After much rumour and speculation about the iPhone 15 series, Apple finally revealed it all this morning at its “Wonderlust” event.
The iPhone 15 series is getting some big upgrades this year, especially for the Pro and Pro Max models.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
This year, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are getting the USB-C 2.0 port with speeds up to 480Mbps, Dynamic Island, and will be powered by last year’s A16 Bionic chip.
Apple claims that the iPhones boast screens with a peak outdoor brightness of up to 2,000 nits, which is twice as high as the previous generation. They also feature a textured matte finish, a contoured edge on the aluminum frame, and promise “all-day battery life.”
Apple introduces a 48MP sensor for the main camera this time, capable of capturing “optical-quality” 2x telephoto shots instead of incorporating an actual telephoto snapper, as seen in the Pro line. The default resolution is set at 24MP, aiming for “incredible image quality at a practical file size”.
This camera system enables users to capture “next-generation portraits” with increased detail, more vibrant colours, and enhanced low-light performance without the need to switch to Portrait mode.
The iPhone automatically gathers depth information when there’s a person, dog, or cat in the frame or upon tapping to focus. This data allows users to convert any image into a portrait later and adjust the focus point.
Night Mode delivers “sharper details and more vivid colours,” and improvements have been made to Smart HDR, including its functionality with third-party apps.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are the stars of the show this year, and are getting USB-C 3.0 port with speeds of up to 10 Gbps.
Powering the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is the A17 Pro chip, built on a groundbreaking 3nm process. This chip incorporates a 6-core processor with 2 performance cores, boasting a 10% speed boost over the A16 Bionic, as well as 4 efficiency cores.
The GPU, a 6-core unit, is claimed to be 20% faster than its predecessor during peak performance and enables hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing, which is four times faster than the software-based Ray Tracing on last year’s chip.
Apple showcased console games like Resident Evil 4 Remake and Assassin’s Creed Mirage running on the new iPhone 15 Pros, with both titles set to launch on these models next year.
The Neural Engine features a 16-core unit, doubling the speed for machine learning models compared to last year’s chip.
The A17 Pro chip incorporates a Display Engine with a dedicated AV1 codec and a ProRes codec, enabling the new iPhone 15 Pro models to capture 4k 60fps in ProRes RAW, along with support for the industry-standard ACES colour profile.
The front of the iPhone 15 Pros features Ceramic Shield glass, identical to the 14 Pro models. The display size remains unchanged, with the iPhone 15 Pro sporting a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display featuring an adaptive 120Hz (ProMotion) refresh rate, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and an impressive peak brightness of 2,000 nits.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max, on the other hand, increases the size to 6.7 inches. Additionally, the always-on display now includes Stand-by mode, offering a landscape always-on option when the phone is charging.
The camera system on the new iPhone 15 Pro is a complete overhaul. It starts with the 48MP primary camera, boasting a larger sensor with 1.22µm pre-binned pixels and second-generation sensor-shift stabilization, paired with a 24mm f/1.78 lens.
The primary camera introduces new imaging capabilities, allowing the capture of 48MP HEIF images alongside 48MP ProRAW. The larger sensor also facilitates 28mm, 35mm, and 48mm digital zoom modes, giving users the flexibility to choose their preferred focal length as the default setting.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max introduces the first periscope camera in an iPhone, achieving zoom capabilities of up to 5x or 120mm focal length. This optical design, known as a tetraprism, reflects light four times from the pupil opening of the lens to the folded sensor.
The lens itself boasts an f/2.8 aperture, making it the brightest among 120mm camera phones, with optical stabilisation performing 10,000 micro-adjustments per second to eliminate blur.
The iPhone 15 Pro features a 77mm 3x zoom camera with 1µm pixels and an f/2.8 lens, similar to the previous year’s model. Both models also share a new 13mm f/2.2 1.4µm ultrawide camera with 100% focus pixels and macro focusing capabilities.
Apple has redesigned the Pro and Pro Max models with contoured edges, delivering the slimmest bezels ever seen on an iPhone. Remarkably, they’ve managed to reduce the overall phone dimensions while retaining the same display sizes as the previous year.
The frames, previously made of stainless steel, now utilise grade 5 titanium, making them the lightest Pro models ever introduced by Apple. Apple employs a new thermomechanical process to encase aluminium within the titanium substructure, which aids in thermal dissipation.
The phone frames boast a brushed texture, achieved through a meticulous 14-hour process involving machining, sanding, brushing, and a final blasting of the phone’s titanium exterior.
The mute switch has transformed into an action button. A simple press and hold reverts the phone to silent mode by default, but you can also assign various actions to a single or double press, allowing you to quickly open the camera with a button press.
Pricing and Availability
Pre-orders for the iPhone 15, Plus, Pro, and Pro Max commence on 22 September, with actual availability starting a week later, on 29 September.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus come in five colours: Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black.
| Product | Storage | Price |
| iPhone 15 | 128GB | RM4,399 |
| 256GB | RM4,899 | |
| 512GB | RM5,899 | |
| iPhone 15 Plus | 128GB | RM4,899 |
| 256GB | RM5,399 | |
| 512GB | RM6,399 |
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max come in four colours: Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium.
| Product | Storage | Price |
| iPhone 15 Pro | 128GB | RM5,499 |
| 256GB | RM5,999 | |
| 512GB | RM6,999 | |
| 1TB | RM7,999 | |
| iPhone 15 Pro Max | 256GB | RM6,499 |
| 512GB | RM7,499 | |
| 1TB | RM8,499 |
