Buying an iPhone 15? Look out for these 3 widely-reported issues

Buying an iPhone 15? Look out for these potential issues

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The firstiPhone 15andiPhone 15 Prophones have started landing in the hands of those who got their pre-orders in early – and while that’s mostly been a cause for celebration, some early users have reported three main teething issues withApple’s new phones.

The first issue, a setup bug, is one of two complaints that Apple has now officially responded to. This bug made the iPhone 15 freeze when you tried to directly transfer data from an older iPhone to the new one – in fact, it was an issuewe also experienced with the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple has rushed out a couple of small firmware updates (iOS 17.0.1 and now iOS 17.0.2) to fix this problem, and it seems to have done the trick. So if you’ve just received a new iPhone 15, make sure your old iPhone is updated to that latest firmware by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple also now has a handysupport pagefor fixing the issue.

The second widely-reported issue is related to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Some early owners, includingAndrew Clareon X (formerly Twitter), have shown how much the phone’s new titanium finish isprone to fingerprint smudges.

The finger prints look shockingly bad 🤯 Blue Titanium and Natural Titanium 🫢 pic.twitter.com/c8laYUPuYfSeptember 15, 2023

Like the iOS setup bug, this is something Apple has now responded to in its updatedsupport document. This states that, for the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, “the oil from your skin might temporarily alter the color of the outside band”.

The key word there is “temporarily”, with Apple recommending you use a “soft, slightly damp, lint-free cloth” to restore the titanium finish to its former glory. Alternatively, you could just avoid the issue by wrapping your iPhone 15 Pro in a protective case.

Some iPhone 15 Pro units appear to have display misalignment, dirt on the camera lenses, scratches on the screen and signs of damage in various areas, there are reports of bubbles and discolored squares. This happens for units destined for the US, Chinese and EU markets pic.twitter.com/8Peh0zoaZsSeptember 23, 2023

The final reported iPhone 15 issue, one of quality control, is currently only based on anecdotal evidence, but has been widely reported by prominent social media tipsters and Reddit users. As spotted byWccftech,Majin Byu(a leaker with a reasonable track record) has gathered reports from Apple resellers and owners suggesting that early iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max phones are arriving with manufacturing defects.

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These apparently include the display not being correctly aligned with the edges of the phone, dust inside the telephoto camera lens, and other signs of cosmetic damage. On Reddit, a handful of users have also reported issues – for example, aniPhone 15 Pro Max arriving with cracked rear glass.

There’s no evidence to suggest that these issues are widespread or different from any previous iPhone launches. But one Apple reseller quoted by Majin Bu suggested that problems like iPhones arriving with scratched screens didn’t happen to the same extent with theiPhone 14 Pro. We’ve contacted Apple for comment and will update this story when we hear back.

An annual tradition

Launch day iPhone teething issues aren’t anything new – last year, aniPhone 14 update fixed an issuethat saw its camera produce shaky or blurry visuals. The iPhone 13 Pro, meanwhile, also came out of the box with an issue that meant its120hz display wouldn’t work with some third-party apps.

Aside from the setup bug, we also didn’t encounter any of the other issues highlighted above in the process of completing ouriPhone 15 reviewandiPhone 15 Pro Max review.

Right now, the issues remain either isolated problems for an unlucky few or, in the case of the new titanium finish, something that’s easily managed. But we’ll update this story if Apple does return our request for official comment on the reported issues or updates its official guidance.

On balance, we’re big fans of the Pro line’s new titanium finish, stating that the new contoured edges make it a “pleasure to hold” and that the material also makes it noticeably lighter than last year’s series. The iPhone 15 Pro Max, for example, is 19 grams lighter than the 14 Pro Max.

So while titanium is no harder or tougher than the stainless steel frame Apple used for its iPhones last year, it’s also no major cause for concern if you’ve been eyeing up theiPhone 15 pre-orders.

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Mark is TechRadar’s Senior news editor. Having worked in tech journalism for a ludicrous 17 years, Mark is now attempting to break the world record for the number of camera bags hoarded by one person. He was previously Cameras Editor at both TechRadar and Trusted Reviews, Acting editor on Stuff.tv, as well as Features editor and Reviews editor on Stuff magazine. As a freelancer, he’s contributed to titles including The Sunday Times, FourFourTwo and Arena. And in a former life, he also won The Daily Telegraph’s Young Sportswriter of the Year. But that was before he discovered the strange joys of getting up at 4am for a photo shoot in London’s Square Mile.

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