iPhone 15: The iPhone 15 is almost certainly imminent. Apple has not provided many official details about its next flagship smartphone, but a plethora of leaks, analyst predictions, and insider rumors have given us an idea of what to anticipate.
The headline message is clear: expect more alterations than the iPhone 14 introduced last year. It shouldn’t be long before we have confirmation of faster and more power-efficient processors, higher resolution periscopic lenses, USB-C, and a smattering of surface design modifications.
With these new features, however, could come an unwelcome price increase for the iPhone 15. Hopefully, this will prove to be a false allegation.
iPhone 15 launch date
Apple has not yet announced an official release date for the iPhone 15, but we expect it to debut in mid-September.
Bloomberg’s sources indicate that Apple intends to unveil the iPhone 15 on September 12 or 13, with the smartphone going on sale a week later on September 22. This confirms a previous report from 9to5mac, which stated that some mobile carriers have asked their employees not to take time off on September 13 in anticipation of a significant smartphone announcement.
All indications indicate that it is the iPhone 15. With the exception of the iPhone 12’s launch in October, the last few iPhones have been released in September, and the iPhone 14 will reach shelves on September 16, 2022. It is unlikely that the iPhone 15 will be different.
Price
The price of the iPhone has remained unchanged over the past few years, with the standard model of the last three generations costing $799. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple intends to increase prices for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in anticipation of a decline in projected phone sales.
Already, the company is dropping clues that a price increase is imminent. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, stated during a quarterly earnings call last February that “the iPhone has become so integral to people’s lives” that consumers are “willing to go to great lengths to get the best they can afford in that category.” In other words, iPhone devotees can buck up.
Here are the retail prices of the 128GB iPhone 14 models for your reference. The iPhone 15 will likely have a similar design to its predecessor:
- iPhone 14 costs $799
- Apple iPhone 14 Plus: $999
- iPhone 14 Professional: $999
- The price of an iPhone 14 Pro Max is $1,199.
iPhone 15 versions
As with previous iterations of Apple’s flagship smartphone, the iPhone 15 lineup is anticipated to include four models: the iPhone 15, the iPhone 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
A report from the beginning of this year suggests the Pro Max may be renamed Ultra, though Bloomberg subsequently retracted these claims and suggested Apple will instead introduce the Ultra in 2024 as a separate, higher-tier model.
iPhone 15 Attributes
The iPhone camera will undergo significant modifications, as always. Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple industry and markets analyst, predicts that both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will inherit the 48-megapixel camera sensor of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. It is a significant improvement over the 12-megapixel camera featured in the previous three iterations.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are expected to receive a periscope lens that is even more stylish. Periscope lenses, which are already present on a smattering of high-end smartphones, essentially support high levels of optical zoom, allowing you to capture distant images with exceptional clarity. With the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra’s 10x zoom telescopic lens and the Google Pixel 7 Pro’s 5x zoom, it is possible that Apple will attempt to catch up.
It is anticipated that the Dynamic Island, the pill-shaped black cutout at the top of the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, will also become a standard feature. It’s essentially an interactive notification area that replaces the iPhone X-era notch at the top of the display. It can display music controls, inbound phone calls, AirDrop transfers, and an assortment of other app notifications. And because it is interactive, the notification cutout can be enlarged, reduced, or divided in half when displaying multiple background activities. Although it was previously exclusive to last year’s Pro iPhone models, several insider speculations indicate that it will make its way to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
Once upon a time, it was believed that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max would eschew traditional side buttons in favor of solid-state haptics that could vibrate and vary in intensity in response to pressure. However, after initial hints from Ming-Chi Kuo and others, it has been suggested that development issues have delayed integration, and Apple has reverted to its standard physical button design.
iPhone 15 features
It is probable that the entire iPhone 15 lineup will receive a chipset upgrade. Model identifiers extracted from the backend of a recent tvOS update indicate that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will utilize the A16 processor found in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The next-generation A17 chip appears to be reserved for the upcoming Pro and Pro Max models. According to a prolific leaker, Apple’s first 3-nanometer chip will feature six CPU and GPU cores, each operating at up to 3.7GHz. According to a Bloomberg report, the chip’s manufacturer also boasts that it will reduce power consumption by up to 35%, which is a significant improvement for battery life. Unusually, a recent report by The Information claims that the same manufacturer has signed an agreement to develop 3-nanometer processors exclusively for Apple for an entire year before producing them for competitors. If true, this would be one method Apple stays ahead of the competition.
Analysts have also predicted that the iPhone 15 will include a new ultra-wideband communications chip to facilitate compatibility with the Vision Pro, Apple’s recently unveiled mixed-reality headset. Apple has positioned the headset as a consumer and commercial device that will integrate directly with a number of essential iOS applications. Improving the connectivity between the headwear and other Apple devices appears to be a logical step towards bolstering the Apple ecosystem.
Google Throws Shade: iPhone 15 Gets Called Out for Late USB-C Shift
iPhone 15 style
The Lightning port’s elimination is at the top of the list of prospective iPhone 15 design features. After the EU introduced legislation last year requiring that all phones sold within its member countries use USB-C, Apple confirmed it would comply with the alterations. It has until 2024 to implement the port, and Apple has yet to confirm whether this year’s iPhone lineup will be the first to include it. It is also unclear whether all iPhone models will transition to USB-C or only those sold in the European Union.
A Chinese case manufacturer provided renderings of the iPhone 5’s design to 9to5Mac, which depict a USB-C interface. In addition, the Pro models have a narrower screen bezel and more protruding camera lenses arrayed in a square array, as well as a more pronounced curvature around the frame.
Significantly, rumors suggest that the mute switch, which has been present on every iPhone since the first, will be supplanted by an Action button. It is claimed to be a programmable universal shortcut that can instantaneously launch various apps and features. A beta version of iOS 17 released in July lists the following functions that can be designated to it: silent mode, camera, flashlight, accessibility, focus, magnifier, translate, and voice memos. If it’s even real, we’ll have to wait to see precisely how it operates in the real world.
