iPhone 15 Lineup Drops Lightning, Adopts USB-C

As usual, the biggest changes appear on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, which both receive the company’s new A17 Pro processor.

The display sizes remain the same—6.1 inches (measured diagonally) for the Pro and 6.7 inches for the Pro Max—but the bodies are now crafted from titanium, making these Apple’s lightest Pro models yet.

The new camera system incorporates a periscope on the 15 Pro Max to boost the optical zoom from 3x to 5x. While this sounds impressive, the tech is similar to what we’ve seen on high-end smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The rear camera setup on both Pro models can shoot what Apple calls “Spatial Video,” a sort of three-dimensional clip that can be viewed on the company’s upcoming Vision Pro headset. It shoots regular video up to a resolution of 4K at 60 frames per second, compared to the 30 frames per second a year ago. And, with the USB-C connector, it should be even easier to quickly transfer those large video files to your MacBook.

The 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max each feature ProMotion, Apple’s hi-refresh rate display that makes movement appear much smoother than it does on a standard display.

The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are available in black, blue, natural, and white.

The big addition to the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus is the Dynamic Island unveiled last year on the Pro models. It replaces the familiar notch cut-out dating back to 2017’s iPhone X. Instead of a static hole in the display, you get an interactive pill-shaped widget that showcases information from a variety of apps. 

Weather apps like Carrot can use the space to display how long a passing thunderstorm will likely last. Uber can keep you abreast of how long it will take for your ride to arrive. And Sports Alert can display, you guessed it, scores from the NFL, MLB, and NBA.

Apple says the OLED display on the two models can get twice as bright as last year’s, which should improve HDR performance. The main camera has been upgraded as well, going from 12 to 48 megapixels with improved low-light performance.

Both models are powered by the A16 chip used in the iPhone 14 Pro models. They offer a Roadside Assistance feature that can summon help via satellite when your car breaks down off the grid.

The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus are made out of “aerospace grade” aluminum and are available in black, blue, green, pink, and yellow.

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 have a new chip, brighter screens, and case and band options that make them the first Apple products officially designated as carbon neutral, the company says. 

The S9 chip allows for a few new advanced features, most notably a gesture control that allows you to answer calls, play and pause music, snap a photo, or hit snooze simply by double tapping the index finger and thumb on your watch hand. This frees up your other hand to, say, carry groceries, hold an umbrella, or tend to a child.

You can now control certain music play features on the HomePod, too.

And both models have a more precise Find feature that directs you to a missing iPhone, using audio, visual, and haptic cues.

The display on the Watch 9 can reach up to 2,000 Nits of brightness (twice the level of the Watch 8) helping you to read what’s on the face when you’re out hiking in the mid-day sun.

The screen on the Ultra 2 can go all the way up to 3,000 Nits. It also shifts automatically into Night Mode after dark and has a new watch face that squeezes dynamic info on your altitude, depth, or seconds elapsed into the outermost edges of the display.

The Series 9 starts at $399 and the Ultra 2 at $799. Both are available for pre-order now and arrive in stores on Sept. 22.