By James, Mozillion Team
The latest iPhone models say farewell to lightning cable, hello USB-C
At a journalist and YouTuber-packed event in California, Apple unveiled the latest iPhone models; iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The big headline news, although hardly the most exciting announcement, is the introduction of a USB-C port to replace the lightning connector. This brings the iPhone series in line with pretty much every other smartphone on the market, along with other devices such as iPads and Nintendo Switch. Nice that we’ll all be able to now use the same cables for our gear.
Let’s dig into what else is new…
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
Whilst it’s the Pro models that have benefited from most of the changes this year, the base model iPhone 15 and its bigger screen version, the 15 Plus, have both had some upgrades.
USB-C is the new connection port (thanks in part to an EU ruling that stated phones have to have one to be sold in most of Europe), and Dynamic Island is now no longer limited to the Pro models as the standard iPhone 15 models now support it too.
The main camera on the iPhone 15 has been upgraded to 48 megapixels, which is a bump versus the iPhone 14. What does this mean in practice when taking pics? Well according to Apple you’ll be able to capture photos with ‘sharper detail, more vivid colours, and improved low-light performance’.
You’ll no longer need to activate Portrait mode for those nice photos with the blurred background. If there’s a person in the shot (or your pet), the iPhone 15 will automatically capture depth info so you can turn any photo into a portrait at any time.
On the display, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have double the maximum screen brightness versus the iPhone 14, making it easier to view outside in bright sunlight.
Apple claims you’ll get up to 20 hours video playback on the iPhone 15 Plus on a single charge, and up to 26 hours on the 15 Plus.
Colour-wise, it’s a textured matte finish, available in six colours – black, blue, green, yellow and light pink. Both models are powered by last year’s A16 Bionic chipset (as it’s the Pro models that get the new A17 chip this year).
Pre-order starts on September 15 2023, with both models being released on September 22 2023.
The iPhone 15 starts at £799 for the 128GB model, while the iPhone 15 Plus starts at £899.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models get the biggest upgrades this year. Like the standard iPhone 15, the Pro models will both use USB-C, so say goodbye to lightning cables.
The Pro models support USB 3.0 with data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
In terms of design, Apple has binned the stainless steel frame, and gone with titanium for the 15 Pro models. This makes these two the lightest Pro models ever. It’s a 19g reduction versus the 14 Pro, making it similar in weight to the iPhone 11 Pro.
The overall size of the 15 Pro models is slightly smaller than last year’s 14 Pro series, but the display is still the same size – at 6.1 inches for the Pro and 6.7” on the Pro.
The 15 Pro display is a Super Retina XDR OLED with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling, HDR10, Dolby Vision and the same screen brightness as the standard iPhone 15 models.
The always-on display can support Apple’s new Stand-by mode if you want to use your iPhone as a bedside alarm clock or for other supported widgets.
The frames have a brushed texture and come in four colours – black, white, blue and natural titanium.
Apple has removed the mute switch from the iPhone 15 Pro models and replaced it with an action button. You can assign different actions to this button which supports a press, press and hold or a double press.
For the cameras, the 15 Pro models get a complete overhaul. There’s a 48MP main camera with a new bigger sensor and you can now capture 48MP HEIF images and 48MP ProRAW, which is something serious photographers will no doubt appreciate. The bigger sensor also supports 28mm and 35mm digital zoom and you can set one of these focal lengths as your default.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max features a new periscope camera – the first time we’ve seen one on an iPhone.The Pro Max can now zoom in up to 5x and there’s optical stabilisation as well to minimise image blur. This should be useful for close-ups, wildlife shots and capturing concert footage.
The iPhone 15 Pro sticks with a 3x zoom, similar to last year’s Pro camera.
Powering the 15 Pro and Pro Max is the A17 Pro chip which is apparently 20% faster than the A16 Bionic. The new chip will benefit gamers with a number of new console games coming to the iPhone, including Resident Evil Village and Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max pre-orders start on September 15 2023, with both models going on sale Friday September 22.
The iPhone 15 Pro starts from £999 new for the 128GB model and the 15 Pro Max will cost £1,199.