Everything Wrong With the iPhone 15, According to Early Reviews

So what’s wrong with the new iPhone 15?

While we’re not getting ours for a few more days, early reviews have been quite good … but plenty of journalists have noted some early hiccups and disappointments. As far as critiques go, they’re quite tame: Macworld, for instance, simply titled their review “The iPhone 15 Pro Max Is the Best Phone Ever. Yawn.” Modest updates and a lack of truly innovative features seem to be the sticking points for some people who aren’t happy with Apple’s annual incremental improvements.

5 Things We Learned From Apple’s Wanderlust Event

Including the standout features from Apple Watch Series 9 and iPhone 15

Mind you, some of these “issues” may get corrected in future iOS updates — or discovered years later (see iPhone 12 and radiation).

The other issues people have noticed:

BGR says the iPhone’s new USB-C port allows you to charge other devices. We had initially heard this meant AirPods and the Apple Watch but it apparently also could include iPads and Android phones, too. The problem? For the latter devices, there appears to be no way to control the power flow.
9to5Mac notes that the iPhone 15 Pro Max “only” has a 5x optical zoom, while the Galaxy S23 Ultra has a 10x zoom
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max can overheat during intense tasks, reaching temperatures as high as 118.4 degress. As well, the device will throttle performance while under stress.
Apple’s new non-leather FineWoven accessories for the iPhone 15 have met with some early criticism, with some early buyers suggesting the material felt “cheap” (per MacRumors)
Per TechCrunch, the data transfer speeds for the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are at USB 2 speed, which only supports data transfers at 480 Mbps. The Pro models, however, sport USB 3.2 Gen 2 speeds, with data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps (but the cable that ships with those models only supports USB 2 speeds, ugh!).
Semi-related, Apple’s new USB-C cables are kind of expensive.

Again, none of these are deal breakers. But you could always wait for the incrementally better iPhone 16.