Apple’s latest range of iPhones was announced tonight, 12 September, at its Wonderlust event to the surprise of no one. The company releases new iPhones every year but while most of the specs were whispered about and hinted at over the last couple of weeks, Apple still managed to slip in a few surprises.
Whether you’re reading to confirm the rumours for yourself or you’ve purposefully avoided spoilers before today (if that’s the case, well done), here’s what you need to know about the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
A dynamic island in a sea of display
The vanilla iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will arrive with 6.1in and 6.7in display sizes respectively. Those displays have OLED Super Retina panels that support Dolby Vision content, will manage a peak brightness of 2,000 nits when in direct sunlight, and are protected by what Apple calls ‘Ceramic Shield’. The Dynamic Island from last year’s Pro models makes its way to this year’s non-Pro models, allowing you to do all the same things the rich folks could last year like see how far away your food is.
The design of this year’s non-Pro models has changed, but not enough to get excited about. We’re sure that won’t stop some people who will also be absolutely thrilled to know that their new iPhone will be available in some ‘fun’ new pastel shades – black, blue, green, yellow, and pink. There’s a special bonding process to create these colours but that’s more of a brag on Apple’s part and less essential information.
Apple also mentioned that its new devices are “water and dust resistant” but said little more. We had to dig into the footnotes to discover that meant they have an IP68 rating. Thanks for the extra legwork, Apple.
Is iPhone 15 the middle child?
Where performance is concerned, Apple has bestowed the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus with the 14 Pro model’s 4nm A16 Bionic chipset. In case you’ve forgotten what that means, we managed to find our old notes so we can confirm that the 16-core neural engine is back, along with the 5-core GPU and 6-core CPU.
Apple once again claims “all-day battery life” but we’re almost certain that will depend on your usage and vary. If you have any doubts about whether the smaller model will get you through the day, the iPhone 15 Plus does get a larger battery to power its larger display. Hopefully, Apple did the math and they don’t just cancel each other out.
The recycled parts don’t stop there. Apple confirmed the rumours that the two cheaper iPhone 15s will receive the 48MP main camera sensor it debuted in the 14 Pro models last year. It features a focal length of 26mm and an f/1.6 aperture, complete with Apple’s Sensor-shift Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS).
It’ll default to shooting 24MP photos, thanks to Apple’s use of pixel-binning, or 12MP photos if you opt to shoot using the telephoto mode. Instead of cramming in another sensor for this, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus will use the main sensor for 2x telephoto shots as well. There’s also an ultrawide sensor on the back but that was glossed over without so much as a ‘how’d you do’.
This new camera system promises better snaps in low-light conditions or when there’s too much light and everything is over-exposed. It also boasts advanced portrait shots using more depth data allowing you to switch the focus to a different subject after you’ve taken the photo. But that’s according to Apple at its keynote event. It’s going to blow its own horn a bit.
Apple invents entirely new connector
The last of the not-so-surprising surprises was the inclusion, finally, of a USB-C port. In true Apple fashion, it waxed lyrical about the benefits that this great new connector allows and didn’t mention once how it “stifled innovation”. Don’t expect to get all the great USB-C benefits in the starting two iPhone 15s, however, Apple is saving those for the Pro models. But you will be allowed to reverse charge your compatible USB-C Apple products.
As for when you’ll get your brand new iPhone 15, in the US you can pre-order from Friday, 15 September and they’ll be available from 22 September. But if you’re reading this you probably aren’t in the US and want to know when they’re coming to SA – we don’t know. Yet. When we do we’ll come to your house and tell you.
When we show up at your house to tell you, you better have the money ready. If you want the 128GB models, we’ll take $900 in unmarked small denomination bills for the 15 Plus or just $800 for the 15 non-Plus. If you don’t have any US dollars on you, we’ll hang around in your garden until we know what they’ll cost in SA.
