I would like to summarize (with the help of the comunity) all the avalable rummors about the upcomming iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro.
I also have a source of my own (which supposedly had an access and used multiple iPhone 15 Pro prototypes) from which I would like to share some information and possibly add to the full picture (DISCLAIMER: I in no way can confirm this information, but it will be interesting to see how much of it is true).
Materials and design:
We know about aluminium for the iPhone 15, just like past generations and new colours - cartoonish blue and pink. In addition to typical starlight midnight and product red. iPhone 15 Pro would be different. The titanium used will make the weight in line with the iPhone 15, the type of titanium used is the grade 7 alloy (eg. titanium and small % aluminium). The titanium is brushed, and coated in a ceramic like material. This means that the fingerprint should be less of an issue, but still nowhere near the anodized aluminium. The space black color is very simillar to the 14 Pro, the dark red is with titanium surface oxidized. The silver and gold are no more - There is only starlight which is raw titanium finish. Apple is pushing for tighter tolerances than with stainless steel in order to make the devices more seamless. The corners are only slightly curved with a radius of about 1,2 mm compared to 0,4 to iPhone 14 Pro. It is not going to be very noticeable, but it was technically difficult to achieve.
The glass used will be ceramic shield, which is very hard to curve. Ceramic shield required the iPhone 12 to be flat on the front. The iPhone 15 Pro will also use shaped ceramic shield on the back - the camera bump won't be cut from a thick plate, but rather shaped from a thin glass, making for a different camera bump look and more space for (thicker) the camera components. There were different textures prototyped as the ceramic shield gives different results than regular glass with a sharper, more abrasive feel about which apple is not happy about. The weight are about 180, 215, 190 and 225 g for the 15, Plus, Pro and Pro Max.
The display:
iPhone 15 is getting a boost of maximal brightness to 1000 nits. The materials used are from iPhone 13, but without the LTPO backplane.
The 15 Pro display is getting efficiency updates, especially in AOD mode. This might lead to better brightness in heat stress conditions. In the future, ability of AOD to respond to touch is the goal.
The internals:
Both models are getting larger batteries, in part thanks to thicker design. This is the result of iPhone 15 Pro having a more dense, smaller but thicker motherboard and thicker front and back glass. The thermal interfaces are also updated, but the vapour chamber is expected to debut in the iPhone 16 Pro/Ultra with new motherboard substrate. The modem still sits in face of the SoC. The numbers are about 13,5 Wh for the smaller iPhones and 18 Wh for the larger ones. The Pros should get a larger upgrade and be longer lasting than regular ones. Apple is reluctant to change the internal architecture much as it sees it an optimal solution for this generation - for example the triangular camera layout is viewed as optimal for generations to come. The board are different for 15 Pro and Pro Max unlike on the 14 Pro. The space for the new telephoto camera has been made already with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro Max only rearranges the camera module.
The changes might come with regular iPhone 16 adopting the Pro's L shaped battery and 16 Pro having a larger redesign - to acomodate the new vibration structure, vapour chamber, larger cameras and different battery design (More of a corner shaped battery than a L one).
The camerras:
15 - updated ultravide from iPhone 13 Pro - Macro mode. Main camera from the 14 Pro - there is a 2x "telephoto". The sensors are next generation though.
15 Pro - New sensor for all cameras - additional readout speed, ISO sensitivity and dynamic range. The differences will be noticeable in color and overall image look unlike previous generations (like lets say iPhone 7 to 8 which had the same sensor format).
The ultrawide is updated with sharper optics at 12 mm equivalent and f/2.0. The telephoto is massively upgraded, it has a larger sensor at 1.22 um, larger aperture at f/2.5 and a "hybrid" stabilization (ibis and optics ?). The improved telephoto is the reason for the much thicker camera bump on the 15 Pro
15 Pro Max - a 4x 12 MP folded telephoto with very complex OIS, 1.22 um pixels and f/2.9 aperture.
There is suppot for 8K video at 60 fps on the main cam, just like with the iPhone 14 Pro.
The special software for this year might relate to artificially reduce (not elliminate) the depth of the field on the main cam - especially for closer subjects - by a combination of ultra wide image and machine learning deconvolution.
The A17 chip.
3nm, 20 billion transistors, 92 mm die size, 8GB 64-bit LPPDDR5X, 2+4 CPU's. The small cores are very similar to A16 optimised for 3nm lower power same perf at 40% less power at ~0.3W peak. The big cores are all new and the target 25% higher IPC with frequency goals up to 4 Ghz. However we do not know whener this relates to the A17 or the higher end chips like M3 etc. The target for peak power consumption in A17 is 5.5 W and 3W sustained for single core (which should still result in over 3 GHz). 9W and 5 W for multicore. The design should be "leaner", focusing on latency and smaller size. The GPU was the main focus - 40% higher performance, 6 cores, 7W peak and 4W sustained power. The GPU should take more space than current designs despite being denser (28 mm2). The CPU has 12 MB of L2, the system cache is at 20 MB, the cache was sacrificed for "more logic". There is a new way of connecting memory die(s) to the SoC die.
There is also an update to the NPU and ISP.
The battery life
+2hours for the regular iPhones
+3 hours for the Pro models (the difference is due to more power efficient AOD)
The Price
800, 900, 1250, 1400$ for the iPhone 15, Plus, Pro and Pro Max at 128 GB. No 2TB option.
Bonus:
The new iPhone 16 screen sizes are a result of much larger primary camera sensor at 48MP and 1,4 um pixels. Apple is addamant on preserving a centred MagSafe ring and a triangular camera. This forces an elongation of the display to accommodate on the smaller Pro, while larger pro follows to remain consitent. On one hand this is good news as engineers "fight" to preserve the features of the smaller model. The reason for folded telephoto being restricted is difficult manufacturing. The goal is that the 16 Pro beats the 15 Pro Max in all areas (like wit 12 Pro Max and 13 Pro cameras) when there is enough components.
The Ultra model is being upheld to ramp up production of more expansive components - new motherboard substrates, consolidated camera housings, vapour chambers integrated into the frame, microvave antenas enabling thunderbolt for magsafe. Apple is slowly hoarding innovations too expansive for the pro line and when there is enough of them the Ultra will be released. Even if it means missing the September launch. With iPhone 16 being a massive (internal) redesign many of those will be implemented possibly pushing the launch further out.
The under display touch ID will launch with under display camera eg. full display iPhone. This is to prevent people from having notch for the face ID they might choose not to use and for better marketing against full screen fingerprint equipped competition.
Hope you had a nice read, lets see what the future holds
I also have a source of my own (which supposedly had an access and used multiple iPhone 15 Pro prototypes) from which I would like to share some information and possibly add to the full picture (DISCLAIMER: I in no way can confirm this information, but it will be interesting to see how much of it is true).
Materials and design:
We know about aluminium for the iPhone 15, just like past generations and new colours - cartoonish blue and pink. In addition to typical starlight midnight and product red. iPhone 15 Pro would be different. The titanium used will make the weight in line with the iPhone 15, the type of titanium used is the grade 7 alloy (eg. titanium and small % aluminium). The titanium is brushed, and coated in a ceramic like material. This means that the fingerprint should be less of an issue, but still nowhere near the anodized aluminium. The space black color is very simillar to the 14 Pro, the dark red is with titanium surface oxidized. The silver and gold are no more - There is only starlight which is raw titanium finish. Apple is pushing for tighter tolerances than with stainless steel in order to make the devices more seamless. The corners are only slightly curved with a radius of about 1,2 mm compared to 0,4 to iPhone 14 Pro. It is not going to be very noticeable, but it was technically difficult to achieve.
The glass used will be ceramic shield, which is very hard to curve. Ceramic shield required the iPhone 12 to be flat on the front. The iPhone 15 Pro will also use shaped ceramic shield on the back - the camera bump won't be cut from a thick plate, but rather shaped from a thin glass, making for a different camera bump look and more space for (thicker) the camera components. There were different textures prototyped as the ceramic shield gives different results than regular glass with a sharper, more abrasive feel about which apple is not happy about. The weight are about 180, 215, 190 and 225 g for the 15, Plus, Pro and Pro Max.
The display:
iPhone 15 is getting a boost of maximal brightness to 1000 nits. The materials used are from iPhone 13, but without the LTPO backplane.
The 15 Pro display is getting efficiency updates, especially in AOD mode. This might lead to better brightness in heat stress conditions. In the future, ability of AOD to respond to touch is the goal.
The internals:
Both models are getting larger batteries, in part thanks to thicker design. This is the result of iPhone 15 Pro having a more dense, smaller but thicker motherboard and thicker front and back glass. The thermal interfaces are also updated, but the vapour chamber is expected to debut in the iPhone 16 Pro/Ultra with new motherboard substrate. The modem still sits in face of the SoC. The numbers are about 13,5 Wh for the smaller iPhones and 18 Wh for the larger ones. The Pros should get a larger upgrade and be longer lasting than regular ones. Apple is reluctant to change the internal architecture much as it sees it an optimal solution for this generation - for example the triangular camera layout is viewed as optimal for generations to come. The board are different for 15 Pro and Pro Max unlike on the 14 Pro. The space for the new telephoto camera has been made already with the iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15 Pro Max only rearranges the camera module.
The changes might come with regular iPhone 16 adopting the Pro's L shaped battery and 16 Pro having a larger redesign - to acomodate the new vibration structure, vapour chamber, larger cameras and different battery design (More of a corner shaped battery than a L one).
The camerras:
15 - updated ultravide from iPhone 13 Pro - Macro mode. Main camera from the 14 Pro - there is a 2x "telephoto". The sensors are next generation though.
15 Pro - New sensor for all cameras - additional readout speed, ISO sensitivity and dynamic range. The differences will be noticeable in color and overall image look unlike previous generations (like lets say iPhone 7 to 8 which had the same sensor format).
The ultrawide is updated with sharper optics at 12 mm equivalent and f/2.0. The telephoto is massively upgraded, it has a larger sensor at 1.22 um, larger aperture at f/2.5 and a "hybrid" stabilization (ibis and optics ?). The improved telephoto is the reason for the much thicker camera bump on the 15 Pro
15 Pro Max - a 4x 12 MP folded telephoto with very complex OIS, 1.22 um pixels and f/2.9 aperture.
There is suppot for 8K video at 60 fps on the main cam, just like with the iPhone 14 Pro.
The special software for this year might relate to artificially reduce (not elliminate) the depth of the field on the main cam - especially for closer subjects - by a combination of ultra wide image and machine learning deconvolution.
The A17 chip.
3nm, 20 billion transistors, 92 mm die size, 8GB 64-bit LPPDDR5X, 2+4 CPU's. The small cores are very similar to A16 optimised for 3nm lower power same perf at 40% less power at ~0.3W peak. The big cores are all new and the target 25% higher IPC with frequency goals up to 4 Ghz. However we do not know whener this relates to the A17 or the higher end chips like M3 etc. The target for peak power consumption in A17 is 5.5 W and 3W sustained for single core (which should still result in over 3 GHz). 9W and 5 W for multicore. The design should be "leaner", focusing on latency and smaller size. The GPU was the main focus - 40% higher performance, 6 cores, 7W peak and 4W sustained power. The GPU should take more space than current designs despite being denser (28 mm2). The CPU has 12 MB of L2, the system cache is at 20 MB, the cache was sacrificed for "more logic". There is a new way of connecting memory die(s) to the SoC die.
There is also an update to the NPU and ISP.
The battery life
+2hours for the regular iPhones
+3 hours for the Pro models (the difference is due to more power efficient AOD)
The Price
800, 900, 1250, 1400$ for the iPhone 15, Plus, Pro and Pro Max at 128 GB. No 2TB option.
Bonus:
The new iPhone 16 screen sizes are a result of much larger primary camera sensor at 48MP and 1,4 um pixels. Apple is addamant on preserving a centred MagSafe ring and a triangular camera. This forces an elongation of the display to accommodate on the smaller Pro, while larger pro follows to remain consitent. On one hand this is good news as engineers "fight" to preserve the features of the smaller model. The reason for folded telephoto being restricted is difficult manufacturing. The goal is that the 16 Pro beats the 15 Pro Max in all areas (like wit 12 Pro Max and 13 Pro cameras) when there is enough components.
The Ultra model is being upheld to ramp up production of more expansive components - new motherboard substrates, consolidated camera housings, vapour chambers integrated into the frame, microvave antenas enabling thunderbolt for magsafe. Apple is slowly hoarding innovations too expansive for the pro line and when there is enough of them the Ultra will be released. Even if it means missing the September launch. With iPhone 16 being a massive (internal) redesign many of those will be implemented possibly pushing the launch further out.
The under display touch ID will launch with under display camera eg. full display iPhone. This is to prevent people from having notch for the face ID they might choose not to use and for better marketing against full screen fingerprint equipped competition.
Hope you had a nice read, lets see what the future holds
