iPhone 15: Release date, price, colors and everything you need to know

The iPhone 15 series was announced on September 12 at Apple's Wonderlust event. Available in four sizes, 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

Image source: Apple Inc.

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

The iPhone 15 Pro's new Action button comes with various gestures. Image source: Apple Inc.

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:

1. Accessibility: Users can access selected accessibility features with one tap;
2. Camera: Launch the Camera app;
3. Flashlight: Turn on or off the flashlight;
4. Focus: Activate or deactivate a Focus Mode;
5. Magnifier: Activate the Magnifier app to use the iPhone’s camera as a magnifying glass to zoom in on small texts;
6. Shortcuts: Pressing the Action button lets users run any shortcut they have created. The same already happens with the Apple Watch Ultra;
7. Silent Mode: Long press to turn silent mode on or off;
8. Translate: Launches the Translate app and starts a conversation or the text translation with a single tap;
9. Voice Memos: Start or stop recording a voice memo with the Voice Memos app.

New iPhone 15 colors

All iPhone 15 new colors Image source: Apple Inc.

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

Image source: Apple Inc.

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

Image source: Apple Inc.

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.

Storage

These are the storage capacities for all four new models:

Regular iPhones

• 128GB
• 256GB
• 512GB

iPhone 15 Pro

• 128GB
• 256GB
• 512GB
• 1 TB

iPhone 15 Pro Max

• 256GB
• 512GB
• 1 TB

Cameras: From iPhone 15 to iPhone 15 Pro Max

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max design. Image source: Apple Inc.

For the first time, Apple added a 48MP main lens to the standard iPhones, which helps the device absorb more light in photos. With the quad-pixel tech, the image output will still be 12 Megapixels, but they’ll be clearer and crispier. Apple uses Photonic Engine to deliver richer details. This 48MP provides 2x optical zoom. That said, even though Apple didn't add a telephoto camera, you can zoom without losing quality on the standard iPhone model.

For the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple has upgraded the 48MP main camera by giving users the flexibility of using the new 24MP super-high-resolution default. The main camera allows users to switch between three popular focal lengths — 24 mm, 28 mm, and 35 mm — and even choose one as a new default. In addition to 48MP ProRAW, the main camera supports 48MP HEIF images with 4x more resolution. iPhone 15 Pro features an expansive 3x Telephoto camera, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max provides the longest optical zoom ever on an iPhone: 5x at 120 mm.

The new Telephoto camera on iPhone 15 Pro Max has an innovative tetraprism design with a combined optical image stabilization and autofocus 3D sensor-shift module, Apple’s most advanced stabilization system yet.

Camera upgrades for all four models

Image source: Apple Inc.

All four iPhone 15 models offer some similar camera capabilities. Here they are:

Smart HDR 5: New 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.

Night Mode: It gets better with sharper details and more vivid colors, now powered by the Photonic Engine. iPhone 15 Pro models get improved Night mode portraits thanks to the LiDAR scanner.

Next-generation Portrait mode: For the first time, users can take portraits without switching to Portrait mode. When a person, dog, or cat is in the frame, or when a user taps to focus, iPhone automatically captures depth information so that users can turn photos into stunning portraits later in the Photos app on iPhone, iPad, or Mac. For greater creative control, users can also adjust the focus point after taking the photo.

Apple Vision Pro's Spatial Video feature comes to the iPhone 15 Pro

After Apple announced its Vision Pro spatial computer, BGR wrote that it would be possible for a new iPhone to feature Spatial Video. This function lets you record 3D videos, which will be perfect to watch on the Vision Pro headset.

During its Wonderlust event, Apple announced that the iPhone 15 Pro is the first device to record Spatial Video for Apple Vision Pro. Users can capture precious moments in three dimensions and relive those memories with incredible depth on the company's spatial computer when available early next year in the US.

USB-C, U2 chip, and Roadside Assistance via satellite

All four iPhone 15 models ditched the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. While the regular models get USB-C 2.0, the Pro versions get USB-C 3.0 standards, which gives transfer speeds up to 10 gigabits per second, up to 20x faster than before. That said, users must buy a new cable, which is not the braided one available in the box of this iPhone, to get these transfer speeds.

In addition, these phones also have a new ultrawide-band chip called U2. It connects to a device three times farther, unlocking the ability to use Precision Find to find friends in a crowd, for example.

Image source: Apple Inc.

Finally, Apple is adding a new "peace of mind" feature called Roadside Assistance via satellite, and it joins the current Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection. With this new function, when users have car trouble and cellular and Wi-Fi coverage are unavailable, they can now connect to AAA, the country’s largest roadside assistance provider.

An intuitive interface, including a short questionnaire to capture important details, will transmit the information via satellite so AAA can message the user directly and dispatch help to their exact location. Access to Roadside Assistance via satellite will be included for free for two years. Service is covered according to AAA membership but is also available separately for nonmembers.

iOS 17 will power this iPhone

Image source: José Adorno for BGR

Previewed during the WWDC 2023 keynote, the new iPhone 15 models feature iOS 17, releasing on September 18. This operating system is bringing updates to the Contacts app, FaceTime, while introducing new experiences with a Journal app, mental health awareness focuses, and privacy features, such as removing URL trackers on Safari, adding profiles for Safari usage, and more.

Learn more:

• iOS 17: Everything you need to know

Release date

All four iPhone 15 models will be released on September 22. Customers in more than 40 countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, the UAE, the UK, and the US, can pre-order iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro beginning at 5 a.m. PDT.

iPhone 15 Price

Apple's September 2023 iPhone lineup: iPhone SE 3, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Pro. Image source: Apple Inc.

iPhone 15

• 128GB: $799
• 256GB: $899
• 512GB: $1,099

iPhone 15 Plus

• 128GB: $799
• 256GB: $899
• 512GB: $1,199

iPhone 15 Pro

• 128GB: $999
• 256GB: $1,099
• 512GB: $1,299
• 1 TB: $1,499

iPhone 15 Pro Max

• 256GB: $1,199
• 512GB: $1,399
• 1 TB: $1,599

Apple also decreased iPhone 15 prices in Europe and other regions.

The post iPhone 15: Release date, price, colors and everything you need to know appeared first on BGR.

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