How does the Pixel 8 stack up against the iPhone 15

Google launched the Pixel 8 series on October 4. The company relied on showing Google’s AI prowess as a core selling point. Google’s launch comes weeks after Apple launched its new iPhone 15 series of devices. That’s why we wanted to compare the specifications of these new devices from Apple and Google.

In this comparison, we have omitted the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro for a better match of the base and the higher-tier models — especially the screen size. We chose to compare the Pixel 8 with the iPhone 15 and the Pixel 8 Pro with the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Pixel 8 vs. iPhone 15

Image Credits: Google

  • Display: 
    • Pixel 8: 6.2-inch OLED display; 1080 × 2400 pixels resolution; 428 pixels per inch
    • iPhone 15: 6.1-inch OLED display; 1179 × 2556 pixels resolution; 460 pixels per inch
  • Processor
    • Pixel 8: Google Tensor G3
    • iPhone 15: A16 bionic
  • RAM
    • Pixel 8: 8GB
    • iPhone 15: 6GB

Image Credits: Apple

  • Battery
    • Pixel 8: 4,575mAh
    • iPhone 15: 3,349mAh
  • Rear Camera:
    • Pixel 8: 50-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.7 aperture; 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with Æ’/2.2 aperture (126° field of view)
    • iPhone 15: 48-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.6 aperture; 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with Æ’/2.4 aperture (120° field of view)
  • Front Camera
    • Pixel 8: 10.5-megapixel main camera with Æ’/2.2 aperture
    • iPhone 15: 12-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.9 aperture
  • Main Port
    • Pixel 8: USB-C connector with USB 3.2
    • iPhone 15: USB-C connector with USB 2.0

Pixel 8 Pro vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max

Google Pixel 8 Pro in Bay, being held aloft with the back facing the camera

Image Credits: Google

  • Display: 
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 6.7-inch OLED display; 1344 × 2992 pixels resolution; 489 pixels per inch
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: 6.7-inch OLED display; 1290 × 2796 pixels resolution; 460 pixels per inch
  • Processor
    • Pixel 8 Pro: Google Tensor G3
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: A17 Pro
  • RAM
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 12GB
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: 8GB
  • Battery
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 5,050mAh
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: 4,441mAh

iPhone 15 Pro Max in natural titanium, being held, showing the back of the phone

iPhone 15 Pro Max Image Credits: Darrell Etherington

  • Storage
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB UFS 3.1 storage
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB NVMe storage
  • Rear Camera:
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 50-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.7 aperture; 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with Æ’/2.2 aperture (126° field of view); 48-megapixel telephoto camera with Æ’/2.8 aperture and 5× optical zoom
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: a 48-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.6 aperture; 12-megapixel ultrawide camera with Æ’/2.4 aperture (120° field of view); 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera with Æ’/2.8 aperture and 5× optical zoom
  • Front Camera
    • Pixel 8 Pro: 10.5-megapixel main camera with Æ’/2.2 aperture
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: a 12-megapixel main camera with Æ’/1.9 aperture
  • Main Port
    • Pixel 8 Pro: USB-C connector with USB 3.2
    • iPhone 15 Pro Max: USB-C connector with USB 3.1

While specifications are an important part of the picture, it still depends on users’ preference of Android versus iOS. Google committed to seven years of software updates for Pixel 8 series phones in order to compete with Apple’s updates. Google is also relying heavily on computational photography and AI trickery for photos as compared to Apple.

Read more about Google's 2023 Pixel Event on TechCrunch