Apple iPhone Air vs iPhone 15
83
out of 100
VS
74
out of 100
Here we compared two flagship smartphones: the 6.5-inch Apple iPhone Air (with Apple A19 Pro) that was released on September 9, 2025, against the Apple iPhone 15, which is powered by Apple A16 Bionic and came out 2 years before. On this page, you will find tests, full specs, strengths, and weaknesses of each of the devices.
Select the amount of RAM to evaluate performance and value for money more precisely
Key differences
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone Air
- Higher display refresh rate – 120 Hz
- Has 2x more RAM: 12GB versus 6GB
- 54% better performance in AnTuTu Benchmark (2568K versus 1672K)
- Newer Bluetooth version (v6.0)
- Has a 0.4 inch larger screen size
- Compatible with Wi-Fi 7 wireless networks
- The phone is 2 years newer
- Supports higher wattage charging (30W versus 20W)
- 55% faster in single-core GeekBench 6 test: 4044 and 2612 points
Reasons to consider the Apple iPhone 15
- Delivers 65% higher peak brightness (1657 against 1003 nits)
- Shows 15% longer battery life (25:31 vs 22:15 hours)
- Stereo speakers
Review
Display
Screen quality, color accuracy, brightness
Camera
Photo and video recording quality
Performance
CPU and memory performance (apps, system)
Gaming
Capabilities for playing modern games
Battery
Battery life, charging type and speed
Connectivity
Networks, ports, data transmission
Select your primary usage scenario to get a more accurate NanoReview Score
Value for money (Beta)
Tests and specifications
Comparison table of technical specifications and testsDisplay
| Type | OLED | OLED |
| Size | 6.5 inches | 6.1 inches |
| Resolution | 1260 x 2736 pixels | 1179 x 2556 pixels |
| Aspect ratio | 19.5:9 | 19.5:9 |
| PPI | 460 ppi | 460 ppi |
| Refresh rate | 120 Hz | 60 Hz |
| Adaptive refresh rate | Yes (1-120 Hz) | No |
| Max rated brightness | 3000 nits | 2000 nits |
| Max rated brightness in HDR | 1600 nits | 1600 nits |
| HDR support | Yes, Dolby Vision | Yes, Dolby Vision |
| Screen protection | Ceramic Shield 2 | - |
| Screen-to-body ratio | 88.9% | 86.4% |
| Display features | - DCI-P3 - Always-On Display |
- DCI-P3 |
| RGB color space | 99.8% | 99.6% |
| PWM | 240 Hz | 306 Hz |
| Response time | 1 ms | 2 ms |
| Contrast | ∞ Infinity | ∞ Infinity |
Screen space comparison
iPhone Air
6.5″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 16.1 in2
iPhone 15
6.1″ (19.5:9 ratio) = 14.2 in2
~13% more screen space
Peak brightness test (auto)
Design and build
| Height | 156.2 mm (6.15 inches) | 147.6 mm (5.81 inches) |
| Width | 74.7 mm (2.94 inches) | 71.6 mm (2.82 inches) |
| Thickness | 5.6 mm (0.22 inches) | 7.8 mm (0.31 inches) |
| Weight | 165 g (5.82 oz) | 171 g (6.03 oz) |
| Waterproof | IP68 | IP68 |
| Rear material | Glass | Glass |
| Frame material | Metal | Metal |
| Colors | White, Black, Gold, Blue | Black, Blue, Green, Pink, Yellow |
| Fingerprint scanner | No | No |
| Repairability | Average (2.85/5) | Average (2.96/5) |
| Drop resistance | Very good (B) · 180 drops | Good (C) · 90 drops |
Screen-to-body ratio
Performance
| Chipset | Apple A19 Pro | Apple A16 Bionic |
| Max clock | 4260 MHz | 3460 MHz |
| CPU cores | 6 (2 + 4) | 6 (2 + 4) |
| Architecture | - 4 cores at 2.6 GHz: - 2 cores at 4.26 GHz: |
- 4 cores at 2.02 GHz: Sawtooth - 2 cores at 3.46 GHz: Everest |
| Manufacturing | TSMC | TSMC |
| Lithography process | 3 nanometers | 4 nanometers |
| Neural processor (NPU) | Apple Neural Engine | Apple Neural Engine |
| Graphics | 5 core Apple GPU | 5 core Apple GPU |
| GPU shading units | 768 | 640 |
| GPU clock | 1620 MHz | 1398 MHz |
| FLOPS | ~2488.3 GFLOPS | ~1789.4 GFLOPS |
Benchmarks
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Compute Score (GPU)
| Compute Score (GPU) | 37743 | 22764 |
| Single-core score | 4044 | 2612 |
| Multi-core score | 11101 | 6705 |
AnTuTu Benchmark 11
| CPU | 1060952 | 462812 |
| GPU | 645582 | 453603 |
| Memory | 312956 | 222511 |
| UX | 549219 | 533367 |
| Total score | 2568709 | 1672293 |
| Samples | Less than 3 | [9 tests] |
3DMark Solar Bay
| Stability | - | 74% |
| Graphics test | - | 15 FPS |
| Section 1 | - | 20 FPS |
| Section 2 | - | 15 FPS |
| Section 3 | - | 11 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 3979 |
3DMark Wild Life Extreme
| Graphics test | - | 17 FPS |
| Graphics score | - | 2868 |
Recent User Tests
Apple iPhone Air
No benchmark results yet
Apple iPhone 15
| Date | Benchmark | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 📘 2026-09-19 (Bear lover) | AnTuTu 11 | 1714105 |
| 📘 2026-09-14 (ZUSEPRO) | AnTuTu 11 | 1603687 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 GPU | 24336 |
| 📘 2026-08-15 (Julian Ludwig) | Geekbench 6 CPU | 2615 / 6477 |
| 📘 2026-08-12 (j0elz) | AnTuTu 11 | 1638319 |
Memory
| RAM size | 12 GB | 6 GB |
| Memory type | LPDDR5X | LPDDR5 |
| Memory clock | - | 3200 MHz |
| Channels | 4 | 4 |
| Storage size | 256 GB | 128 GB |
| Storage type | NVMe | NVMe |
| Memory card | No | No |
Software
| Operating system | iOS 26 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) | iOS 17 (Can be upgraded to iOS 26.5) |
| OS size | 27 GB | 18 GB |
| OS updates | 7 years | 7 years |
| Security updates | 7 years | 7 years |
Battery
| Capacity | 3149 mAh | 3349 mAh |
| Max charge power | 30 W | 20 W |
| Battery type | Li-Ion | Li-Ion |
| Replaceable | No | No |
| Wireless charging | Yes (20 W) | Yes (7.5 W) |
| Reverse charging | Yes | Yes |
| Bypass charging | No | No |
| Fast charging | Yes (57% in 30 min) | Yes (58% in 30 min) |
| Full charging time | 1:33 hr | 1:50 hr |
| Battery cycles | 1000 cycles | 1000 cycles |
| Web browsing | 07:48 hr | 10:47 hr |
| Watching video | 17:33 hr | 16:55 hr |
| Gaming | 05:28 hr | 05:36 hr |
| Standby | 96 hr | 112 hr |
General battery life
Main camera
| Matrix | 48 megapixels | 48 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 8064 x 6048 | 8064 x 6048 |
| Zoom | Digital | Digital |
| Flash | Dual LED | Dual LED |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| 8K video recording | No | No |
| 4K video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| 1080p video recording | Up to 60FPS | Up to 60FPS |
| Slow motion | 240 FPS (1080p) | 240 FPS (1080p) |
| Angle of widest lens | - | 120° |
| Lenses | 1) Standard: 48 MP |
1) Standard: 48 MP 2) Ultrawide: 12 MP |
| Camera features | - Bokeh mode - Pro mode - RAW support |
- Bokeh mode - Pro mode |
| Image resolution | 48 MP | 48 MP |
| Aperture | f/1.6 | f/1.6 |
| Focal length | 26 mm | 26 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX904 | - |
| Sensor size | 1/1.56" (≈ 0.64 inch) | 1/1.5" (≈ 0.67 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) | Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) |
| Stabilization | Optical | Optical |
| Image resolution | - | 12 MP |
| Aperture | - | f/2.4 |
| Focal length | - | 13 mm |
| Sensor | - | Sony IMX633 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/2.55" (≈ 0.39 inch) |
| Pixel size | - | 1.4 micron |
| Stabilization | - | Digital |
DxOMark main camera tests
Photo quality
Video quality
Generic main camera score
| Bokeh | 165 | 80 |
| Preview | - | 84 |
| Zoom | 109 | 114 |
| Samples | Photo samples of Apple iPhone Air from DxOMark | Photo samples of Apple iPhone 15 from DxOMark |
Selfie camera
| Megapixels | 18 megapixels | 12 megapixels |
| Image resolution | 4896 x 3672 | 4032 x 3024 |
| Aperture | f/1.9 | f/1.9 |
| Focal length | 20 mm | 23 mm |
| Sensor | Sony IMX914 | Sony IMX714 |
| Sensor size | - | 1/3.6" (≈ 0.28 inch) |
| Pixel size | 1 micron | 1.12 micron |
| Autofocus | Phase autofocus | Phase autofocus |
| Stabilization | Optical | Digital |
| Video resolution | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS | 2160p (4K) at 60 FPS |
| Depth sensor (TOF 3D) | Yes | Yes |
Connectivity
| Wi-Fi standard | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax/be) | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 b/g/n/ac/ax) |
| Wi-Fi features | - Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
- Dual Band - Wi-Fi MiMO - Wi-Fi Direct - Wi-Fi Hotspot - Wi-Fi Display |
| Bluetooth version | 6.0 | 5.3 |
| Bluetooth features | LE | LE |
| USB type | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| USB version | 2 | 2 |
| USB features | - Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
- Charging - USB-Storage mode - OTG |
| DisplayPort | No | Yes |
| GPS | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS, NAVIC | GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
| NFC* | Yes | Yes |
| Infrared port | No | No |
| Type of SIM card | eSIM | eSIM |
| Multi SIM mode | Standby | - |
| eSIM support* | Yes | Yes |
| Hybrid slot | No | No |
| LTE Cat* | - | 18 |
| 5G support | Yes | Yes |
Sound
| Speakers | Mono | Stereo |
| Headphone audio jack | No | No |
| FM radio | No | No |
| Dolby Atmos | Yes | Yes |
Speakers test
Max loudness
Other
| Category | Flagship | Flagship |
| Announced | September 2025 | September 2023 |
| Release date | September 2025 | September 2023 |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $799 |
| Successor | - | - Apple iPhone 17 |
| SAR (head) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| SAR (body) | - | 0.98 W/kg |
| Sensors | - Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
- Barometer - Proximity sensor - Gyroscope - Accelerometer - Ambient light sensor - Compass - Face recognition sensor |
| Bundled charger | Not included | Not included |
*Disclaimer! NFC, GSM network support, and some other specs can be different depending on the country.
Conclusion
After analyzing all the data, we think that the Apple iPhone Air is definitely a better buy.
Cast your vote
Total votes: 35