Introducing iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus

This article will focus on two new iPhone base models, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. We’ll look at the high-end flagship models iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max in another blog post.

iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus were launched in September 2023, introducing the first major redesign for iPhone since iPhone 12 in 2020.

Among the new design features is a curved display and back glass. But that’s not all…

Dynamic island

Dynamic island was first released with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max last year.

Its success has now made it a permanent feature of all iPhone 15 models.

Dynamic island is basically a widget that shows you live, clickable updates showing all kinds of information from the various apps you use. It’s not just a gimmick, but a very practical tool to keep you informed. The inclusion of this feature has also led to a redesign of the front-facing camera module.

Apple says:

"Dynamic Island bubbles up alerts and Live Activities — so you don’t miss them while you’re doing something else. You can track your next ride, see who’s calling, check your flight status and so much more." (Flight status? Good luck with that one! LOL)


Design and size

Compared to the previous iPhone 14, there’s no difference in size.

iPhone 15: 6.1‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED display

iPhone 15 Plus: 6.7‑inch (diagonal) all‑screen OLED display

Colours: Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, Pink (colours subject to availability in PNG)

Apple says:

"The innovative new design features back glass that has colour infused throughout the material. A custom-designed dual ion-exchange process for the glass, and an aerospace-grade aluminium enclosure, help make iPhone 15 incredibly durable and light. The Ceramic Shield front is tougher than any smartphone glass."

iPhone 15 is splash-, water- and dust-resistant. Rated IP68 (maximum depth of 6 metres for up to 30 minutes).

And spare a token thought for the environment. The enclosure of iPhone 15 is made of 75% recycled aluminium.

Capacity and Performance

Both models come in 128GB, 256Gb and 512GB and support Dual eSIM with the capability of installing eight or more eSIMs and using two phone numbers at the same time. It also has Dual SIM (nano-SIM and eSIM).

The advanced A16 Bionic Chip with 5 core GPU is a feature of the new iPhone 15 and 15 Plus, inherited from the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, making the base models far more powerful.

The A16 Bionic Chip powers all kinds of advanced features. Like computational photography used for 24MP photos and next-generation portraits. Voice Isolation for phone calls. And smooth performance for graphics-intensive games. All with incredible efficiency for great battery life.

(Note: iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max handsets get an entirely new chip - the A17 Pro, which we will also cover in a later post).

iPhone 17 also saw the introduction of Apple’s latest operating system iOS17. Already there have been updates to fix bugs and glitches 17.01, 17.02 and 17.03. A major update has just been announced in 17.01 with more fixes expected to come.

One reported issue is that of over-heating, with some owners claiming temperatures as high as 47 °C (117 °F).  Apple later stated that there were several reasons why the phones heat up, mainly hinting at a software bug. This was purported to be fixed with an update to iOS 17.0.3, although the overheating issue was reported to persist after the update.

All-new 48MP front and rear camera

Whereas iPhone 14 had a 12MP main/12MP ultrawide main camera, the new iPhone 15 jumps up to 48MP main/12MP.

Apple says:

"Now the Main camera shoots in super-high resolution. So, it’s easier than ever to take stand-out photos with amazing detail — from snapshots to stunning landscapes. Up to 4x resolution to capture incredible detail. 2x Telephoto is like having a third camera.

Want to quickly capture the moment before it’s gone? You no longer have to switch to Portrait mode. If your subject is a person, dog or cat, iPhone 15 automatically captures depth information. So, you can choose to instantly see your photo as a portrait, with an artful blur effect. Or later in the Photos app."

Selfie-camera issues

The front camera is 12MP with auto-focus. We strongly recommend you test the selfie camera before you buy the phone, as there have been rumblings on social media about the selfie camera being “unflattering” and dull.

One influencer said:

“I don’t know if it’s the HDR or if it’s some sort of post-processing thing… it just makes you look a zombie — like halfway into the casket grey.” (LOL)

Another:

“I just wanted to warn you that this phone will humble you… Taking a photo on this phone and taking a video, I can literally see my DNA through my pores. It’s that crystal clear.”

(Source: petapixel.com)

Enhanced Battery Life

iPhone 15 has a 3,349mAh battery, whereas the iPhone 15 Plus offers a 4,383mAh unit.

iPhone 15 boasts all-day battery life. As an indication iPhone 15 Plus is capable of up to 26 hours video playback, and iPhone 15 up to 20 hours.

USB-C Charging

Gone is the fabled quirky iPhone Lightning port and cable. Good riddance. The new iPhone 15 comes with a USB-C port ending an 11-year run for the company’s proprietary Lightning charging plug.

USB-C is now the industry standard, and we can thank the European Union for forcing Apple’s hand on this. A European Union law now requires phone manufacturers to adopt a common charging connection by December 2024 to save consumers money and cut waste.

Most new Apple products such as the latest iPads already use USB-C, so there are many existing Apple devotees that would also welcome the introduction of USB-C to iPhone.

Apple says:

"The new USB-C connector lets you charge your Mac or iPad with the same cable you use to charge iPhone 15. You can even use iPhone 15 to charge Apple Watch or AirPods. Bye-bye, cable clutter."

Power bank issues

There have been reports of problems when using a power bank to charge the new iPhone 15. It seems that the phone may reverse-charge to the power bank, resulting in a flat battery in the iPhone.

According to ZD Net (October 2): “The iPhone 15 series of smartphones come with the ability to reverse charge other smaller Apple devices, such as the Apple Watch, Apple AirPods, or another iPhone when using the USB-C charging cable.”

A few other features of the new iPhone 15

iPhone 15 also has Emergency SOS via satellite and Crash Detection, two vital safety features that have helped save lives, although not sure how useful this is in Papua New Guinea.

Fun stuff like: Contact Poster - create your own poster that contacts will see when you call. Pick a favourite pic or Memoji, pair it with a favourite font, and there you have it — your very own calling card. Want to swap contact info with someone? Just bring your iPhone close to theirs. You can both choose what you want to share, and the information transfers instantly. Live Stickers. Touch and hold an object in a photo to lift it from the background and create a sticker.

How much?

City Pharmacy’s Facebook page (Oct 9) advertised pre-orders for iPhone 15 (128GB) at K5499. 

In Australia, iPhone 15 (128GB) is $1499 at JB Hi-Fi, with a greater choice of colours and capacity.

There are a couple of historic factors that once favoured a purchase decision in PNG.

The pandemic made it near-impossible for anyone to travel and shop outside of PNG, so there was no choice. And dual-SIM was once a big selling feature of iPhones imported from Asia - this is no longer an issue with the greater uptake of eSIM in iPhones.

Times have changed. The only consideration now for the cashed-up smart shopper is: buy imported or buy when I go overseas?

A final word: pros and cons

Pros: new features such as dynamic island, strong casing, A16 bionic chip, all-new cameras, USB-C charging, enhanced battery performance.

Cons: reported issues regarding the front-facing camera, power-bank charging via the USB-C port, reports of over-heating, some software features of no real use in PNG, expensive cost.

Good luck and smart shopping!



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