iPhone 15 event live blog – all the big news from Apple’s September event

And don’t expect any other iPads either. Apple has updated quite a few of these in the last twelve months, and I’m not sure it can do much more to its tablets until the so-called Apple M3 chip comes along.

However, I advise you not to hold your breath. As mentioned, the iPad mini 7 could be unveiled at a later date.

And if it’s just a spec error, it could even be announced in an Apple press release instead of a special iPad event.

Rumor has it that such an iPad has a specification problem and not much else; not a bad thing, as the design of the current iPad mini is quite good.

But its size also makes it a decent portable gaming device, so some gaming announcements related to this would put a smile on my face.

When it comes to other things I’d like to see from Apple today, one of the devices is the rumored iPad mini 7.

But the rumors are a bit vague as to whether we’ll see such a tablet today or at a separate event later this year or in early 2024.

And speaking of USB-C, I suspect Apple will announce a USB-C charging case for its AirPods.

I doubt we’ll see new AirPods today, but I can totally imagine the folks at Cupertino almost retrofitting the AirPods with USB-C by releasing a new case; don’t expect it to be cheap. Maybe I should get one, because I’m really frustrated that I can’t charge my AirPods with the numerous USB-C cables I have in my work bag.

Nevertheless, it’s about damn time there was an iPhone family with USB-C. Apple’s move to USB-C started with the iPads and MacBooks, so it only makes sense that other devices will follow suit.

The switch from Lightning to USB-C does present a few wrinkles, namely that people with a large number of Lightning port accessories may be left out in the cold.

Perhaps Apple will provide some form of Lightning to USB-C converter, although I doubt the company will provide one in the box for the iPhone 15 models.

Sorry I got distracted. So USB-C on iPhones.

We’re talking faster charging times, potentially improved data transfers, and no need to lug around a special charger or cable.

Well, that is if Apple integrates USB-C sensibly and doesn’t try to force people into it through Apple-certified cables and chargers (I’m not hopeful about this).

US editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff has some interesting thoughts about the iPhone 15 that will use USB-C.

But again, this is a sign that Apple is moving with the industry instead of finding its own way. That begs the question: what will Apple do next, what others have been doing for a while? Maybe we’ll finally get a MacBook with a touchscreen…

It’s strange to think that the move to a USB-C port deserves a lot of attention.

The best Android phones have used USB-C for years, so Apple’s likely move to adopt the port is hardly revolutionary.

One BIG thing that the iPhone 15 range will definitely bring to the table is USB-C connectivity. This means that this could finally be the end of the native Lightning port.

In any case, I welcome this move, as I’m tired of lugging around a special cable for my iPhone or iPad mini, or AirPods Pro.

When it comes to power, I’d like to see Apple bring truly impressive gaming to the next generation of iPhones. With Apple Arcade there’s already a decent selection of interesting titles to play, but few are truly mind-boggling.

So I’d like to see something from the developers in Apple’s app ecosystem that can really leverage the power of the A-series chips and deliver an evolved take on smartphone gaming. This could all be wishful thinking on my part…

Overall, I’m impressed with Apple’s computational photography performance. I’ve been working with an iPhone 13 Pro for almost two years and have rarely been let down by the photo snacks.

But I’d like to see the smart people of Cupertino harness additional power from a new piece of silicon to take even better photos. After all, the image processing of Google and Samsung is getting better and better, making competition in this area fierce.

Of course, a smartphone camera is only as good as the processing behind it.

But with the Standard and iPhone 15 Plus set to get the A16 Bionic chip, and the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max expected to get the rumored A17 Bionic, Apple should have plenty of processing power on board to play with the future . iPhone 15 users get the photos they want.

I’m also a bit of a sucker for telephoto cameras and prefer them to ultrawide cameras as a second camera option on smartphones; Maybe that’s because I just don’t have many friends…

But I think telephoto cameras are great for taking close-up photos of things like flowers without having to rely on sometimes finicky macro modes. And taking photos of the urban foxes that call my part of East London home requires a good zoom lens; the creatures are relatively confident, but don’t let big people like me get too close!

Android fans can scoff and cite how the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra offers two telephoto cameras, one at 3x and the other at 10x, with a capable hybrid zoom option.

But I’d say 6x optical zoom pushes the line between usable zooming and delivering impressive photos; the commonly used 3x usually requires some maneuvering to get the shot I want, while 10x is arguably a bit much unless you happen to locate a particular subject in the middle distance. I think 6x could be the new optical zoom range that smartphone makers should aim for.

The second iPhone upgrade I’m most intrigued by, at least given the many rumors so far, is the 6x optical zoom periscope camera on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Such cameras, which feature an interesting prism arrangement, are not new to smartphones. But on the iPhone 15 Pro Max, the optical zoom range of the latest Pro iPhone would double from 3x to 6x.

Speaking of the iPhone 15 Pro, I’m very curious to see if an action button will indeed jump from the Apple Watch Ultra to the next generation of Apple phones.

I’m already sold on the idea of ​​a customizable button that can activate all kinds of apps and services. My only concern is that Apple might limit its use – if the rumors of an action button are indeed true.

I’m curious to see if the rumor about titanium sides comes true for the iPhone 15 Pro, as that could make for a stronger and lighter phone. But I’d like to see how Apple tackles the refined colors for a titanium chassis.

A new design is also planned for all iPhone 15 models, with rounded edges replacing the flat edges. This is probably Apple moving forward and backward; the latter because it introduced flat edges to the iPhone 12 and newer, the former because many people find phones with curved edges feel more comfortable in the hand.

My colleague Alex Walker-Todd seems pretty excited about the curved edges of the next generation of iPhones.

For starters, the standard iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus will have 48MP main cameras.

I hope this will see a notable uptick in iPhone photography, even on the base models; that means Apple can use its software to get the most out of a 48MP sensor, especially when the final photo is downsized to 12MP using pixel binning techniques.

But the Dynamic Island isn’t the reason I feel remotely excited about the iPhone 15 launch…

Now I’m still not sold on the Dynamic Island. But if it were to spread to all iPhones, and not just their Pro variants, more developers could introduce controls for their apps that work with Dynamic Island.

I’d like to see it become a really useful tool rather than a nice UI element.

Hello, Editor-in-Chief Roland Moore-Colyer here. I’ve been covering Apple launches for years, and today’s launch could be one of the more interesting iPhone reveals in a while.

While the launch of the iPhone 14 debuted the Dynamic Island, the iPhone 15 promises to take it a step further by spreading the pill-shaped camera cutout that can transform into a flexible UI element for all iPhone 15 models.