Gordon Kelly
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I write about technology’s biggest companies
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@Hanstsaiz
iPhone 15 leaks have already spoiled most of Apple’s in-house secrets, and now we have our best look yet at the phones’ biggest design changes.
MacRumors has attained dummy models of the entire range — iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max — and while the site does not reveal its source, I can confirm it is to be trusted. So what are the big takeaways?
The most impactful is one of the harder ones to spot: USB-C. The new port is easily mistaken for Lightning, which it replaces, but the giveaway is it is notably wider, and the dummy models show USB-C is coming to all four iPhone 15 models. iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have faster (possibly locked down) data speeds, which may get the company in trouble with the EU.
MacRumors
Less likely to split opinion is the new Action button. In line with leaks, the dummy models show it is only coming to iPhone 15 Pro models. It will be a solid-state, programmable button that replaces the physical mute switch. Based on early CAD leaks, Apple originally wanted to replace the volume buttons with a solid-state rocker as well, but multiple sources stated this was delayed, and the dummies show regular volume buttons on all four iPhone 15 models.
Interestingly, the dummies show the iPhone 15 Pro Max camera hump to be of similar depth to the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 14 Pro Max. Apple’s new flagship iPhone will get an exclusive periscope lens capable of up to 6x optical zoom, and some feared this would add considerable bulk to the phone. But periscope lenses are typically situated sideways inside a smartphone, and the dummies strongly suggest this is the route Apple decided to take.
Last, the dummies show off the softer edges of the iPhone 15 range. iPhones have switched between soft curves and hard edges multiple times over the years, but iPhone 15 models appear to have found a halfway option with the clean lines of the edges intact, but the corners curved slightly to make the phones more comfortable to hold.
So what don’t we know? Well, the dummies can’t tell us anything about the internals of the iPhone 15 range (the new A17 chip is expected to be Pro-only), their displays (the Dynamic Island is tipped to come to all models) or their materials, with titanium rumored for Pro models.
Prices also remain a mystery, but with Apple widely expected to increase prices for Pro models worldwide, not all remaining details are likely to be good news.
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I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in b2b print journalism covering tech companies at the height of the dot com boom and switched to covering consumer technology as the iPod began to take off.
A career highlight for me was being a founding member of TrustedReviews. It started in 2003 and we were repeatedly told websites could not compete with print! Within four years we were purchased by IPC Media (Time Warner’s publishing division) to become its flagship tech title.
What fascinates me are the machinations of technology’s biggest companies. Got a pitch, tip or leak? Contact me on my professional Facebook page. I don’t bite.
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