Apple took the covers off its latest iPhone 15 series amidst much fanfare at its Wonderlust launch event, besides unveiling the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and an additional AirPods Pro 2nd Gen with a USB Type-C charging port. Besides the hardware announcements, Apple announced iOS 17 will be available for public download starting September 18th.
While the iPhone 15 series nomenclature essentially remains the same, all speculation with regard to an iPhone 15 Ultra, which had gained a lot of steam, has ended. No, we didn’t see an ultra-fancy fifth iPhone at a hefty price tag, neither did we see the iPhone 15 Pro Max getting renamed. What we did see, however, were decently incremental changes in the iPhones after a long time. Details on that and everything else follow.
Everything that launched at Wonderlust
iPhone 15
Those looking for an upgraded vanilla iPhone 15 wouldn’t have been disappointed, well, partially at least. Besides switching from Apple’s proprietary Lightning port to USB Type-C, the iPhone 15 got an upgraded camera system with a 48MP primary lens, up from the erstwhile 12MP. The A16 Bionic chipset from the iPhone 14 Pro series is present on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Apple also bid adieu to the notch for good, replacing it with the Dynamic Island on the base models as well. However, those seeking for a 120Hz LTPO display were left disappointed yet again, as Apple stuck to its ancient 60Hz refresh rate. Silver lining, there’s no price bump as was anticipated. RAM is yet again expected to be 6GB (Apple doesn’t officially declare it).
Price in India: Starts at Rs 79,900 for the 128GB variant
iPhone 15 Plus
The taller twin of the iPhone 15 also comes with the same set of upgrades as its tinier version. The only difference between iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus (besides the price) is the screen size, while most of the spec sheet remains the same. The iPhone 15 Plus sports a 6.7-inch display with up to 2000 nits peak brightness.
The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus come in five colours – Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Black. They have a new textured matte finish, and a ceramic shield.
Price in India: Starts at Rs 89,900 for 128GB
iPhone 15 Pro
The iPhone 15 Pro comes with Apple’s latest A17 Pro chip, which Apple announced as the first 3nm processor in the industry. Presence of a 6-core GPU promises improved gaming abilities. The Pro models this year have become lighter than last year’s, courtesy an all-new aerospace-grade titanium build, which also makes the phones stronger. Bezels on both the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max have gotten thinner, while Apple has replaced the Mute switch with an Action button. This not only solves the purpose of switching between silent and loud modes but also operates apps. Rumour has it that Apple has bumped up the RAM from 6GB to 8GB.
The cameras haven’t gotten a bump in resolution but come with improved software capabilities, as Apple claims. However, the starting iPhone 15 Pro price in India is more than that of the iPhone 14 Pro at launch, by a relatively mere Rs 5,000. The new iPhone 15 Pro colours are Black Titanium, White Titanium, Blue Titanium, and Natural Titanium.
Price in India: Starts at Rs 1,34,900 for the base 128GB storage model
iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers the same set of upgrades as the iPhone 15 Pro, save for the screen real estate and camera capabilities. The iPhone 15 Pro has a 3x 12MP telephoto camera, which was present on previous iPhone Pros, while the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 5x zoom for better portraits. Another new feature for both iPhone 15 Pros is the ability to capture 3D Spatial Videos, which will be complementary to the Apple Vision Pro headset that arrives next year.
The battery on the iPhone 15 Pro Max may be larger than the iPhone 15 Pro, though Apple won’t officially reveal it. Both may be an increment from last year. All this makes the iPhone 15 Pro Max dearer by a massive Rs 20,000 at launch than the iPhone 14 Pro from last year.
Price in India: Starts at Rs 1,59,900 for the base 256GB storage model. The 1TB model has almost touched the Rs 2 lakh mark in India.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple’s first rugged smartwatch got its second iteration yesterday with a few upgrades over its predecessor. The most notable among those is the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s ability to reach a maximum brightness of a whopping 3000 nits, making it Apple’s brightest product. The Watch Ultra 2 and the Watch Series 9 both come with a new S9 SiP (system-in-package) and a new double tap gesture. The latter would require you to just double tap your thumb and index finger to answer and end calls, snooze alarms and perform a variety of functions.
Price in India: Rs 89,900 for the single 49mm model
Apple Watch Series 9
Apple has concentrated immensely on sustainability with its smartwatches and the Apple Watch Series 9 is the company’s first carbon-neutral product. The Watch Series 9 comes with the same S9 SiP as the Watch Ultra 2 and runs on watchOS 10, which has redesigned watch faces and apps. It also features the double tap gesture control functionality. Apple has launched the Watch Series 9 in a new pink colour option this year.
Price in India: Starts at Rs 41,900
AirPods Pro 2nd Gen with Type-C
The latest AirPods Pro 2nd Gen come with a MagSafe Case with a USB-C port, a speaker, and a lanyard loop to secure the product. They use the same Apple H2 headphone chip and the Apple U1 chip in the MagSafe USB-C Charging Case. You can control them with touch and voice commands.
Price in India: Rs 24,900, available starting today
