iPhone 15 could have thinner bezels and a titanium frame
More details have emerged about the design of the iPhone 15 series. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman says that this year's models will have thinner bezels and a titanium frame.
Dynamic Island, Thinner bezels, Titanium frame
Apple has opted to bring the Dynamic Island across all 4 models in the line-up, which means the iPhone 15 will drop the notch design that was introduced with the iPhone X in 2017. There is still a slight difference between the displays used on the standard models and the Pro models. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max displays are made with a technology called low-injection pressure over-molding. Apple employees have termed it “LIPO”. The process has allowed the Cupertino company to shrink the border size around the display from 2.2 mm to 1.5 mm, which has resulted in thinner bezels. This also increases the size of the display. Apple is planning to use a similar design on future iPads.
The report indicates that only the Pro models in the series may get a Titanium frame. The other 2 devices, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, are expected to retain their stainless-steel frame. The 2 premium devices will also have a frosted glass back, the edges of the frame will be less sharp. The Pro variants are expected to come with new lenses for the camera, and will offer a better range of optical zoom, among other upgrades to the rear camera modules.
The other notable difference that separates the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus from the Pro models is the processor on the devices. The phones will be powered by an Apple Bionic A16 chipset, which debuted on the iPhone 14 Pro series last year. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Plus will feature a newer chipset built on a 3 nm process. Reports suggest that the new SoC offers a snappier performance, and improvements to the battery life. Speaking of which, the iPhone 15 series will pack larger batteries across all four models. The display on the non-pro models are said to have a 60Hz refresh rate, as opposed to the 120Hz ProMotion Display that will remain exclusive to the higher tier.
Apple is set to ditch the Lightning connector with its next-gen mobile devices, thanks to the European Union. The iPhone 15 will be shifting to a USB Type-C port. The upcoming phones will reportedly have an Ultra Wideband chip that will be used with Apple's mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro.
Gurman says that Apple had initially planned to switch from physical buttons for the volume rocker, power and mute/ring switch, to touch-sensitive buttons with haptic feedback. The enhancement was codenamed Bongo by the company. However, the plans for it were cancelled due to engineering problems and the cost compared to physical keys. Apple is making one change to the hardware keys, it will remove the movable mute/ring switch, and will replace it with a physical button. The new key, which is said to be called the Action Button, will offer various functions in iOS 17, that the user may choose to use it for, e.g. toggle silent mode, open the camera, enable accessibility options, etc.
iPhone 15 Pro models could be more expensive
A recent rumor hinted that the iPhone 15 Pro models may cost more than the previous gen devices. Gurman believes that Apple may bump the prices slightly for all four iPhone 15 models outside the U.S. He hinted that Apple may increase the price of the Pro model phones in the U.S, due to the transition from aluminium to titanium, and also because of the more advanced camera array on the high-end models. The price of the iPhone 15 Pro could go up by $100, while the Pro Plus model may cost up to $200 more than its predecessor. Apple will launch the iPhone 15 series in Fall 2023, along with the public releases of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14 Sonoma, watchOS 10
The Bloomberg journalist says that the Apple Watch Series 9 will consist of a 41 mm and 45 mm model, and a 2nd-gen Apple Watch Ultra. The watches will be equipped with a new S9 processor that reportedly offers a significant performance upgrade over the previous gen wearables.
