iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
Apple (MacRumors, ArsTechnica, Hacker News, Slashdot):
Both models feature the Dynamic Island, and an advanced camera system designed to help users take fantastic photos of everyday moments in their lives. A powerful 48MP Main camera enables super-high-resolution photos and a new 2x Telephoto option to give users a total of three optical zoom levels — like having a third camera. The iPhone 15 lineup also introduces the next generation of portraits, making it easier to capture portraits with great detail and low-light performance. Building on Apple’s innovative satellite infrastructure, Roadside Assistance via satellite can connect users to AAA if they have car trouble while off the grid. With A16 Bionic for powerful, proven performance; a USB‑C connector; Precision Finding for Find My friends; and industry-leading durability features, iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus represent a huge leap forward.
[…]
A 48MP Main camera shoots sharp photos and videos while capturing fine details, with a quad-pixel sensor and 100 percent Focus Pixels for fast autofocus. Using the power of computational photography, the Main camera gives users a new 24MP super-high-resolution default, offering incredible image quality at a practical file size ideal for storing and sharing.
[…]
Smart HDR captures subjects and the background with more true-to-life renderings of skin tones, while ensuring photos have brighter highlights, richer midtones, and deeper shadows when viewed in the Photos app. This advanced HDR rendering is also available to third-party apps, so images can look even better when shared online.
It starts at $799, with Roadside Assistance via satellite free for AAA members for two years. You have to pay another $30 to get it unlocked.
Today, as part of its iPhone 15 launch, the Cupertino-based org announced that the Lightning connector was going bye-bye, 11 years to the day since its introduction
Apple executives talked about designing the iPhone 15 Pro for repairability, the first time that repair has ever been mentioned at an iPhone release keynote.
[…]
This tweak for the iPhone 15 Pro mirrors a change that was made on the normal iPhone 14 last year (but was not on the iPhone 14 Pro), which allows the phone to be opened from the front or the back. Repairing the back glass on previous versions of iPhones was a nightmare on previous models, as I, who owns an iPhone 11 Pro with an extremely busted back, can attest.
Apple’s just-announced iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus introduce five new color options: A light pink shade, yellow, blue, green, and black.
The colors are all really light, with even the black looking more like a dark gray. I think the iPhone 12 had the best (recent) colors.
Apple has announced a new textile it’s calling “FineWoven,” which is made of 68 percent post-consumer content and is overall more environmentally friendly compared to the company’s previous line of leather accessories. Apple confirmed it will no longer use leather for new Apple accessories, starting today.
Previously:
- iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
- Anticipating the Coming USB-C iPhone Backlash
- iOS 17 Announced
- iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
- Lightning Video Adapters
Update (2023-09-13): Jason Snell:
My first impression when picking up an iPhone 15 was just how smooth it felt. Mostly that’s down to the softened edges that don’t contain the harder right-angled corners that the previous model did. It feels more comfortable to hold in my hand, that’s for sure.
Priced at $29, the USB-C to Lightning Adapter allows for Lightning accessories to be connected to the new iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models with USB-C ports for charging, data transfer, and audio connectivity.
But, as rumoured, the speed advantages are limited to the Pro models. Even if you use a faster cable with the standard iPhone 15, it will only support USB 2 speeds — the same data transfer standard used by the iPods Apple sold twenty years ago.
As always, there were many rumors leading up to the event that gave us an idea of what to expect from the devices, but not all of them were accurate.
With the launch of the new iPhone 15 models, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 13 mini, the last remaining flagship iPhone under six inches.
Update (2024-05-09): See also:
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Fully agreed on the colors. The iPhone 12 was remarkable in its choices, including what I believe was the blackest black of all.
Also interesting that they've released a new case for the AirPods Pro, but nothing for the base AirPods (or Max). It's nearly two years old now, perhaps a refresh is due really soon?
I'm glad they kept the SIM-tray outside the US this year. Hopefully also next year when I plan to upgrade from the iPhone 13.
No more mini phone, so sad. How can they ignore the ~15% (?) iPhone buyers who chose this size? That's still a huge number of people...
@marek
> Why they don't allow higher USB-C speeds? iPad Mini (A15) has USB-C 3.1 5Gbps.
They do 10gbs USB 3 speeds on the iPhone 15 Pro models with the A17pro CPU - it's part of the system on a chip CPU. The A16 CPU used in the iPhone 15 models is last years chip, and doesn't have USB 3, and I presume they did not see the need to modify the A16 cpu for this gen.
@Liam - iPad Mini is A15 and supports USB-C 3.1 5Gbps speeds. iPhone 15 non-pro is A16 (whole generation later). On top iPhone 15 claims "Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 4K HDR through native DisplayPort output over USB-C or USB-C Digital AV Adapter".
Please educate me how can it output such a high bandwidth for video but not for data.
Listening to ATP and reading Gruber they all seem very certain that the move from Lightning to USB-C will cause a big backlash from the common people who, apparently, can't see the advantages of having a single connector for everything.
I'm not so sure about that. In fact, I'd bet the opposite is true: this will mostly be a welcome change for most people and there will be no outcry or backlash to speak of.
I don't know what fantasy camp they go to where everyone buys the newest iPhone every year. Most people don't. The use their phones for years and years, until a cracked screen or something finally forces them to buy a new phone. And even then a lot of them wont go for the high end. They go for the other, more affordable iPhones that Apple still sells.
What this means is that the transition to USB-C will not affect most people this year. And probably not even next years. This will be a slow transition, and I think most people will find the switch to USB-C a good one. A "Finally!" in fact.
