Forget iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, Apple Has Something Better - Forbes

iPhone 15 Pro Max renders based on multiple leaks

@HansTSaiz

iPhone 15 leaks have already detailed many of Apple’s most significant changes, but potential upgraders need to know that the company is working on something far more ambitious.

Initially leaked via Chinese social media site Weibo, and since corroborated by respected Apple insider ShrimpApplePro, Apple is planning to overhaul the cameras in the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with bigger sensors and periscope lenses. In contrast, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are understood to use the same primary sensor as the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

What this means is a 1/1.14-inch primary camera sensor for Apple’s 2024 iPhone Pros, compared to the 1/1.28-inch sensor in both the iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone 15 Pro Max. A larger sensor means the camera can take in more light, which is critical for low-light photography and improved dynamic range.

Where is Apple finding the space for the larger sensors? According to multiple leaks, both the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will increase in size, jumping from 6.1 and 6.7-inches to 6.3 and 6.9-inches, respectively, allowing Apple to fit a periscope lens in both models. Something the iPhone 15 Pro will miss out on completely.

larger phone beside the well-leaked iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Sonny Dickson

Interestingly, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman had already speculated that the increase in iPhone 16 Pro sizes could mean improved camera hardware, but this is the first detailed information to come out.

And the key here is ShrimpApplePro. While Weibo is something of a wild west for iPhone leaks, the leaker has a rock-solid track record and nailed numerous iPhone 14 details ahead of release as well as being at the forefront of iPhone 15 information that was subsequently collaborated by major sources.

Arguably, there is never a good time to upgrade your smartphone because every generation brings new advances. That said, there are better years than others, and the iPhone 15 range is shaping up to be a more incremental update with upgrades actively discouraged by one influential leaker. So for iPhone fans caught in two minds, your patience may well be rewarded.

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I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in b2b print journalism covering tech companies at the height of the dot com boom and switched to covering consumer technology as the iPod began to take off.

A career highlight for me was being a founding member of TrustedReviews. It started in 2003 and we were repeatedly told websites could not compete with print! Within four years we were purchased by IPC Media (Time Warner’s publishing division) to become its flagship tech title.

What fascinates me are the machinations of technology’s biggest companies. Got a pitch, tip or leak? Contact me on my professional Facebook page. I don’t bite.