10 Things You Need To Know About Apple's New iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro

It's the September Apple Keynotes and we know what that means — new iPhones. This year's lineup is nothing short of amazing once again, and if you haven't had the time to catch up on the 90-minute long presentation, here's the TL;DR version of everything you need to know about the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro range.

#1 Colours, Colours, Colours

Every year, Apple launches new colours for the iPhone and iPhone Pro series, but this year, it's an overhaul. The iPhone 15 sports five different colours — Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue and Black, while the iPhone 15 Pro range sees the addition of Blue Titanium (to replace last year's Deep Purple), Natural Titanium, White Titanium, and finally, a Black Titanium. Not Space Black, not Space Grey, but Black.

#2 C-ing is believing

Who else remembers when the the 30-pin port connector on the iPhone was switched to the Lightning port back in September 2012? After more than a decade of Lightning ports, we are finally seeing Apple's switch to USB-C. This move is in part due to the European Union rules which mandate that all phones sold after autumn 2024 have to fitted with USB-C charging ports. With the deadline of autumn 2024 looming close, it's no surprise that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro series are now fitted with USB-C charging ports, which opens up a whole new world of possibility when it comes to first- and third-party accessories. The same cable can now be used with your iPhone, MacBook, iPad and second generation AirPods Pro.

On the iPhone 15 Pro range, it's even better with USB-C 3 support, allowing you to do high-speed data transfers like connecting to your Mac to transfer Pro-Res videos quickly and easily.

#3 Faster, Better, Stronger

The iPhone 15 is powered by the A16 Chip which was previously found in the iPhone 14 Pro. It features 5-core GPU and 6-core CPU.

The A17 Pro Chip in the iPhone 15 Pro range now boasts 6-core processor, with a 16-core Neural Engine which allows high-speed machine learning on the device itself, but most importantly, a 6-core GPU which improves performance and efficiency, even when running complex processes and ray tracing in supported softwares and games. The A17 Pro chip is super efficient, utilising less power while delivering exceptional performance.

Games that are previously only supported on consoles are now supported by iPhone 15 Pro thanks to the processing power of the A17 Pro Chip.

#4 Dynamic Island For All

Previously only available for the iPhone 14 Pro series, the iPhone 15 now sports the Dynamic Island as well, allowing for a more, dare we say, dynamic user experience. Compatible apps minimise seamlessly onto Dynamic Island, with controls you can access with just a tap of your finger. Now that the entire iPhone lineup is fitted with Dynamic Island, there's even more apps that support the interface.

#5 Screen Time

The iPhone 15 and iPhone Pro feature a 6.1-inch screen while the iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 Pro Max have 6.7-inch display sizes. iPhone 15 features a Super Retina XDR display up to 2,000 nits which is great for watching content, and playing games even when it's bright outdoors.

The iPhone 15 Pro series has Super Retina XDR display with Always-On and ProMotion of up to 120Hz for an exceptional viewing experience.

#6 Next-Generation Portraits

The iPhone 15 features a 48MP main camera and uses computational photography which optimises light to ensure rich detail that is properly exposed.

Both the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro range feature a new Portrait Mode which has better low-light performance, and better background blur. There's no need to switch to Portrait Mode in the camera app anymore as the Focus and Depth control allow you to change the focus, even after the photo has been taken, so you can have stunning portraits any time.

The iPhone 15 Pro now has the equivalent of seven camera focal lengths in its system — Macro, 13mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 77mm, 120mm.

The telephoto now goes up to 5X, with a 12MP resolution, capturing closeups with ease. With longer focal lengths, camera shake would usually be an issue, but the improved internal stabilisation counteracts this to deliver sharp images with amazing detail.

The iPhone 15 Pro also allows you to capture Spatial video to create an immersive experience when viewing through supported devices.

#7 Rock That Body

The iPhone 15 now has durable colour-infused glass on the back of the phone. The back glass is strengthened with an optimised dual-ion exchange process before being polished with nanocrystalline particles and etched to create a luxurious, textured matte finish. Besides being gorgeously designed, it is also sustainable, with 75 percent recycled aluminum in the body, 100 percent recycled cobalt in its battery, and 100 percent recycled copper in the main logic board, copper wire in the Taptic Engine, and copper foil in the inductive charger in MagSafe.

The iPhone 15 Pro range features a new Grade 5 Titanium body, the most premium material used in an iPhone. It's durable and strong, yet lightweight — allowing for smaller bezels and overall iPhone size, while maintaining the screen size. The Grade 5 Titanium (the same one used on the Mars Rover), is bonded with aluminum making the overall design more efficient in heat dissipation. iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max also use recycled materials, with a 100 percent recycled aluminium substructure and 100 percent recycled cobalt in the battery. iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max also include 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets and 100 percent recycled gold in the USB‑C connector as well as the gold plating and tin soldering in multiple printed circuit boards.

#8 Well-Connected

Ultra Wideband gets an upgrade, allowing it to connect to devices up to three times away from its predecessor. This means that the Precision Finding on the Find My app gets a boost, allowing more accuracy when searching for your devices or items.

Ready, Set, Action

The ring silent switch on the side of the iPhone 15 Pro has been replaced with an Action Button, which can be customised and used to activate certain features like launching the camera, recording a voice memo or starting a timer.

Price

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, starting at $1,299 and $1,449 respectively.

iPhone 15 Pro starts at $1,649, available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities. iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $1,999, available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities.

The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro will be available to preorder from 15 September, with availability beginning Friday, 22 September.