iPhone 15 rumours: Pro and Pro Max release date, price, specs

There are roughly four months to go until the inevitable launch of the newest AppleiPhone 15. Gossip about the upcoming smartphone, expected to launch in September, is getting fierce, and if the rumours are true, we could be about to see the biggest upgrade to the device since 2017 when Apple launched the iPhone X.

We’ve already had a sneak peek from Apple as to what new features could be coming to iOS 17, and it includes an accessibility setting that will let users digitise their voice. The feature is aimed at those at risk of losing their speech due to a health condition, such as those diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

There could be even more to get excited about with the rumoured iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

New reports and rumours are landing almost weekly, with claims the iPhone 15 could ditch the lightning port in favour of USB-C for the first time. Other rumours suggest Apple could also remove the mechanical volume and power buttons on its handsets and replace them with solid-state ones, give the Pro line-up a new titanium design and even launch an iPhone 15 Ultra in 2024. And we can’t forget the murmurings about the elusive Apple VR headset.

Below, we’ve rounded up all the iPhone 15 rumours you need to know, including our speculation on the release date, potential specs, price and design.

Apple iPhone 15 release date: When will the new smartphones launch?

Although an iPhone 15 release date has yet to be revealed (we won’t be getting that until Apple’s launch event), Apple is a fairly predictable beast when it comes to iPhone release dates. The company almost always announces its new line of smartphones in the first two weeks of September. For example, the iPhone 14 was unveiled on Wednesday 7 September 2022 and the iPhone 13 on Tuesday 14 September 2021.

Apple usually prefers Tuesdays when it comes to its iPhone events, so the two most likely dates for an iPhone 15 event would be Tuesday 5 September or Tuesday 12 September. Can we speculate as to which day it’ll choose? We sure can.

It’s Labor Day in the US on Monday 4 September, and it’s unlikely that Apple will host an event straight after a long weekend, leaving 12 September as the most likely date. Apple usually releases its newest iPhone roughly 10 days after the Apple event, so we’re ear-marking a 22 September launch date.

Obviously, this is all still conjecture, and we won’t know until we hear it from Tim Cook himself, but one leaker’s report lines up with our basic mathematics.

Analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong International Securities has sources in Apple’s iPhone supply chain, and he claims that the iPhone 15 could launch on 23 September 2023. That’s a Saturday, but if we adjust for time zone differences, a 22 September launch date sounds feasible.

Apple iPhone 15 price: How much could the new handsets cost?

Rumours ahead of the Apple event last year suggested that the iPhone 14 could get a 15 per cent price hike in the US when the phones were revealed, as a result of the global economic downturn and increased prices of components.

While the rumour turned out to be incorrect for the US market, all four handsets appeared to get a price hike in the UK, with prices jumping from between £70 for the base iPhone 14 and £150 for the iPhone 14 Pro.

Could we see another price hike for the iPhone 15? It appears the leakers are a little wary of reporting about price increases after dropping the ball last year. We’ve had one unverified report from Chinese social media platform Weibo suggesting that the iPhone 15 Pro models will be getting a price increase this year, with Jeff Pu backing up that claim in a research note in March.

A blog post from Korean firm Naver also suggests that the base iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus could also get a price cut to make the non-Pro devices more enticing to customers, who have seemingly shunned the Plus device, as they did with the iPhone Mini.

Apple iPhone 15 design, specs and features

While the iPhone 14 Plus hasn’t been a roaring success, with a lukewarm response from consumers, it appears the company may continue to power on and manufacture four iPhone 15 models this year, according to market intelligence firm TrendForce. That would give us the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also indicated that an iPhone Ultra could rear its head in the next couple of years, but says that it’s more likely to feature for the iPhone 16 range than the iPhone 15. If true, it would mean Apple will ditch the floundering iPhone Plus and Mini models in favour of a beefier Ultra model, which Gurman says will need to differentiate itself from the Pro models.  

There are a few renders swimming out there in terms of the design of the iPhone 15 Pro. In February, 9to5Mac obtained renders of the device based on a CAD model from a case manufacturer. In the render, it appears that the curved display is making a return for the first time since the iPhone 11 Pro, with another leaker suggesting that the iPhone 15 Pro will have curved edges with thinner bezels.

The renders also suggest that there will, once again, be two 6.1in iPhones and two 6.7in iPhones. Jeff Pu also claimed in his research note that he expects the Pro models to feature a titanium frame.  

The lightning port has also been removed in the render in favour of a USB-C port, which seems to be the most plausible rumour so far (given the political wrangling with the EU). Another report from Gurman suggests that all four iPhone 15 models will also get the Dynamic Island from the iPhone 14 Pro, shrinking the notches down for every device.   

A report in October from reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max could also lose their physical mechanical buttons in favour of solid-state buttons. The buttons would work similar to the home button on the iPhone 7 and 8. On those phones, the button could be mistaken for a real one – but was actually just a touch pad that used precise vibrations to feel as if it was being pressed down.

However, in a Medium post published on 12 April, Kuo backtracked on the report about the transition to solid-state buttons. “My latest survey indicates that due to unresolved technical issues before mass production, both high-end iPhone 15 Pro models (Pro & Pro Max) will abandon the closely-watched solid-state button design and revert to the traditional physical button design,” Kuo said. 

And for those of you waiting for Apple to bring back Touch ID (or an in-display fingerprint sensor), we’ve got bad news. It might not be happening after all. In Mark Gurman’s PowerOn newsletter, he claimed that, while the company had been testing in-display sensors, Face ID would be here to stay for the foreseeable future. Twitter leaker Unknownz21 corroborated this claim in a tweet posted in late March.

Rumours about the specs of the iPhone 15 are still slim on the ground, but one rumour suggests that Apple will continue to differentiate the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro by giving the Pro model phones an all-new A17 chip, while the base models will use an A16 Bionic chip.

The A17 Bionic chip is rumoured to be a 3-nanometer powerhouse, making it faster and more efficient. This report comes courtesy of Digitimes and Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC, who manufactures Apple’s silicon. The report was corroborated in a report from Nikkei.

Consumers could also be getting more RAM in their devices, according to a TrendForce report, which claims that the next series of iPhone 15 devices could get a boost in RAM, with Pu claiming 8GB instead of 6GB for the Pro models.   

This one’s a little sketchy, so get your handfuls of salt, but a rumour picked up by MacRumours claims that Apple will be removing the mute button on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, replacing it with an action button that will presumably work like the action button the Apple Watch Ultra. The report suggests that you may be able to customise the action button to perform various functions. A further report published on 17 April suggests that this action button will be the new way of powering off your iPhone.

Apple iPhone 15 camera rumours

If there’s one thing we can guarantee when it comes to iPhone upgrades, it’s that the camera is going to get a spec boost.

In the aforementioned Jeff Pu report, the analyst claims that the iPhone 15 Pro could get a periscope camera, which would improve long-range photography and zoom. This was rumoured for the iPhone 14 Pro as well, however, and it didn’t materialise. The renders above do show that the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a slightly bigger camera bump, potentially there to house a periscope camera.

This rumour was given credence in June 2022 when leaker Ming-Chi Kuo stated that the iPhone 15 Pro Max would be the only iPhone to get a periscope camera in 2023, giving the iPhone a 6x optical zoom. Samsung was the first to popularise periscope cameras in 2020 when it launched the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.

On 8 May, reliable leaker Unknownz21 revealed on Twitter that they had received independent confirmation a periscope camera would indeed be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, and that it would be exclusively available on the larger handset. If true, it would make it the first time Apple has put in a distinctive point of separation between the Pro and Pro Max models.

According to a research note from Nomura analysts, the base iPhone 15’s cameras will also get some significant improvements. “Lower-end i15 models will have main cameras (wide) upgraded to 48MP with image sensor size at 1/1.5 which is slightly smaller than the i14 Pro’s 48MP sensor size, but much better than i14’s 12MP,” the note read.

Apple iPhone 16 rumours

We know, the iPhone 15 isn’t even out yet and rumours about the iPhone 16 are already starting to emerge. On 16 May, reliable leaker Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the iPhone 16 Pro will be getting a periscope lens in 2024, hinting that the 6.1in iPhone 15 Pro wouldn’t be getting one this year. The leaker retains that the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max would still be getting the periscope lens.

He went on to suggest that the iPhone 16 Pro would be getting a slightly larger display to accommodate the periscope camera. Earlier, on 9 May, Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants claimed that the aspect ratio of the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max would be increasing in size to 6.3in and 6.9in, giving users bigger displays and (inevitably) bigger batteries.

The verdict: Apple iPhone 15 rumours

While everything here should be taken with a pinch of salt, the rumours regarding the iPhone 15 are promising indeed. If true, we could be seeing the first iPhones with a USB-C port, a Dynamic Island for the base iPhone 15 models and a periscope camera for the Pro-level devices, as well as a titanium frame and a curved screen. We’ll be keeping an eye out for more leaks and rumours right up until the likely release date in September.

Best Apple iPhone 14 deals

If your phone is feeling sluggish and you just can’t wait until the iPhone 15 comes out to upgrade, the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are worthy handsets. We’ve outlined a few of the best deals below and also have a round-up of the best refurbished iPhone deals.

The base iPhone 14 currently has 10 per cent off at Amazon. “This is a fast and attractive smartphone, with Apple’s excellent design and build quality, boasting now-routine features, such as water resistance and strong screen, and a significantly improved camera,” our writer said in their review. “The iPhone 14’s internal upgrades, from camera to crash detection, are pretty extraordinary, all for a price less than the iPhone 13 pro, with which it shares the same processor.”

If you’d prefer to buy it with a contract, the best deal we’ve spotted is from Sky Mobile, who is offering a 3GB data contract for £32 per month. There is no up-front cost, and while the contract lasts for 36 months, you can upgrade your phone after 24 months (£32 per month, Sky.com).

The savings aren’t as good on the iPhone 14 Pro as they are on the common iPhone 14, but you can still save a modest £60 at Amazon. “The iPhone 14 Pro is a powerful, beautiful smartphone.” Our writer said in their review. “At a time when many talk of incremental improvements or how phones have plateaued, the new pro handset is a real, chunky upgrade, offering slick new software, much better cameras and, in Dynamic Island, the kind of genuine innovation we’ve come to expect from Apple.”

Again, the cheapest iPhone 14 contract deal we’ve spotted is from Sky Mobile. The company is offering up 3GB of data for £41 per month. There is no up-front cost, and you can swap your phone after 24 months (£41 per month, Sky.com).

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For the latest offers on mobile phone contracts, try the links below:

For more, why not check out our roundup of the best budget smartphones of 2023?