All iPhone 15 models have been announced. Here is everything you need to know about the price, release date, features, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
The iPhone 15 series was announced on September 12 at Apple’s Wonderlust event. Available in four options, Cupertino revamped the standard models while taking the Pro iPhones to the next level. Here’s what you need to know about these new phones.
Design: The Dynamic Island welcomes more people
After ditching the classic iPhone X notch in 2022 for the iPhone 14 Pro models, Apple has expanded the new Dynamic Island cutout to all iPhone 15 versions. All four new iPhones offer this new design in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays.
For the regular models, Apple has increased its brightness to 2,000 nits outdoors – twice as much as the previous generation. The back glass is strengthened with an optimized dual-ion exchange process before being polished with nanocrystalline particles and etched to create a textured matte finish. A new contoured edge on the aerospace-grade aluminum enclosure wants to make this iPhone feel nicer in users’ hands.
The iPhone 15 Pro has an Action button instead of the old mute switch. Image source: Apple Inc.
Apple added an ultra-thin bezel for the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max while maintaining the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays. By adding a titanium design, which is the same used in spacecraft, Apple says it offers one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of any metal, making this the company’s lightest Pro lineup ever.
Both models feature a new brush texture and contoured edges. The Pro lineup combines the strength of titanium with the toughest back glass in a smartphone and the industry-leading Ceramic Shield on the front. Using an industry-first thermo-mechanical process, the titanium bands encase a new substructure made from 100 percent recycled aluminum, bonding these two metals with strength through solid-state diffusion. According to Apple, the aluminum frame helps with thermal dissipation and allows the back glass to be easily replaced. This new design highlights the Super Retina XDR display with Always-On and ProMotion technologies for an exceptional viewing experience.
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max add a new Action Button; here’s what you can do
Another change with the iPhone 15 Pro models is the all-new Action button, which replaces the single-function mute switch. Users can now activate several new functions with it, such as:
Accessibility: Users can access selected accessibility features with one tap;
Camera: Launch the Camera app;
Flashlight: Turn on or off the flashlight;
Focus: Activate or deactivate a Focus Mode;
Magnifier: Activate the Magnifier app to use the iPhone’s camera as a magnifying glass to zoom in on small texts;
Shortcuts: Pressing the Action button lets users run any shortcut they have created. The same already happens with the Apple Watch Ultra;
Silent Mode: Long press to turn silent mode on or off;
Translate: Launches the Translate app and starts a conversation or the text translation with a single tap;
Voice Memos: Start or stop recording a voice memo with the Voice Memos app. New iPhone 15 colors
Apple says that color is infused throughout the back glass for the first time in a smartphone, creating five colors for the iPhone 15 models. These are the options available:
Black
Blue
Pink
Green
Yellow
For the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max models, Apple has ditched gold for the first time in favor of these colors:
Black Titanium
White Titanium
Blue Titanium
Natural Titanium A16 Bionic and A17 Pro power this new generation
For these new iPhones, Apple is following the same strategy as the iPhone 14 lineup: adding a new chip to the Pro iPhones and using last year’s processor to the base-model options.
That said, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus offer the iPhone 14 Pro’s A16 Bionic chip. With two high-performance cores that use 20 percent less power and four high-efficiency cores, the 6-core CPU is faster than the previous generation and handles intensive tasks while saving battery life. The 5-core GPU has 50 percent more memory bandwidth for smooth graphics when streaming videos and playing games. A new 16-core Neural Engine is capable of nearly 17 trillion operations per second, enabling even faster machine learning computations for features like Live Voicemail transcriptions in iOS 17 and third-party app experiences — all while protecting critical privacy and security features using the Secure Enclave.
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max‘s A17 Pro chip is the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip. The new CPU is up to 10 percent faster with microarchitectural and design improvements, and the Neural Engine is now up to 2x faster, powering features like autocorrect and Personal Voice in iOS 17. The pro-class GPU is up to 20 percent faster and unlocks entirely new experiences, featuring a new 6-core design that increases peak performance and energy efficiency. Now, hardware-accelerated ray tracing is 4x faster than software-based ray tracing. Apple even promotes new console titles for this iPhone, such as Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4, Death Stranding, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
Overheating issues
A few weeks after the iPhone 15 Pro models were released, several users started complaining about their iPhones overheating. While in some cases, it would seem out of nowhere, people thought it could be due to the titanium frame and the A17 Pro chip.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said it was not due to the chip, and Apple confirmed that it was software-related. Here’s what the company stated:
“The device may feel warmer during the first few days after setting up or restoring the device because of increased background activity.
