Due to production issues at Apple’s supplier factories in China, the iPhone 14 Pro and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max are out of order and are not available in almost all stores. If you’re planning to gift or buy an ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ model for the holidays but haven’t received one yet, you’re actually out of luck because the models won’t be available until the end of December. In fact, due to ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ delays and rumors of some very attractive specs for the high-end iPhone 15 models, you may have to wait until September 2023 to upgrade. We’ve outlined some of the features you can expect, which may be new additions you might want to look forward to.

iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra

One of the reasons why the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ and ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ Max are in demand this year is because Apple has equipped them with complete features not found in the standard iPhone 14 models. Faster processors, better cameras and Dynamic Island make the ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ much more attractive than the ‌iPhone 14‌ models similar to the iPhone 13, and the same trend will continue for the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro.

In fact, Apple could improve things even further by giving the “iPhone 15” Pro Max a better feature set than the “iPhone 15” Pro, and rumors suggest it might even get a name to reflect this change: “iPhone 15” Ultra. If you like the latest and greatest, Apple’s most expensive “iPhone” to date may be worth the wait.

USB-C

The entire ‌iPhone 15‌ lineup is expected to switch from Lightning to USB-C in 2023, so if you like to use a single charger for your Mac, ‌iPhone‌ and iPad, the ‌iPhone 15‌ models will appeal to you. Apple is making this change to comply with a European law that requires smartphones and electronics to use a common charger, but it wouldn’t make sense for the company to only produce a USB-C iPhone for one region, so customers around the world benefit.

All ‌iPhone 15‌ models will receive USB-C, but currently rumors indicate that ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models will support higher data transfer speeds. For example, if Apple integrates Thunderbolt 3 support into the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro, the transfer rate can reach 40 Gbps. We can only count on 20Gbps speed with USB 3.2.

Faster A17 processor

The A16 is limited to the “iPhone 14 Pro” models, while the A17 is expected to be exclusive to the “iPhone 15” Pro models. The A17 could be the first chip built on TSMC’s next-generation 3 nanometer node, which will improve performance and reduce power consumption.

periscope camera lens

Apple is working on improved optical zoom using periscope lens technology, which may be limited to the iPhone 15 Ultra. Periscope lenses are expensive and take up space, so Apple could use them as motivation to steer people towards the most expensive ‌iPhone‌. Thanks to its periscopic lens technology, Apple is able to offer 10x optical magnification compared to 3x on the current ‌iPhone 14 Pro‌ models. Other manufacturers like Samsung have taken these telephoto lenses to a longer range, combining them with digital zoom for impressive 100x zoom capabilities.

solid state buttons

The ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models may receive additional Taptic Engines to help operate solid-state volume and power buttons that look like but aren’t. This is the technology Apple uses for the MacBook Pro touchpad, meaning it feels like you’re pressing a button, but there’s no physical mechanism for pressing the button.

The feature is said to be available on ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models and can activate additional functions and increase water resistance when certain buttons are pressed, but it’s not yet clear how solid-state buttons will be used.

Other rumors

There are other rumors about the ‌iPhone 15‌ Pro models, some more reliable than others. Here’s what we heard:

• Stronger titanium case.
• Beveled rear edges replace the existing rectangular design.
• Qualcomm 5G modem chip.
• There is no Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
• There is no Face ID at the bottom of the screen.