and bigger part of iOS, so you may miss out on key features as iOS 19 and its successors roll out.

Otherwise, the A16 is still a very capable processor. There are few games that will tax the A16 to its limits, and most other apps should be silky smooth. Indeed, since upgrading to an iPhone 16 Pro, I’ve been surprised at how rarely the A18 is (noticeably) better than the A15 chip in my old iPhone 13. Things install faster, and navigation apps are snappier, but the A18 doesn’t make much difference to apps like Cronometer or Reddit.

It should be noted that the iPhone 15 only has 6GB of RAM, versus 8GB with the iPhone 16 series, but the increase between generations is mostly for the sake of Apple Intelligence. It could make a difference in some other areas — particularly high-end 3D games like Resident Evil: Village — but Apple’s hardware and software is so tightly optimized that you probably won’t notice most of the time.

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Camera tech

Functionally, the iPhone 15 camera system is virtually identical to the iPhone 16 lineup. The standard 16 does have advantages like macro photography, Visual Intelligence, and support for spatial photos and videos you can experience with a

Vision Pro
, but it still uses a 48-megapixel main camera and a 13-megapixel ultra-wide, just like the 15. Most photos and videos should look identical under similar conditions, unless perhaps you decide to experiment with the expanded Photographic Styles on the 16 and 16 Plus.

The iPhone 15 actually has an edge over the 16e. There’s no ultra-wide camera on the 16e, so if you’re a fan of shooting vistas, architecture, or tight spaces, the 15 is a better option. The 16e also lacks Focus Control — which lets 15 and 16 owners change a portrait’s focal point after the fact — as well as some other features, like Action (stabilization) and Cinematic (shallow depth-of-field) modes for video. There’s no wind noise reduction on the 15, mind, or any

smart audio mixing
options.

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Battery life, wireless charging, and other features

One area where the base iPhone 15 is soundly trounced is battery life. You’ll get about 20 hours out of it based on Apple’s testing, whereas the standard 16 gets 22 hours, and the 16e gets 26 hours, just one short of my iPhone 16 Pro. In practice, no one uses a phone the way Apple does, and you’ll be charging all of these devices overnight — but the 16e could be preferable for travelers or other people who often find their device running on fumes.

The 15 Plus matches the 16e, so that may be the way to go if you want both excellent battery life and a larger 6.7-inch screen without spending on a 16 Plus. Every other phone in this comparison (excluding my iPhone 16 Pro, of course) has a 6.1-inch display.

In terms of wireless charging, the iPhone 15 sits in the middle. It does have MagSafe, which automatically puts it above the lethargic 7.5W Qi speeds of the 16e, yet it’s capped at 15W versus the iPhone 16’s 25W. You’ll get the best speeds from USB charging anyway, so this may be a moot point if you’re worried about charging in a hurry. MagSafe is a big deal for other reasons too. It’s often the best way of mounting an iPhone, or attaching accessories like wallets and external batteries. You can live without it, naturally, but it’s frankly amazing that Apple felt it could be sacrificed, given the money it makes from the accessory market.

Another thing the 16e lacks is Dynamic Island multitasking. That may actually be more significant than MagSafe for some people, since it makes it easier to control media playback, switch apps, and keep tabs on Live Activities like timers and food deliveries. I use it every day. There aren’t too many other differences to point out, but it’s worth noting that only the regular 16 supports

Wi-Fi 7
, and that the 16e doesn’t support the fastest form of 5G, known as mmWave. If you’ve got a smart home, neither the iPhone 15 nor the iPhone 16e have a Thread radio for compatible accessories. The iPhone 16 and the iPhone 16e have a customizable Action button in place of a ring/mute switch.

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Should you get an iPhone 15 in 2025?

Maybe, but it’s time to go bargain hunting

As you’ve seen, the iPhone 15 holds up surprisingly well, if mostly because iPhone (and app) evolution has come to a crawl. You might get jealous of the battery life on new models, and eventually regret the absence of Apple Intelligence, but even those things won’t matter much if you’re just trying to get to work or browse social media. It’s actually a better choice than the 16e if you care about camera tech, MagSafe accessories, and Dynamic Island controls.

I’d strongly recommend against buying a 15 from Apple, however. Official prices start at $699, which isn’t worth it for a base-spec iPhone that’s nearly two years old. As of this writing, you can get a refurbished one on Amazon for $508, and the 15 Plus is only slightly dollars more. If you’re willing to buy a used but non-refurbished device from eBay, you can find an unlocked 15 Pro for around $600.

There’s also a time window at play, since the

iPhone 17
is expected to launch in September. The iPhone 16 will drop to the iPhone 15’s current price, and production of the 15 will stop entirely. The good news on that front is that the iPhone 15 will continue to be a relevant device — just relegated to the used/refurbished market, presumably at even lower cost. That might be the opportunity to strike if price trumps all other factors.

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