All models of the iPhone 15 could get the Dynamic Island, boosting the capabilities of the next-gen iPhone lineup, while the iPhone Pro models have been tipped to get a titanium frame.
That's according to Mark Gurman, who in his Power On newsletter claims that the morphing camera cutout currently seen on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max will no longer be a ‘Pro’ feature once the iPhone 15 arrives.
Gurman has a reputation for being accurate with such tips, and it would make sense for Apple to expand the Dynamic Island feature to more models. Not only does this tend to follow on from Apple’s cadence of putting new features first on the Pro iPhones then moving them to standard models one or two generations later, but it would also normalize the Dynamic Island for day-to-day use.
Doing the latter would hopefully see more third-party developers integrate it into their apps and therefore make the Dynamic Island a more useful feature; arguably, its lack of widespread app support at the moment means it’s almost a gimmick.
iPhone 15 Pro with titanium design
As for titanium construction on the iPhone 15 Pro models, that just seems sensible. Apple often champions how its phones last for years, so making them tougher would feed into that rhetoric. Titanium is some 30% stronger than steel but also 43% lighter, meaning if it replaces the stainless steel frame of the current iPhone 14 Pro, Apple could produce a tougher and lighter iPhone 15 Pro lineup.
This weight reduction could help offset any weight gains from Apple supposedly adopting solid state buttons in the iPhone 15 Pro; using such buttons would likely need require additional haptic motors — unless some very smart engineering is applied — and thus add more weight to the phone.
Beyond these upgrades and tweaks, we’re expecting the iPhone 15 models to come with performance upgrades, likely in the form of an A17 Bionic chip, But if Apple continues with splitting the silicon on the iPhone 15 models, the standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus may have to make do with the A16 Bionic.
iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro
The Pro models could get improved camera sensors, with a periscope telephoto camera once again tipped for these high-end iPhones, though such a feature could be reserved for the iPhone 15 Ultra; that's expected to be a very high-end iPhone, much like the Apple Watch Ultra is compared to the standard Apple Watch 8.
On the standard iPhones, the rumors have pointed towards them getting the 48MP main cameras seen on the iPhone 14 Pro. And all iPhone 15 models are finally expected to ditch the Lightning port and move over to USB-C connectivity.
With the iPhone 15 likely set to debut in September we’re still a ways off from the official launch, so expect more leaks and rumors as the year moves on. But if you want a phone to get excited about sooner than later, check out the Samsung Galaxy S23, which is likely due to launch very soon.
