iPhone 15 rumors and leaks: release date, features, colors, specs, price, and more

Kimberly Gedeon
·7 min read
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iPhone 15
iPhone 15

Note: This iPhone 15 rumor hub is strictly about the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. If you want the scoop about the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, check out our iPhone 15 Pro rumor hub.

iPhone 15 leaks and rumors are ramping up as the new-generation handset looms closer. If you, like me, are too impatient to wait until September to hear about the new updates, sweeping changes and other tweaks, there's plenty of juicy gossip to sip before the big launch.

We've got the scoop on what you can expect from the entry-level iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, including price, release date, design, specs, and more. Stay tuned to figure out whether the early predictions dictate whether you should upgrade or wait for the iPhone 16.

iPhone 15 latest news (Updated August 2)

iPhone 15 specs

iPhone 15 release date

The iPhone 15 release date is expected to be some time around the first half of September 2023. Save for the coronavirus-affected iPhone 12 launch, iPhones typically launch in mid-September, so there's a good chance that the iPhone 15 will debut on September 12, 2023.

iPhone 14
iPhone 14

Keep in mind that this isn't an official date — it's just an educated guess, but feel free to pencil it into your calendar and save the date.

iPhone 15 price

If you're hoping for price stabilization for the iPhone 15 line across the board, don't hold your breath. According to two sources, analyst Jeff Pu and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the Cupertino-based tech giant is increasing the price of the two upper-tier handsets. In other words, if you're only considering getting the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus this year, you're in luck. However, if you're eyeing any of the Pro models, your wallet won't be happy.

iPhone 15
iPhone 15

The expected pricing for the entry-level, next-generation iPhones are as follows:

  • The iPhone 15 - $799

  • The iPhone 15 Plus - $899

The iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a starting price north of $1,000 for the first time. This means that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max may cost $1,099 and $1,199, respectively. Ouch! For reference, iPhone 14 Pro starts at $999 while the iPhone 14 Pro Max begins at $1,099. In other words, the price tags for each phone should increase by $100.

iPhone 15 design

The iPhone 15, thanks to the EU mandate that we've spoken about at length with articles such as "iPhone 15 may be the first USB-C iPhone" and "Apple could be about to tell the EU where to stick their USB-C cables", will finally ditch the Lightning port in favor of the USB-C port.

However, don't think any ol' USB-C cable will work with the iPhone 15. According to a leak from Twitter tipster ShrimpApplePro, Apple will reportedly bring the Made for iPhone (MFi) program to iPhone USB-C accessories. In other words, the iPhone 15 USB-C port will have a verification chip that will restrict the charge and data speeds of any non-MFi, third-party accessory. However, if Apple plans on doing this, there's a chance it may be breaking the law.

Dynamic Island
Dynamic Island

The next design feature that will come to the entire iPhone 15 line, including the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus, is last year's showstopping feature: Dynamic Island. This means that the controversial notch will shrink to a pill-shaped hole to house zippy, cool animations that appear based on whatever activity you're doing. For example, if you mute your iPhone, connect your AirPods, or play music, a unique animation will play during each task.

iPhone 15 colors

Twitter tipster ShrimpApplePro co-signed a morsel of gossip from Weibo, a Chinese blogging site that's a popular source of Apple rumors, sharing that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are tipped to feature three new colors: Green, Light Yellow, and Pink.

As such, the final colors for the iPhone 15 models are as follows (new colors are bolded)

  • Green

  • Light Yellow

  • Pink

  • Starlight

  • Midnight

  • PRODUCT (Red)

To give you some perspective on the generation-over-generation differences, the iPhone 14 comes in (deep) Yellow, Blue, Purple. Midnight, Starlight, and PRODUCT (Red).

iPhone 14 colorways
iPhone 14 colorways

Apple usually swaps out one or two colors each year, but according to ShrimpApplePro, the iPhone maker is ousting a trio of colors: Yellow, Blue, and Purple. Instead, we're getting a lighter Yellow, Pink, and Green. If this rumor is true, we can't help but feel slightly confused. After all, a March report from CIRP unveiled that Blue and Purple were the most popular choices for the lower-tier iPhone 14 models, so why abandon them?

On the other hand, the Pink entrant isn't remotely surprising. That one film featuring that culturally impactful doll has made quite a splash this year, making consumers more open to the idea of a pink iPhone.

iPhone 15 processor

According to Gurman, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will be a generation behind in its processing power.

iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 14 Pro

Although the 4nm A16 chip is a generation behind the A17 processor (which is reportedly built on TSMC's new 3nm process), it is still wildly powerful in its capabilities. With a Geekbench multi-core score of 5,333, the A16 chip inside the iPhone 14 Pro Max crushed the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (5,081). And this is arguably its most comparable rival on the market. That being said, the A16 chip is still miles ahead of the competition, and it's more than enough for the next-generation iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

iPhone 15 cameras

The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models were a let down for some who were expecting bigger camera upgrades. For example, although the main camera got upgrades to the sensor and pixel count, it's got the same 12MP lens as the previous line. Meanwhile, the iPhone 14 Pro models got a swanky 48MP main camera. But hey, Apple has to differentiate the Pro variants from the lower-tier models somehow, right?

iPhone 14
iPhone 14

This time around, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models are expected to get a 48MP camera, according to Pu. Unfortunately, we're not hearing about any other significant changes for the ultrawide nor the selfie cameras.

iPhone 15 battery

The iPhone 14 line already delivered decent battery runtimes, but the iPhone 15 handsets may blow its predecessors out of the water. IT Home, a Chinese outlet, claims that it secured some juicy information from a Foxconn worker. (For the uninitiated, Foxconn is the manufacturer that assembles Apple's iPhones.)

According to this leak, the capacity upgrades are as follows:

  • iPhone 15: 3,877 mAh

  • iPhone 15 Plus: 4,912 mAH

For perspective, the iPhone 14 had a 3,279 mAh battery while the iPhone 14 Plus had a 4,325 mAh battery. This means youre getting a capacity increase of about 20%.

According to leaker RGcloudS, who typically dabbles in Android rumors, Apple is reportedly using something called "stacked-battery technology" for the iPhone 15 line, allowing the Cupertino-based tech giant to pack in more power without taking up extra space.

iPhone 15 outlook

Of course, Apple is saving its best features for the upper-tier variants, so if you were expecting more exciting upgrades, consider heading over to our iPhone 15 Pro rumor hub to get more juicy information about the Pro and Pro Max models.

If there's any consolation, new OS upgrades have a way of making your feel like it's the glitziest thing on the market. The next major update, iOS 17, is expected to roll out to the masses alongside the release of the iPhone 15. You can even preview some of the features with the iOS 17 public beta.

As usual, be sure to keep your grain of salt handy. Until September rolls around and Apple verifies these rumors, we don't know for sure where these morsels of gossip lie on the truth scale.