5 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 15 & 5 Reasons Not To

Wait for Performance Improvements

Apple always makes year-to-year performance improvements to the iPhone so you can expect the iPhone 15 series to come with upgrades.

You can expect the iPhone 15 models to feature an improved processor which should lead to better battery life and app performance.

The higher-end iPhone 15 models will feature Apple's new A17 chip and we'll likely see the lower-end models come with Apple's A16 chip, the same processor that powers the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Rumors suggest the new processor will be based on TSMC's next-gen 3nm chip technology. The process is expected to enhance performance while also reducing power consumption. In other words, we should see faster phones with better battery life.

TSMC's Mark Liu says the new process will require 35% less power. The company also says it will provide better performance. 

Apple may wind up being one of the only major companies to use 3nm chip technology in 2023. According to Digitimes, MediaTek and Qualcomm are both seen as unlikely to launch 3nm-based chips this year.

According to Bloomberg, Apple's next processor may focus on battery life rather than processing power. 

Digitimes also says Apple's secured every available order for TSMC's 3nm process effectively locking out other companies for the time being. The company was also the first to deliver devices with chips built on 4nm. 

Qualcomm's announced a new 5G Snapdragon X70 modem. It didn't make it into the iPhone 14 series but there's a good chance it lands inside all four iPhone 15 models.

Apple's reportedly working on its own modem but we won't see it until 2024, 2025 or later. TrendForce thinks Apple's in-house modem will debut in 2024 while analyst Jeff Pu believes Apple will stick with Qualcomm and its unannounced Snapdragon X75 in 2024.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says Apple will indeed be sticking with Qualcomm chips in 2023. So does Digitimes. 

Leaker ShrimpApplePro believes the iPhone 15 Pro Max could have an even brighter display than the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Taiwanese research firm TrendForce predicts Apple will put an increased 8GB of RAM into the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro models. The standard iPhone 15 models may still carry 6GB of RAM. Analyst Jeff Pu also believes the iPhone 15 Pro models will have 8GB of RAM on board.

In a more recent report, TrendForce again claims "Apple will bump up the capacity and specifications of the DRAM solutions featured in the next generation of the iPhone."

According to leaker Unknownz21, both 6GB and 8GB have been tested, but it's unclear which one Apple has selected. 

Like Apple's latest Macs and iPad Pros, the iPhone 15 series is expected to come with Wi-Fi 6E support. This change should lead to improved speeds and less interference. The iPhone 14 series is limited to the standard Wi-Fi 6. 

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also believes the new iPhone models will hav Wi-Fi 6E on board. Another leak suggests the feature will be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro models. This has been corroborated by a report from GizChina and a research note from Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O'Malley.

Speaking of speed, images from ChargerLab point to some iPhone 15 models having 40Gbps Thunderbolt data transfer speeds.

There's also chatter about support for 35W fast charging. Apple's iPhone 14 Pro is limited to 27W while the iPhone 14 is limited to 20W. 

Kuo also says Apple will put an upgraded Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip inside the iPhone 15 to help support the company's Vision Pro headset. Vision Pro is due out next year. The iPhone's UWB chip powers features like AirDrop and Find My.

Last year we heard that Apple was working on reverse wireless charging. The feature missed the iPhone 14 Pro, but we could see it make its debut on the iPhone 15 Pro models. 

For those unfamiliar with the feature, it would allow iPhones to charge Qi-enabled accessories. In other words, you'd be able to charge your AirPods using your phone.