While iPhone upgrades from year to year aren’t always groundbreaking, new features can start piling up over multiple generations. For example, the iPhone 15 Pro will be a notable upgrade for those who still have a three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro.


If you’re still using an iPhone 12 Pro and planning to upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro when it launches later this year, we’ve put together a list of features to look forward to below. The list includes major changes introduced with iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro, as well as new features announced for iPhone 15 Pro.

  • A17 chip versus A14 chip: The 5nm-based A16 chip in the iPhone 14 Pro is already up to 36% faster than the A14 chip in the iPhone 12 Pro, according to the Geekbench 6 benchmark. The iPhone 15 Pro will feature the A17 chip , which is expected to be manufactured based on TSMC’s latest 3nm process for even faster performance and improved power efficiency compared to the previous generation.
  • USB-C port: With the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple should finally switch from Lightning to a USB-C port. This change will provide a more universal charging standard and enable faster wired data transfer speeds.
  • Titanium frame: Like the Apple Watch Ultra, the iPhone 15 Pro is said to have a titanium frame instead of stainless steel. The rear glass and display bezels should also have slightly curved edges.
  • eSIM only in the United States: Apple has removed the physical SIM card tray from all iPhone 14 models sold in the US, meaning the devices only work with eSIMs. The devices are still compatible with physical SIM cards from other countries.
  • Increased RAM: The iPhone 15 Pro models are rumored to come with an additional 8GB of RAM, compared to 6GB for the iPhone 12 Pro. The increased RAM can benefit multitasking on the iPhone by allowing more apps to be open simultaneously in the background without reloading.
  • Solid State Buttons: The iPhone 15 Pro models are rumored to feature solid-state volume, power, and mute buttons. Two additional Taptic Engines would provide haptic feedback to simulate the feeling of pressing buttons, similar to the Home button on the iPhone 7 or the trackpad on newer MacBooks.
  • Satellite Emergency SOS: iPhone 14 models can connect to Globalstar satellites, allowing users to text emergency services when outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. The service is free for two years after activation and is currently available in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and the UK, with more countries to follow later this month.
  • Crash detection: New for the iPhone 14 series, Crash Detection is designed to detect serious car accidents and contact emergency services via Emergency SOS if the user is unresponsive. The feature is enabled by default.
  • Dynamic Island: With the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple replaced the notch with Dynamic Island, a pill-shaped area surrounding the Face ID sensors and front camera. Dynamic Island displays system alerts and integrates with iOS 16’s Live Activities feature to show live NBA scores, Uber ride status, and more.
  • Always On display option: With the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple introduced an always-on display option that dims the entire lock screen, but still shows the time and date, widgets, wallpaper, and notifications. Once you lift the iPhone, tap the screen, or press the side button, the display returns to normal brightness.
  • Brighter display: The iPhone 14 Pro display is up to 200 nits brighter indoors than the iPhone 12 Pro and offers up to 2,000 nits of brightness outdoors. The increase in brightness should carry over to the iPhone 15 Pro.
  • Promotion: Introduced on the iPhone 13 Pro, ProMotion enables variable refresh rate up to 120Hz for smoother content and scrolling.
  • Thinner frames: Similar to the Apple Watch Series 7 and Series 8, the iPhone 15 Pro is said to have even thinner bezels around the display.
  • Longer Battery Life: Already, the iPhone 14 Pro lasts up to 23 hours in offline video playback, compared to 17 hours for the iPhone 12 Pro. With components like the A17 chip and LiDAR scanner expected to be more power efficient this year, the iPhone 15 Pro could have even longer battery life.
  • Many camera improvements: iPhone 12 Pro users upgrading to iPhone 15 Pro will have access to a wide range of camera upgrades, including a 48-megapixel wide-angle lens, improved front camera with autofocus, optical zoom enhanced image stabilization by sensor shift, Macro mode, Cinematic mode, Action mode, ProRes video recording, photographic styles, etc.
  • WiFi 6E: The iPhone 15 Pro models are rumored to support Wi-Fi 6E, which supports the 6GHz band for faster wireless speeds, lower latency, and less signal interference compared to WiFi 6 standard.
  • 5G improvements: iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X70 modem for improved 5G performance.
  • 1 TB option: Starting with the iPhone 13 Pro, Apple introduced a 1TB storage option.

Apple will likely unveil the iPhone 15 series in September as usual, and the devices might have additional features that haven’t been rumored yet.

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