Apple has finally unveiled its newest smartphone, the iPhone 15, along with its larger sibling, the iPhone 15 Plus. The iPhone 15 models are the first iPhones to use USB-C instead of Lightning for wired charging and connectivity. Both models come with a major camera upgrade, a new Dynamic Island in place of a notch, a bigger battery, and a more powerful A16 Bionic chipset. In this article, we will give you all the details about the iPhone 15, including its price, release date, features, and specifications.
Price and availability
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus inherit the same starting prices as the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. The new phones start at $799 and $899 respectively for the base model with 128GB of storage2. You can also choose from 256GB or 512GB options for an extra cost. Note that if you buy either the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus unlocked from Apple, you’ll need to tack on an additional $30 to the cost.
The iPhone 15 comes in five colors: black, blue, green, yellow, and pink. They may not be as saturated in tone as previous Apple releases, but they have a pastel-like hue that looks elegant and fresh.
iPhone 15 preorders begin on September 15, with general availability in stores and online on September 22.
iPhone 15 Design
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have a similar design to the previous generation, with flat edges, rounded corners, and a glass back. However, there are some noticeable changes that make them stand out.
The most obvious one is the Dynamic Island, which replaces the notch at the top of the screen. The Dynamic Island is a small cutout that houses the front-facing camera and the Face ID sensors. It is much smaller than the notch and blends in better with the display. It also allows for more screen real estate and a more immersive viewing experience.
Another change is the USB-C port at the bottom of the phone, which replaces the Lightning port. This means that you can use the same cable and charger that you use for your MacBook or iPad to charge your iPhone. It also means that you can connect your iPhone to other USB-C devices and accessories without needing an adapter.
The iPhone 15 models also have an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, which means that they can survive up to 30 minutes in up to 6 meters of water.
Display
The iPhone 15 has a 6.1-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2532 x 1170 pixels and a pixel density of 460 ppi. The iPhone 15 Plus has a larger 6.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2778 x 1284 pixels and a pixel density of 458 ppi. Both displays support HDR10 and Dolby Vision for enhanced contrast and color accuracy. They also have True Tone technology, which adjusts the color temperature of the screen according to the ambient light.
However, unlike the iPhone 15 Pro models, which have a ProMotion display with a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz, the iPhone 15 models have a standard display with a fixed refresh rate of 60Hz. This means that they may not be as smooth or responsive as the Pro models when scrolling or gaming.
iPhone 15 Camera
His camera is one of the main selling points of the iPhone 15 models. Both models come with a major camera upgrade, with a new 48-megapixel (MP) main camera with a quad-pixel sensor and 100% Focus Pixels for fast autofocus, a first for the regular iPhone. Comparatively, last year’s models only offered a 12MP main camera. This main camera also gives users a new 24MP super-high-resolution default.
The main camera also supports optical image stabilization (OIS), Smart HDR, Deep Fusion, and Night mode for improved low-light performance. It can also record videos in 4K resolution at up to 60 frames per second (fps), with HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Cinematic mode support. Cinematic mode is a new feature that allows users to create videos with shallow depth of field and automatic focus changes.
The other cameras on the back are a 12MP ultra-wide camera with a 120-degree field of view (FOV) and a 12MP telephoto camera with a 2x optical zoom. The telephoto camera also supports OIS, Smart HDR4, Deep Fusion, and Night mode. It can also record videos in 4K resolution at up to 60 fps, with HDR10 and Dolby Vision support.
The front-facing camera on the Dynamic Island is a 12MP camera with a f/2.2 aperture. It supports Face ID, Smart HDR, Deep Fusion, and Night mode for selfies. It can also record videos in 4K resolution at up to 60 fps, with HDR and Dolby Vision support. It also supports Cinematic mode and Center Stage, a feature that automatically pans and zooms the camera to keep you in the frame during video calls.
Software
The iPhone 15 models run on iOS 17, the latest version of Apple’s mobile operating system. iOS 17 introduces several new features and improvements, such as:
- Live Text, which allows you to copy, paste, and search text from photos and images.
- Visual Look Up, which allows you to identify objects, animals, plants, landmarks, and more from photos and images.
- Focus, which allows you to customize your notifications and home screen based on different activities and contexts.
- FaceTime, which now supports spatial audio, portrait mode, SharePlay, and Android and Windows users via web links.
- Safari, which now has a redesigned tab bar, tab groups, extensions, and voice search.
- Maps, which now has more detailed and interactive 3D views, AR walking directions, and transit features.
- Wallet, which now supports ID cards, hotel keys, car keys, and more.
- Weather, which now has more accurate data, animated backgrounds, and full-screen maps.
Performance
The iPhone 15 models are powered by the A16 Bionic chip, the same processor that powers the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. The A16 Bionic is a 5-nanometer chip with a six-core CPU (two performance cores and four efficiency cores), a five-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, and a new Image Signal Processor (ISP).
The A16 Bionic chip delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance and up to 30% faster GPU performance than the A15 Bionic chip that powers the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus. It also enables advanced features such as Cinematic mode, Deep Fusion, and Night mode on all cameras, as well as spatial audio and Dolby Vision on videos.
The iPhone 15 models also support 5G connectivity, which offers faster download and upload speeds, lower latency, and better network coverage than 4G LTE3. They also support Wi-Fi 6E, which offers faster and more reliable Wi-Fi performance than Wi-Fi 6. They also support Bluetooth 5.2, which offers improved audio quality and battery life for wireless headphones and speakers
Battery
The iPhone 15 models have larger batteries than their predecessors. The iPhone 15 has a 3,877mAh battery, while the iPhone 15 Plus has a 4,352mAh battery2. This is an increase of about 10% compared to the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, which had a 3,515mAh battery and a 3,969mAh battery respectively.
However, the battery life of the iPhone 15 models is not significantly improved over the previous generation. According to Apple’s website, the iPhone 15 can last up to 17 hours of video playback, 65 hours of audio playback, or 12 hours of video streaming. The iPhone 15 Plus can last up to 20 hours of video playback, 80 hours of audio playback, or 15 hours of video streaming3. These are the same numbers as the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus.
The iPhone 15 models support fast charging with a USB-C power adapter. They can charge up to 50% in 30 minutes with a 20W adapter, or up to 80% in 30 minutes with a 30W adapter. They also support wireless charging with a MagSafe charger or any Qi-compatible charger. They can charge up to 15W with a MagSafe charger, or up to 7.5W with a Qi charger2. They also support reverse wireless charging, which allows them to charge other devices such as AirPods or Apple Watch by placing them on the back of the phone.