iPhone 15 Pro rumors: Release date, features, colors, specs, price, and more

The iPhone 15 Pro leaks have overflowed the dam at this point with new details emerging weekly, and at times daily, on what we can expect from Apple come this September.

With that said, these are rumors. Even the best, most reliable sources have some misses, whether they are a year early on a hardware change or something is dropped ahead of launch, so take everything with a grain of salt. 

With that preamble aside, here’s a look at everything we’ve gathered about the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max so far.

iPhone 15 Pro latest news (Updated September 11)

• iPhone 15 Pro leak shows its lost a lot of weight — here's why (report)
• A new Bloomberg report reaffirms multiple rumors regarding the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, including colors and feature updates.
• Apple's September event is official with invites confirming Sept. 12 date
• The technical specs of the A17 Bionic in iPhone 15 Pro have been leaked.
• iPhone 15 Pro looks set to support Thunderbolt charging and data speeds, but you will have to pay for an additional cable.
• The iPhone 15 Pro models will reportedly get a new storage capacity: 2TB
• In-the-know journalist claims release date leak suggests there will be no delays to the iPhone lineup this year.
• New renders showcase how much slimmer the bezels are on the iPhone 15 Pro models compared to the iPhone 14 Pro models.
• The iPhone 15 Pro OLED displays have gone into production at Samsung and LG per The Elec's supply chain sources
• The iPhone 15 battery is set to get a whole lot better, as Apple is moving to stacking battery layers — greatly expanding the capacity.
• iPhone 15 Pro charging speed will improve, iPhone still won't charge as quickly as many Android phones.
• The iPhone 15 Pro Max is getting a camera layout change, but it won't look much different from its predecessor.

iPhone 15 Pro release date

The iPhone 15 will almost certainly be the star of the now-confirmed Apple September event on the 12th.

This aligns perfectly with our projections and following Apple's usual release pattern, the iPhone 15 Pro will likely be available for preorder on Friday, Sept. 15 with the phones shipping and available for in-store pick-up on September 22.

iPhone 15 Pro price

Despite rumors to the contrary, Apple didn't make any changes to its pricing for the iPhone 14, but the drumbeat is picking up for a price hike in 2023. The good news is that it may not be across the board as a March 15 report from tech analyst Jeff Pu indicated that only the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be more expensive. So this could be the pricing for the iPhone 15 in the U.S.:

iPhone 15: $799
iPhone 15 Plus: $899
iPhone 15 Pro: $1,099
iPhone 15 Pro Max: $1,199

For context, the launch prices for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max were $999 and $1,099, respectively, so the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models are reportedly getting a $100 increases in their price tags.

iPhone 15 Pro design

Thanks to a recent design leak from 9to5Mac, we now have a clear look at what the iPhone 15 Pro is set to look like. Changes include a titanium casing with curved edges, a far bigger camera bump for the periscope lens, thinner bezels (1.55mm now), and a new gorgeous red finish.

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If that measurement is too difficult for you to visualize, don't worry. The following renders from 9to5Mac, corroborated by Bloomberg journalist and respected Apple leaker Mark Gurman, give you a pretty good idea of how slim the iPhone 15 Pro's bezels are compared to its predecessor.

The iPhone 15 Pro's slim bezels are even more conspicuous when you place it next to the iPhone 11 Pro side-by-side.

And on top of that, thanks to those smaller bezels, the iPhone 15 Pro may actually be a little smaller than the outgoing 14 Pro.

• iPhone 15 Pro: 5.76 x 2.77 x 0.32 inches
• iPhone 14 Pro: 5.80 x 2.81 x 0.31 inches

iPhone 15 moves to USB-C

The other potential major design change is a move to USB-C for charging. The EU mandated the move to USB-C by 2024, and while some projected Apple going to an entirely wireless design rather than using USB-C, that doesn’t seem feasible. Apple would need to include a MagSafe charger in the box, and while wired data transfer isn’t incredibly common on phones anymore, it is relevant for service and for the professional videographers that Apple likes to court with its class-leading video performance. Instead Apple may try to maintain its control over accessories by applying its "Made for iPhone" strategy to USB-C, although that also could be illegal under new EU rules.

According to @analyst941, an anonymous Twitter user that digs into Apple software, the USB-C port will specifically be Thunderbolt 3, meaning high-speed data transfers.

Otherwise, the current leaks suggest that the basic squared-off redesign that the iPhone 12 kicked off will remain through the iPhone 15. That shouldn’t come as a shock; this design has rolled out across Apple’s entire lineup to an overwhelmingly positive response and the company is not known for frequent design shakeups. However, Laptop Mag Content Editor Jason England is disappointed the company did not go further.

New buttons?

And finally, let's talk about buttons. Earlier in the rumor cycle, there was a lot of chitchat that the iPhone 15 Pro would have something called "solid-state buttons" with sensors and Taptic Engines that simulate the feel of a real button click.

However, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, although that was in the works at first, due to technical difficulties, the iPhone 15 Pro is ditching the solid-state buttons concept. All buttons will still have physical buttons like the previous generation, but one notable difference is that the iPhone 15 Pro will have more of a unified volume rocker as opposed to last gen's dedicated volume buttons.

Now, let's take a look at the possibility of the elimination of the mute switch. Check out our report about leaked iPhone cases revealing that the Cupertino-based tech giant may have ditched the mute switch in favor of an "action button."

This action button can be programmed by users to perform the following tasks:

• Turn on/off flashlight.
• Enable/disable Do Not Disturb.
• Ring/Silent.
• Lock/Unlock Rotation.
• Take Screenshot.
• Show the Home Screen.
• Show the Lock Screen.

Keep in mind, though, that the above bulleted list is not exhaustive. According to Phone Arena, the same options available for iPhone's back-tap system can be applied to the reported new action button.

It's also worth nothing that a leak on Chinese social media network Weibo revealed that the power and volume buttons will be placed lower than their current positions on the iPhone 14 Pro models.

iPhone 15 Pro colors

Wondering what colors you can expect from the iPhone 15 Pro line? Unknownz21, a source that has proven to be reliable with accurate information about other iDevices (e.g. Apple Vision Pro), told MacRumors that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models will roll out in a unique dark blue color with a grayish hue.

MacRumors claims that it is very similar to the blue Apple introduced with the iPhone 12 line called Pacific Blue.

However, MacRumors claims that it's a slightly darker tone that compliments the titanium casing upgrade expected for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models.

According to 9to5Mac, however, we're getting a different story. This tech outlet claims that the new color for the upper-tier iPhone 15 models will be a Deep Red (color #410D0D to be precise). Unknownz21 claims that they haven't seen nor heard about a "Deep Red" iPhone 15 Pro in development.

We don't know which source to believe, but either way, this new color is expected to replace the purple shade featured in the iPhone 14 Pro models.

iPhone 15 Pro specs

The only spec update of note so far regarding the iPhone 15 is about the A17 Bionic processor. We got a clear breakdown of this chipset's specs, and we are seeing an improvement in clock speed, which points to a more significant performance bump than a typical year-on-year update. 

Projections are for roughly a 10-15% boost to performance, but perhaps more exciting is up to a 30% reduction in power consumption. Twitter leaker AppleTrack claims to have information regarding the battery capacity expected of each iPhone 15 model, including the base iPhone 15 (3877 mAh), iPhone 15 Plus (4,912 mAh), iPhone 15 Pro (3,650 mAh), and iPhone 15 Pro Max (4,852 mAh). This is a 11 to 15% increase in battery capacity. This could cement them at the top of the list for the phones with the best battery life. A Geekbench 6 result allegedly for an A17 Bionic posted to Weibo in March showed an even greater bump, nearly 25% higher than the A16 Bionic.

A17 Bionic benchmarks

@NaveenTechWala claims to be in possession of the A17 Bionic benchmark scores that were tested on an iPhone 15 Pro. The next-generation, 3nm chip reportedly delivers a 3,269 single-core score and a 7,666 multi-core score.

For comparison, the A16 chip inside the iPhone 14 Pro output a Geekbench 5 single-core score of 1,891 and a multi-core score of 5,469. That's a percentage increase of 73% and 40%, respectively. The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, packed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, has single-core and multi-core scores of 1,579 and 5,088, respectively.

Storage capacity

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are expected to, for the first time ever, offer a storage capacity of 2TB, according to a leak discovered on Korean blog Naver. 

A Weibo user corroborated this claim, adding that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will no longer offer the 128GB option. For context, the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max currently offer the following storage capacities: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.

According to the rumor mill, the iPhone 15 Pro models will come in the following configurations:

• 256GB
• 512GB
• 1TB
• 2TB

More RAM

According to @URedditor (h/t GSMArena), the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models may — strong emphasis on may — get additional RAM for a total of 8GB of memory, up from 6GB.

iPhone 15 Pro cameras

While Apple finally updated the cameras in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, the iPhone 15 Pro Max may finally get a true telephoto zoom lens, even if it still comes up short of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. However, prospective iPhone 15 Pro buyers shouldn't get their hopes up, the rumors have consistently indicated it is only the Pro Max getting the periscope zoom.

This is one of the only irrefutable weaknesses in Apple’s mobile photography compared to Android flagships, so it’s a much-needed upgrade that could put Apple back on top the top.

According to leaker @Unknownz21, there is a minor change to the iPhone 15 Pro Max's camera layout, but it's nothing you would notice with your naked eye. The updated telephoto lens (periscope) would typically sit on top of the main camera (e.g., iPhone 14 Pro Max), but on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it will be between the LiDAR scanner and flash. In other words, the periscope lens will swap places with the ultrawide camera.

In the end, though, the iPhone 15 Pro Max's triple rear camera setup will look exactly the same, even though the updated telephoto (periscope lens) switched places with the ultrawide shooter.

iPhone 15 Pro battery

We're starting to get some information about the iPhone 15 Pro battery, which is set to get a big capacity upgrade thanks to a big change inside. 

We’ve already seen a version of a stacked battery cell from Apple before, as the company layered battery slices to fit the contours of the previous generation MacBook Air.

But this is a lot more complex, folding the elements and separators into zig-zag layers, which uses significantly less space than the traditional method of rolling up the battery elements. Not only that but heat is dissipated more evenly across the whole battery — rather than getting super hot in a single area. That means you won’t feel one particular hotspot, and it elongates the cell's lifespan too.

This seems to tie in nicely with a reported leak of iPhone 15 battery capacities, which showed these increases over the iPhone 14 models:

• iPhone 15: 3,877mAh (+15%)
• iPhone 15 Plus: 4,912mAh (+12%)
• iPhone 15 Pro: 3,650mAh (+12%)
• iPhone 15 Pro Max: 4,852mAh (+11%)

iPhone 15 Pro outlook

That’s everything we know so far about the iPhone 15. The pieces are all starting to come together, but there's plenty more still to uncover.

The iPhone 15 will undoubtedly remain one of the most popular phones on the market regardless of what upgrades come to the lineup, but there are several potential updates that we have been waiting years for and could win over more converts from Android. Some of the latest leaks, such as the 48MP cameras for the standard iPhone 15 and 15 Plus have us hopeful that Apple is narrowing that gap with the Pros a bit again, but we'll see as more rumors bubble up to the surface.

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