iPhone 15 Pro
At a Glance
- The 2023 iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to feature USB-C instead of Lightning, solid-state volume and power buttons, new periscope camera technology, A17 chips, and more.
Rumored Features
- 6.1 and 6.7-inch sizes
- A17 chip
- Periscope zoom lens
- USB-C port
- Qualcomm modem chip
The 2023 iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
More RAM is expected alongside the A17 chip, but all iPhone 15 models will use the same 5G Qualcomm modem chip technology for connectivity. For the most part, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will have the same features, with one major difference - the telephoto camera lens.
Both models will include telephoto lens technology as part of their three-camera array, but the iPhone 15 Pro Max will have a periscope lens that will enable 6x optical zoom, a notable improvement over the 3x zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro models.Part Leaks and Renders
Design Details
Titanium Chassis
Presuming no other major changes in terms of internal components, an iPhone constructed with a titanium frame will be lighter than an iPhone with a stainless steel frame, so it is likely that the 15 Pro and Pro Max will be lighter than their iPhone 14 Pro predecessors. Weight will ultimately be determined by the alloy that Apple uses, as the devices won't be made from pure titanium.
Solid State Buttons
Apple already uses solid-state technology for the Touch ID Home button on the iPhone SE and the trackpad on the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. On these devices, you can use a press gesture and it feels like you've pressed a button, but in reality, it's a solid surface with haptic feedback.
Solid-state button technology can improve protection against dust and water because it does not need a physical depressing mechanic, but it does require extra hardware inside the iPhone. Apple is rumored to be adding two additional Taptic Engines to the iPhone 15 Pro models to power the solid-state buttons. Current iPhone models have a single Taptic Engine for haptic feedback.
The Taptic Engine in the iPhone 14 Pro, via iFixit
There were some 2021 rumors indicating Apple would adopt round volume buttons for the iPhone 14. That didn't happen, but there is a possibility that the round button rumors were actually about the iPhone 15 Pro models. A round design could make more sense for a solid-state button as it would provide a larger surface for finger-to-button contact, but it is not yet clear if Apple is going to change the button design.
Apple is expected to use solid-state buttons for both the volume controls and the power button.
Naming - The iPhone 15 Ultra?
Fast USB-C
All iPhone 15 models are expected to feature a USB-C port instead of a Lightning port, a design change that Apple is making because of regulatory requirements in Europe. EU law requires all devices to use a universal charging port, so Apple either needs to design an iPhone just for Europe, or make a worldwide change.
Rumors suggest that Apple has opted to introduce the USB-C port globally, officially adopting it instead of Lightning for the iPhone 15 lineup. USB-C will mean that the same charger and cable setup can be used for iPhones, iPads, and Macs, along with other devices that use USB-C. For those who have USB-C products like an iPhone or a Mac, it will be a convenient transition.
Though all iPhone 15 models will get USB-C, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to support higher-speed data transfers. The iPhone 15 Pro models will support USB 3.2 or Thunderbolt 3 transfer speeds, so up to 20Gb/s at a minimum or up to 40Gb/s if Thunderbolt is supported.
Standard iPhone 15 models will be limited to USB 2.0 transfer speeds of up to 480Mb/s. Wired transfers of photos, backups, and other information would be much quicker with faster data speeds, as would future device-to-device transfers that use a USB-C to USB-C cable.
There is also a possibility that a transition to USB-C will facilitate faster wired charging speeds than are possible with Lightning.
One rumor from Chinese social networking site Weibo suggests that Apple could place some limitations on the iPhone's USB-C port, preventing them from working with Apple-unapproved accessories. Apple has done this with the Lightning port, but none of the USB-C ports in Apple's Macs or iPads have any kind of restriction.
The rumor suggests that Apple could add an integrated circuit interface to the USB-C chip, encouraging customers to buy genuine iPhone accessories and protecting from counterfeit and potentially dangerous charging cables and adapters.
Periscope Camera
New periscope camera technology will be introduced with the launch of the iPhone 15 Pro lineup, but the update will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The addition of the periscope lens to the 15 Pro Max will mark one of the few times that Apple has limited new technologies to the larger 6.7-inch Pro iPhone, using an inferior feature in the standard 6.1-inch Pro iPhone.
The periscope lens system will be used for the telephoto camera in the iPhone 15 Pro Max, allowing for 6x optical zoom. Comparatively, the iPhone 14 Pro Max offers 3x optical zoom, which we're also expecting for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Apple is likely limiting the periscope technology to the iPhone 15 Pro Max because of the internal space needed for the hardware. A periscope lens system generally uses a primary lens to capture a photo, with an angled mirror or prism reflecting the light 90 degrees toward a second lens that then sends it to the image sensor. The image sensor and secondary lens are positioned sideways inside the smartphone to extend focal length, and that takes up valuable surface area.
The directional shift of the light and the use of a prism or mirror allows for a "folded" telephoto lens system that fits in the chassis of a smartphone while still increasing optical zoom.
Because of the way light is reflected at an angle in this system, the actual telephoto lens will likely need to be square-shaped, a departure from the circular telephoto lens used for the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Note that the camera cutout can still be circular, but the actual lens inside will be square.
For crisp photos at higher zoom levels, Apple will need to build optical image stabilization into the system to avoid blurriness and mitigate movement.
Apple competitor Samsung has been using periscope lens technology for a few years, and Samsung's lenses support up to 10x optical zoom. Paired with digital zoom, Samsung offers up to 100x digital zoom. Samsung calls this technology "Space Zoom."
A17 Chip
The A15 and A16 chips used in the iPhone 14 models have chips built on a 5-nanometer and 4-nanometer process, respectively, and the shift to a newer process will result in smaller chip sizes because of increased transistor density.
Wi-Fi 6E and 5G
The faster Wi-Fi 6E specification is expected to be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Compared to Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 6E offers more bandwidth, providing faster connectivity speeds, lower latency, and increased capacity. Wi-Fi 6E provides 1.2GHz more spectrum in the 6GHz band, and it can support whole home gigabit coverage, multi-gigabit connectivity for venues, and it has the bandwidth for higher data streams like those used for AR and VR experiences.
Pricing
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