The flagship products include iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max which come with some major aesthetic changes and technological updates.
The newer iPhone 15 models have been noticed to have only incremental updates over last year’s iPhone 14 models, but are more powerful, user-friendly smartphones with outstanding battery life plus a great camera.
For Nigerians who are looking to add the products to their gadget list, here are nine things you should know about the new products;
1. iPhone 15 release date
The four new products - iPhone 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max − will be available from September 15, 2023 (Preorder) and can be purchased online and in stores from September 22, 2023.
The new iPhone 15 range is expected to launch in South Africa on September 29, 2023, a week after the US release.
2. The new USB-C port
Apple has finally succumbed to the EU law which mandates all future smartphones sold in the EU to be equipped with the universal USB-C port for wired charging by fall 2024.
This puts an end to the lightning charging port after 11 years. This comes with the benefit of using the same cable to recharge most devices which come with the same port.
Another benefit is that the port allows for faster data transfer. For the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, the data transfer speeds have been limited to the normal 480 megabits per second. Users who wish to upgrade to a faster data transfer of 10 Gigabits per second have been advised to upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro models.
3. Dynamic Island
The Dynamic Island, an iPhone design which was exclusive to the older iPhone 14 models have been introduced as a feature in the iPhone 15. The Dynamic Island is the pill-shaped area located at the top part of the phone which serves as a shape-changing hub for key iPhone alerts and also has camera hardware.
The feature is adaptive and also acts like a second screen which allows alerts and notifications to pop up without interfering with the main screen.
4. Camera
The all-new iPhone 15 products come with an improved camera system that houses the periscope zoom camera which allows for greater optical zoom and a wide depth of field. The periscope zoom camera feature however comes with the pro max version of the product only.
The periscope lens system gives users greater natural (optical) zoom capabilities that are far superior to the digital zoom (e.g. cropping and enlarging from the main lens).
5. Action button
The older ring/mute button which has served the product for the past decade has been replaced with the Action Button that allows users to customise what the button should do — including switching from ring to vibrate.
This newly added Action Button is similar to the one on the Apple Watch Ultra which is used to activate several instructions.
On the iPhone 15, it can be programmed to do things like activating the camera, turning on the flashlight, starting a Voice Memo, opening a note, switching Focus modes, or running your own custom shortcuts.
6. Colours
The standard iPhone 15 models will come in five colours – pink, black, white, blue and yellow.
Just like the older iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, the new products will have aluminium sides and a glass back while the iPhone Pro models will come in dark grey, black, dark blue and light grey and have titanium sides.
7. Display size
The iPhone 15 and the 15 pro models will each have a 6.1-inch display, and a 6.7-inch display respectively.
”The iPhone 15 Pro Max display has rounded corners that follow a beautiful curved design, and these corners are within a standard rectangle. When measured as a standard rectangular shape, the screen is 6.69 inches diagonally” Apple noted on their website.
8. Emergency roadside assistance
The new iPhone 15 product comes with a roadside assistance feature which allows lost drivers in areas without cell service to get help.
The feature can be triggered via text and allows users to share their location via satellite instead.
9. Price
As seen on the Apple website, the price of the different models of the iPhone 15, 15 Plus, the iPhone 15 Pro and the Pro Max are shown below;
iPhone 15 Pro: 128GB - $999; 256GB - $1,099; 512GB - $1,299; 1TB - $1,499
iPhone 15 Pro Max: 256GB - $1,199; 512GB - $1,399; 1TB - $1,599.
iPhone 15: 128GB - $799; 256GB - $899; 512GB - $1,099.
iPhone 15 Plus: 128GB - $899; 256GB - $999; 512GB - $1,199