Apple unveiled its latest generation of iPhones on Tuesday at the annual launch event that takes place at its headquarters in Cupertino, California.
The world’s most hyped launch event never fails to awe audiences and Apple always makes it a point to spur consumers into upgrading to their latest smartphones.
But this year the company is desperately in need of help as it is struggling to break out of a revenue slump that has seen iPhone sales drop for three consecutive quarters in 2023.
A common sentiment among customers is that Apple has been sticking to a tried and trusted formula when it comes to iPhones, whereas, its main rival Samsung has gone out of the way to launch products like the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z-Flip, which have introduced entirely new form factors to the smartphone industry.
But that doesn’t in any way mean that iPhones are incapable. They are some of the best in the business and one of the most sought-after smartphones in the world. It is rare to find a single product from one company that has stood the test of time like the iPhone.
This year’s iPhone 15 and 15 Pro models are said to be the “best” and “most capable” devices to have come from Apple and the most revolutionary in terms of features.
Here are some things that you need to know about the iPhone 15 series.
What Is New About the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro?
1. USB-C
Let’s get the genie out of the bottle. For the first time in its history, the iPhone will get a USB Type-C charging port as standard. So it is a bye-bye to the beloved Lightning cable, which has been around since 2012’s iPhone 5.
This was rumored to be the biggest change the iPhone 15 will have over last year’s iPhone 14 lineup. Apple’s move wasn’t something out of the blue because, in 2022, European lawmakers mandated all gadgets to be powered by a USB-C cable by next year in an effort to reduce electronic waste.
This also means that all products in Apple’s lineup – the iPhone, Mac, iPad, AirPods, and Apple Watch – can now be powered using USB-C power outlets. AirPods users can also charge their headphones directly from the iPhone 15.
Apple literally went “one cable for all your devices”.
2. Dynamic Island Across The Board
Apple introduced the Dynamic Island as a replacement for its iconic notch with last year’s iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. The long pill-shaped section on the top middle of the screen houses the phone’s front-facing camera and Face ID sensors.
Although it is pretty much a notch, what’s brilliant is how Apple managed to do some software trickery to make it feel like the Dynamic Island is part of the whole display. The interactive and dynamic mechanism shows you when your Face ID has been accepted, notifies you about Facetime calls, shows your music playing in the background, and displays directions on the map.
This year, Apple has brought the Dynamic Island across the entire lineup, which means developers will now be more encouraged to play around with the feature. It also means both iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro users can find more interesting and fun ways to interact with their devices.
3. Two Sizes And No More iPhone Mini
This year’s iPhones come in two sizes: 6.1 inches with the base-line iPhone 15 and high-end iPhone 15 Pro, and 6.7 inches with the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max models.
Sadly, the cult favorite iPhone Mini will not be making a comeback as the company killed it off with the iPhone 13 range. That particular model was popular among users who wanted a smaller form factor.
4. Bigger Battery
Battery capacity has always been a big drawback for the iPhones. This year, the company is promising an all-day battery life with the bigger 3,877mAH battery in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, and 4,912mAH in the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max variants.
However, there is a caveat with the updated batteries. Apple has also upgraded the screen brightness on the iPhone 15, which has been amped up to 1,600 nits in HDR and up to 2,000 nits of peak brightness in direct sunlight.
Apple has chosen to go with more brightness than a longer battery life but with powerful batteries to support the new screen’s performance.
5. Camera
iPhone is well known for its camera system, and this year the company has brought forward the biggest update to its cameras. In 2022, with the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, Apple increased its megapixel count from 12MP to a whopping 48MP.
This year, the standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will get the exact same camera kit as the 14 Pro, with “Quad-Pixel” mode delivering much sharper, more vivid, and less noisy photos in dim lighting conditions.
The Portrait Mode also gets an upgrade where the iPhone now uses machine learning to identify whether there is a human or animal subject in the frame and automatically toggles the Portrait Mode. There is continuous zoom for video in Cinematic Mode, and Smart HDR 4 in the front-facing camera to make your selfies look much richer.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max get Spacial Video mode, where the telephoto and ultrawide lenses combine to record three-dimensional video that can be played back on Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro augmented and virtual reality headset.
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6. A17 Pro Chips
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will run on the A17 Pro chip, while the non-Pro iPhones will get last year’s A16 processor that was in the iPhone 14 and 14 Pro Max.
While the A16 is only a minor upgrade from 2021’s A15 Bionic, the new A17 Pro promises larger performance and efficiency gains. It is one of the first chips to be built on the 3-nanometer processor and features six CPU cores with two performance cores that are 10% faster and four efficiency cores that are 20% more efficient. The six GPU cores on the A17 offer 20% more performance and speed than the A16 Bionic.
According to Apple, the Neural Engine on the new chip is 20% faster which is important for machine learning tasks such as photo processing, live voicemail transcription, and voice recognition.
In comparison, last year’s A16 Bionic was built atop a 4-nanometer design and featured a six-core CPU with two performance cores and four efficiency cores, as well as a five-core GPU.
iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Prices
The iPhone 15 will start at $799, while the iPhone 15 Plus will start at $899 with 128 internal storage. Apple has kept the baseline iPhone’s prices the same as the current iPhone 14 and 14 Plus.
The iPhone 15 Pro will start at $999 for the 128GB mode, the same price as the iPhone 14 Pro. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro Max will start at $1,199 for the 256GB model, up $100 from the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, and 15 Pro Max will start on Friday, September 15, 2023.
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