Unlock the Full Potential of Your iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max with These 3 New Features

If you’ve been fortunate enough to get your hands on one of Apple’s top-of-the-line iPhones – the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max – you might already be familiar with features like NameDrop, which allows you to share contact information by simply moving your phones close together, and StandBy Mode, which transforms your phone into a smart display.

However, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have a few special new hardware features that you should be aware of to fully maximize the potential of your new device, including five incredible cameras, a new action button, and the ability to charge at USB 3.0 speeds.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to explore the features that are exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, now is the perfect time. We’ve highlighted three Pro and Pro Max exclusive features that you’ll want to set up, configure, and put to use.

1. Set Up the New Action Button

The action button is one of the most significant changes to the iPhone hardware in a long time, replacing the ring/silent switch that’s been around since the very first iPhone model. Instead of just toggling between ring and switch modes, the action button can be customized to perform a variety of tasks, such as turning on your flashlight, recording a voice memo, or running a shortcut.

To customize the action button, go to Settings > Action Button and swipe through the various actions you want the button to perform when pressed. These actions include:

– Silent Mode(default): Switch between silent and ring mode.

– Focus: Turn on your main Focus mode, like Do Not Disturb.

– Flashlight: Turn on your rear flashlight.

– Voice Memo: Record an audio note.

– Magnifier: Use your camera as a magnifying glass.

– Shortcut: Trigger a shortcut you’ve downloaded or created.

– Accessibility: Use an accessibility feature of your choosing.

– No action

If you see arrows below an action, that means there are additional options available. To assign an action to the button, simply swipe and stay on the desired action in your settings. When you’re finished, exit the settings page.

2. Change the Default Camera Lens When You Open Your Camera

The default main camera on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max is the 24mm lens, which is equivalent to 1x zoom. It’s your standard lens, but if you always find yourself zooming in a tiny bit when you’re snapping a photograph, you can change the default lens for the main camera.

Go to Settings > Camera > Main Camera and choose between the three main lenses:

– 24mm – 1x (default)

– 28mm – 1.2x

– 35mm – 1.5x

The next time you open your main camera, it will start at whatever new focal length you choose, whether it’s 1.2x or 1.5x. If you want to swap between lenses, tap the main camera zoom control to manually switch between 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. You can also press and hold down on the control and drag the slider for more precise control.

3. Take Advantage of the iPhone 15 Pro’s USB-C 3.0 Speeds

The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus both have a USB-C port, but the two models support the same USB 2.0 speeds as prior iPhone models with a Lightning port, which is 480 megabits per second. The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, also have USB-C ports, but they support USB 3.0 speeds, which is 10 gigabits per second – making it 20 times faster.

What does this mean for you? First, you’ll need a USB-C cable that supports 3.0 speeds. The USB-C cable that comes with your iPhone only supports 2.0 speeds, so you’ll need to buy an additional cable (like this one on Amazon).

Now that you have the correct cable, you can quickly transfer data between your iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. If you’re transferring data from iTunes to your iPhone, and vice versa, that should be quicker. It works for really any files being transferred out of your iPhone, especially to a flash drive; that’ll also be faster.

Apple also has a page highlighting that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max can support recording ProRes video (high-quality lossy video compression format) directly to an external storage device, at up to 4K at 60 frames per second. It’s a niche feature, but if you’re a cinematographer or a video editor, shooting in ProRes gives you better detail and colour depth that you can colour grade later on without losing quality. Having it directly recorded to an external storage device saves space and time, allowing you to connect the SD directly to your computer without having to transfer it from your iPhone first.