The Apple iPhone 15 series launched last week with great fanfare and for all the right reasons. That’s because the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models feature some much-awaited upgrades, including an improved display, a 48MP primary camera, and a USB-C port for charging, all without getting a price bump in India. It is also the biggest overhaul an iPhone has received since the launch of the iPhone 12 (review) nearly three years ago. The new features may attract new customers, though some are still not convinced (rightfully so), especially when the price exceeds Rs 70,000.
Therefore, here are some features that Apple must consider adding to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, which will likely launch after a year.
High refresh rate
This year’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 feature the same display sizes (6.1-inch and 6.7-inch) with a new Dynamic Island. The latter was introduced on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year.
However, what hasn’t changed is the refresh rate on the vanilla models. Apple has been offering the feature (Apple calls it Pro Motion) on the Pro iPads and iPhones for some time. Provided that there’s not much Apple can do with the regular iPhone 16 models, we can expect the likely debut of a high refresh rate-enabled display on the vanilla iPhones next year.
Fast charging
While Apple has improved the battery backup on the latest iPhones, the charging speed still irks many customers. Although analysts and fans expected that to change this year with the introduction of USB-C ports on all iPhone 15 models, it appears things are the same, at least in the charging department.
Apple notes that the vanilla iPhone 15 attains a 50 per cent charge within 30 minutes of charging with a 20W adapter. A full charge with the same adapter may take around an hour. On the other hand, Android OEMs have started offering at least 33W charging support on several smartphones under Rs 20,000. This allows the phone to attain full charge in 40-50 minutes, still relatively faster than the iPhone. With the iPhone 16, Apple must take the charging speed up by a few notches to stay ahead of the curve.
USB 3 standard
Although the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus now carry USB-C ports for charging, there’s a big catch. The duo include the USB 2 standard that offers transfer speeds of up to 480Mbps, compared to 10Gbps speeds with the USB 3 standard. Some Android phones even offer transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps. The standard can be particularly crucial if you shoot a lot of videos via the iPhone and transfer files from the smartphone to the PC. Since the USB 3 standard is already available on the iPhone 15 Pro models this year, there’s a likelihood of the same on the vanilla iPhone 16 models next year.
Improved optical zoom
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models carry a 48MP primary camera alongside a 12MP secondary snapper. Despite increased resolution, optical zooming on the regular iPhones remains more or less the same. A better optical zoom can help with better portrait shots. Apple’s rivals, including Google, have been improving the optical zooming, particularly on their Pro models. The iPhone 15 Pro variants also offer improved portrait shots, but the iPhone 16 also needs to catch up.
