Apple’s iPhone series generally consisted of two models in two different sizes per year. The 13 series had a 6.1″ and a 5.4″ option, while the Pro models had 6.1″ and 6.7″ size options, respectively. The 14 dropped the Mini in favour of a larger 6.7″ Plus model. According to the recent leaks from Ming-Chi Kuo and Mark Gurman, the iPhone 15 series will take differentiation between iPhone models even further.
It has been reported that the vanilla 15 models will stay more or less the same with a standard and a plus variant, but an iPhone 15 Ultra will supposedly replace the 15 Pro Max model. You must buy the largest model to get the latest and most significant features. Until now, the 6.1″ and 6.7″ models retained the same feature set except for a difference in screen sizes and battery capacities.
Read Also: iPhone SE 4: Everything We Know So Far
iPhone 15 Ultra: Specifications
- The iPhone 15 Ultra specifications will include a 120Hz AMOLED display (with Dolby Vision HDR) & LTPO 3.0, a larger 48MP primary sensor, an improved ultra-wide angle lens, periscope zoom (5X or 10X), ~4300+ MAH battery, titanium build, USBC, 8K recording, 3nm A17 Bionic and more.
A titanium chassis is expected on the iPhone 15 Ultra to improve the phone’s build quality and overall durability. Titanium is much lighter than stainless steel, making the phone lighter overall. LeaksApplePro suggested this. A design change is also likely, though there isn’t much information yet.
To improve the battery life of the iPhone 15 Ultra, Apple will either increase the battery capacity, which might make the weight even heavier, or they could focus on efficiency and software-based optimisations. The existing ~4300 MAH should be plenty if the A17 uses TSMC’s 3nm fabrication. Apple’s software magic with the new chip will mainly improve this phone’s battery life from the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The A17 Bionic that is to be used for the iPhone 15 Ultra is said to feature improvements to both CPU and GPU clock speeds, which improves performance, and TSMC’s hyper-efficient 3nm node will make the SOC one of the most, if not the most efficient chips in the world. It is said to feature improvements to sustained performance too. The base models are expected to get the 2022 A16 Bionic chip based on TSMC’s 4nm fabrication.
The primary camera is expected to remain at 48MP resolution, but there is a possible increase in sensor size. The ultra-wide angle might get a new lens and improved aperture with some software-based improvements. The iPhone 15 Ultra, according to several reports, will see a telephoto periscope camera.
This enables serious amounts of magnification. This is not the first time we have seen a periscope zoom lens since Android phones have had it for years, but it will be interesting to see Apple’s implementation and whether the organic magnification will be 5X or 10X.
Apple is also possibly working on an 8K video recording for the iPhone 15 Ultra model, though there aren’t many reliable sources to back this information up. What’s upsetting about this is that until now, the Pro and the Pro Max retained the same feature set, for the most part, except the 12 series, where the 12 Pro Max had a better primary lens with sensor-shift OIS and a better telephoto lens. But now, keeping features exclusive to the big “Ultra” model will mean that users are forced to get the large size for better features. This move is probably to create more disparity among the lineup.
It has also been speculated that all the iPhone 15 models will feature the dynamic island, and the standard models will stick to a standard disappointing 60Hz refresh rate. There might be iterative upgrades to the OLED panels on all models. This year we saw a tremendous increase in brightness, with the Pro models hitting 2000 Nits peak and 1600 when playing HDR content.
We also saw the screens move to LTPO 2.0 (1Hz to 120Hz) and slightly improved resolution by making the borders slimmer. Next year, we might see improvements to contrast ratio and other display aspects. They might move to LTPO 3.0.
According to laws from the European Union, all smartphones sold there should switch to USB Type C. When asked about this in an interview, one of Apple’s employees said, “we will comply”. Heavy rumours are going on that Apple “confirmed” USB-C on the new iPhones. However, that’s not true. Apple never publicly said they’d make an iPhone with USB Type C. They just said that they’d comply. They never said they’d remove the lightning port in the next iteration.
This was also a statement given by extremely well-PR-trained people specifically experienced in answering such questions in public interviews by dodging the questions or giving vague answers. So, this statement was very ambiguous.
This could mean they might even remove the charging port and switch to MagSafe-only phones. They might keep using lightning until 2024 when they’ll be forced to switch to USB-C or remove the port. So, while we can expect it to have USB-C, this news is not confirmed.
The phone will unquestionably launch with iOS 17 out of the box, which will be announced and showcased at WWDC 2023, and the phone will get either 5 or 6 years of promised software updates.
iPhone 15 Ultra release date
- The series is expected to be launched on or around September 12th, 2023.
There are no leaks about an official release date for the iPhone 15 Ultra yet because it hasn’t been very long since the launch of the iPhone 14 series. We will update this article regarding the same if there is more information. However, we can speculate that the iPhone 15 Ultra will launch alongside the rest of the iPhone 15 series in September 2023.
Some reports suggest that the iPhone 15 series will launch in the second week of September 2023 since Apple store employees in the UK were asked to be at the stores between the 15th and 7th of October. It’s still very early to say anything conclusive about the launch dates, though.
iPhone 15 Ultra Pricing
- The iPhone 15 Ultra is expected to be priced at $1199 or $1299 in the United States.
Since Apple is mostly replacing the 15 Pro Max with the 15 Ultra, they will most probably increase the pricing to create differentiation between models and make the most expensive model the most appealing, with confusing pricing ladder tactics that give us the myth of fair value. If the 15 Ultra exists at just 200$ more and offers much more than the Pro, people will gravitate to that.
We are unsure if the phone will start at 128GB or 256GB of storage, but if it has 8K recording, 128GB on a 1199$+ phone might be pretty low. These are only early spec details and speculations, so don’t take any of this too seriously; this article was only made to give readers a general idea of the upcoming iPhones.
This live article will periodically be updated with the latest information.
