The new iPhone 15 was announced about a week ago but has started rolling out to customers on the 22nd and many new features are coming that will be vital for the future of Apple–especially getting rid of the lightning port.
Well, what’s new? The foundational big change to the iPhone this year is definitely the introduction of USB-C charging ports and letting go of the lightning cable that Apple has stuck with for just too long. The USB-C should be much more favorable for most because USB-C is the typical way to charge almost any other typical electronics, whether it’s a computer, speaker, or an Alexa. USB-C means much faster charging and upload speeds for those who will be taking new higher quality pictures with the camera updates this year.
Apple was forced to change to USB-C because the European Union passed laws forcing them to, and while Apple is probably not comfortable with the profit loss this will mean without having its users forced to purchase an Apple-exclusive charger, it will be very beneficial to the environment and to the user’s ease of access in the long run.
Another new feature is the dynamic island that will now come to the base models of the 15, which was only previously on the 14 pro and pro max models. The Dynamic Island replaces the previous notch at the top of the display and can show lots of different information about things like time, music, or incoming calls that will make the user’s experience even better, not to mention how this also means there is more actual screen space on the phone now.
So what is different about the Pro models this year? The 15 Pro and Pro Max will see the first change in material since moving from the 5 to the 6, this time from aluminum to titanium. This means the phone will be both lightweight and more durable at the same time, but will scratch much easier. The pros will come with smaller bezels- which means there will be less “black space” between the actual screen and the edge of the phone.
They also are getting rid of the mute button- which may seem like a big change but is now replaced with the action button- which can do much more. The action button is just as big as the old mute button, but you can map it to do whatever you want with the phone. You could keep it to just muting and unmuting, make it open an app or the camera, or pull up your bank statements, basically anything you want it to do— it can.
The iPhone’s cameras are notorious for being the best among smartphones, and they have only improved. The regular models have now switched to 48MP main cameras (the cameras that were on the iPhone 14 Pro) and a re-defined, higher solution-wide lens (0.5x). The 48MP is a huge change, theoretically doubling the quality of the high-resolution images by two times as much as previous iPhones.
Should you actually buy it? Considering the iPhone 15 sticks with a base price of $800, I would say if you have an iPhone 12 pro or older and you have paid off that phone, then you should definitely at least upgrade to the iPhone 15 base model, considering all of the deals with wireless carriers that will allow you to get the new phone for sometimes $300 or less if you trade in your old one. If you are someone who takes a lot of photos or just always wants the best, then go with the $100-$200 extra of the Pro or Pro Max to show what you’re all about. Now if you have a 13 or 14 I do not see much advantage in upgrading your phone, as there are not many new significant features that actually change how the phone works, and while the speed is faster in the 15, the speed will always be getting faster.
