The iPhone 14 Pro Max may have just arrived to rave reviews, but the iPhone 15 Ultra is reportedly waiting in the wings to take its place as the premium Apple phone next year.
That’s the indication from initial iPhone 15 rumors that started swirling almost from the minute the iPhone 14 lineup made its debut. Early leaks are tipping the iPhone 15 Ultra as an iPhone Pro Max replacement, as Apple looks to refine its premium handsets.
Just this year, we’ve seen Apple make more of a distinction between the standard iPhone and the iPhone 14 Pro models. (See our iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 14 Pro comparison for a look at how these phones differ.) Rumors about iPhone 15 plans suggest that’s going to continue, with the iPhone 15 Ultra picking up a few features the iPhone 15 Pro may not have.
While it’s still early in the game — we’ve got a little less than a year before Apple’s next flagship phone launch — enough iPhone 15 Ultra details have emerged to give us a preliminary idea of what to expect from this revamped phone. Here’s what we know so far.
iPhone 15 Ultra price and release date
We’ve heard rumblings about an iPhone 15 Ultra replacing the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Apple’s lineup from a number of sources, most notably Mark Gurman of Bloomberg (opens in new tab). The wired-in Apple reporter suggested that Apple’s launch of the Apple Watch Ultra could repeat itself in the company’s phone lineup “in the next couple of years.”
In a subsequent column (opens in new tab), Gurman noted that Apple’s iPhone plans in 2023 include “the potential of a new Ultra model replacing the Pro Max,” something analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also forecast. Kuo argues that differentiating the Pro models is a natural extension of the iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 14 Pro differentiation that happened this year and that will likely continue in the iPhone 15 lineup.
If that does come to pass, it could mean a higher cost for the iPhone 15 Ultra over Apple’s current phones. LeaksApplePro (opens in new tab) forecasts that the iPhone 15 Ultra could “start at $1199 at best,” though that seems more like a guess than a certainty.
We’d also be guessing on a release date for any iPhone 15 model at this point, but it doesn’t seem like Apple would launch any new phones prior to the usual fall launch window it’s favored for many years. We’d guess that the iPhone 15 Ultra arrives in September 2023 at the earliest.
iPhone 15 Ultra design and display
It sounds as if the iPhone 15 Ultra will keep the 6.7-inch screen size that Apple’s used for the Pro Max phones, and we’d anticipate the Dynamic Island feature Apple introduced as a notch replacement to the iPhone 14 Pro models will stick around. (In fact, one rumor suggests all iPhone 15 models will feature the Dynamic Island.)
But the display might remain one of the few things to remain untouched in an iPhone 15 Ultra release. In his column, Gurman notes that Apple’s 2023 phones could be due a redesign since Apple tends to change up the look of its handsets every two to three years. iPhones have sported the same flat-edged design since 2020’s iPhone 12 release, So Apple could usher in something new next fall.
One iPhone 15 Ultra-specific rumor suggests Apple could turn to a new titanium alloy body, a feature that was first tipped for the iPhone 14 Pro models and that didn’t pan out. Switching to that material would make for a more durable phone, something you’d expect from a device with an Ultra moniker. Until we hear a more solid rumor on that front, though, we’d put the titanium alloy body down in the column of wishcasting.
A more solid change could be coming to multiple iPhone 15 models, not just the iPhone 15 Ultra. It’s widely expected that 2023 is the year Apple finally switches out its Lightning port for USB-C, at least on some models. The European Union is going to start requiring USB-C on phones starting in 2024, so introducing the more universal charging and connectivity standard on next year’s phones would let Apple beat that deadline.
Of course, the iPhone 15 Ultra could skip ports entirely, emerging as the portless iPhone that’s been rumored for years. That would certainly be a radical design change for Apple and one we’re not sure would happen as soon as 2023, when just a switch to USB-C would be a big step forward for any iPhone.
iPhone 15 Ultra cameras
Cameras remain an important part of the iPhone story, so you’d imagine an iPhone 15 Ultra would be in line for significant camera improvements. What those are exactly, though, remain unclear at this early stage.
One frequently rumored possibility is the move to a periscope style lens for the iPhone 15 Pro’s telephoto camera. Adopting a periscope lens would enable Apple to use a larger camera lens, allowing it to boost the optical zoom beyond the 3x maximum featured on current iPhone 14 Pro models. Samsung uses a periscope lens on its Galaxy S22 phones, for example, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra is capable of providing a 10x optical zoom with its dual telephoto lenses.
Rumors of a periscope lens predate the iPhone 14’s release, with analysts like Kuo predicted a 5x or 6x optical zoom. It’s unclear if this feature will apply to all iPhone 15 Pro models, or if Apple would reserve it for an iPhone 15 Ultra to set that phone apart.
One rumor of an iPhone 15 Ultra-specific camera feature involves the phone’s front camera. Twitter leaker MajinBu claims the Ultra will offer two front cameras. It’s not unheard of for handsets to offer two front cameras, providing wide-angle option for fitting in more people or more background on selfies. A second front lens could also improve self-portraits or assist augmented reality apps.
iPhone 15 Ultra performance and other features
Even before the iPhone 14’s launch, analysts were predicting Apple would use different processors for its various phones going forward. That means the iPhone 15 Ultra is likely to get a new chipset when it launches. Logic dictates that would be the A17 Bionic.
As impressive as A16 Bionic benchmarks are in the current iPhone 14 Pro models, the A17 could also offer a performance boost. The upcoming chipset is rumored to use a 3-nanometer process, which would be smaller than 4nm A16. Going with a smaller chipset usually brings a boost in both performance and power efficiency.
We’ve heard for years that Apple is looking to develop its own modem for future iPhones rather than rely on Qualcomm for that critical component. Analysts have tipped 2023 as the earliest an Apple-built modem would be ready. If it is, we’d expect the iPhone 15 Ultra to be in line to feature such a part.
Other potential iPhone 15 Ultra features are less about rumors and more about changes we’d like to see to an iPhone worthy of the Ultra label. While Apple now includes an acceptable level of storage for the base models of its phones, we feel like 256GB would be a more appropriate minimum for an iPhone 15 Ultra phone that’s looking to stand out from the other models in Apple’s lineup.
Similarly, one of our big iPhone 15 wish list items is for faster wired charging than the 20W current iPhones offer; certainly an iPhone 15 Ultra will need to challenge the faster charging speeds you’ll find in top Android phones.
iPhone 15 Ultra outlook
With about a year to go until Apple’s next round of iPhone updates arrives, we expect a lot more rumors to emerge about the iPhone 15 Ultra — including confirmation that such a phone is even in Apple’s plans. As a result, it’s hard to spell a concrete wish list for this device, particularly when we’re still waiting to hear what features a regular iPhone 15 update might offer.
That said, if Apple does want its Pro Max model to become the Ultra iPhone, it’s going to have to come up with improvements that match that kind of name and the higher price the new phone is almost certain to command. A super-fast A17 Bionic processor packed with RAM and equipped with at least 256GB of storage is a good starting point, and we’d expect such a device to charge faster than 20W, which would almost necessitate a move to USB-C. Cameras remain a strong point for Apple, but improving the telephoto lens would shore up one of the few weaknesses the iPhone has relative to the rest of the best camera phones.
That’s a potential blueprint for an iPhone 15 Ultra, at any rate. Whether Apple chooses to pursue that or goes in a different path entirely, we’ll find out over the next 12 months.
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