Apple unveiled the new iPhone 15 lineup with a key charging update and an advanced camera system among other features in its annual September event. In the event tagged Wonderlust, Apple launched other products including several Apple watches and AirPods Pro 2.
The tech giant has dropped its proprietary “Lightning” charging port on the iPhone 15 following the EU’s mandate requiring electronic gadgets companies to adopt the USB Type-C charging system. It supports USB 3 data transfer speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are available in a 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR display similar to the previous model, the iPhone 14. The new models come with color-infused back glass and aluminium enclosure with new contoured edges. The models have a rear dual camera system with a 48MP main camera and will provide 2x optical zoom.
Both models have the Dynamic Island cut out for displaying notifications and background tasks information. The cut out will feature the front selfie camera.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are powered by the A16 Bionic chip which includes a new 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says the Neural Engine will enable faster machine learning computation for features such as Voicemail transcriptions in iOS 17.
iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities. The iPhone 15 will cost $799 (KES. 1117,054) and the 15 Plus model $899 (KES. 131,704). The models two models will be available for purchase starting September 22.
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will come with a new titanium frame, frosted back glass and thinner bezels around the screen. The titanium sides designed to make the iPhone 15 Pros lighter replaces the stainless steel in previous models.
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are available in 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Super Retina XDR displays with Always-On and ProMotion technologies. The high-end versions of the iPhone 15 feature a customizable Action button which replaces the mute switch.
The models are powered by a new A17 Pro Chip. Ditching the “Bionic” name for “Pro” for the SoC, Apple claims that the new chip is the industry’s first 3-nanometer chip. The new CPU is 10% faster with the Neural Engine being twice as fast as the A16 Bionic chip. With a major GPU redesign, the new 6-core GPU offers a 20% boost in performance and ray tracing for more immersive AR applications and gaming.
Both models come with a 48MP main rear camera which supports 48MP HEIF images with 4x more resolution. In addition to the main camera, the models come with improved ultrawide cameras allowing sharper detail captures and better low-light performance.
Both iPhone 15 Pros support Wi-Fi 6E and come equipped with a 2nd Generation Ultra Wideband chip allowing a connection range 3 times as before between iPhone devices with the chip.
The iPhone 15 Pro will start at $999 (KES. 146,453) similar to its predecessor for the 128GB base model. It will be available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage options. The 15 Pro Max will start at $1,199 (KES. 175,773) with storage options including 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 15 Pros begin Friday, September 15. The models will be available for purchase starting September 22.
