Apple switched from stainless steel to titanium alloy for the first time on the iPhone 15 series
iPhone 15 Pro's rear camera module detached altogether from the chassis at the end of the drop test
Photo Credit: Apple
iPhone 15 Pro and last year's iPhone 14 Pro have been pitted against each other in a new drop test that measures how durable Apple's premium devices are. The drop test video shared by YouTuber Sam Kohl shows that the iPhone 14 Pro was able to better withstand the drop test than the latest iPhone 15 Pro. The latest iPhone's black glass shattered at the fifth drop whereas the iPhone 14 Pro stayed almost in perfect condition until the final drop. This year's iPhone 15 Pro has rounded titanium edges replacing its predecessor's stainless steel material. Read on to find out how the iPhone 15 Pro and its predecessor performed in the drop tests.
AppleTrack's Sam Kohl has released a 13-minute video on YouTube that covers drop tests in multiple rounds to rigorously examine how well the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro sustain drops from different heights. The YouTuber threw two phones from the waist height initially and they turned out alright without any notable scratches. The iPhone 15 Pro got cracks at the rear panel at the fifth drop and the rear camera panel started showing dings and scratches at level six. However, the iPhone 14 Pro did not take any damage even in the sixth drop.
The video highlights that rounded titanium edges cannot resist the shattering of the latest device. The back and edge of the iPhone 15 are seen as more prone to damage than that of the iPhone 14 Pro. It could be due to the fact that the iPhone 14 Pro has a stainless steel frame, whereas the new device comes with a new titanium covering.
Successive drops caused increasing degrees of damage to the back panel and edges of the iPhone 15 Pro. In fact, its bottom display malfunctioned and became unusable at the 13th drop when it was thrown from a height of about 15 feet. The iPhone 14 Pro held up well while being dropped on a concrete surface at this level with no visible cracks on the screen or rear glass.
At the end of the drop test, the entire rear camera module of the Phone 15 Pro shattered and detached from the device's body in the 14th drop. The iPhone 14 Pro, on the other hand, remained functional even though it cracked fully at the front and back. Even after multiple drops the camera was working fine on the iPhone 14 Pro without any mere cracks on the camera island and its display was responding perfectly to touch inputs. The YouTuber notes that the iPhone 14 Pro survived way better than the iPhone 15 Pro.
You can watch the drop-test video below:
However, a drop test cannot decide whether a device is durable or not. The iPhone 15 Pro is currently up for sale in India and another 40 countries across the globe. As the new device reaches more hands in the coming days, users can analyse if the titanium construction is a better choice.
The iPhone 15 Pro's price starts at Rs. 1,39,900 for the base 128GB storage model in India. It is currently up for sale in the country via Apple's online store, Apple BKC, Saket, e-commerce websites, and official retail outlets.
Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2026 hub.