There are several major upgrades on the horizon for iPhone 15. It’s expected to replace the physical power and volume buttons with a programmable Action Button.
This will let you program it to work as a mute switch, and also as any other function you can add to your Shortcuts.
Camera Selfie
Taking selfies on an iPhone can be tricky. You have to hold your phone steady, and the flash can overexpose your image. To get a better picture, try using the self-timer feature. This will give you a 3-second or 10-second delay to get into position and avoid any blurring.
According to the rumors, the iPhone 15 will introduce a new selfie camera sensor that will enable it to capture more detail. The camera is also expected to have better bokeh simulation, which can make your images look more professional.
Another major feature that is reportedly coming to the iPhone 15 is a dual front-facing camera. This would allow you to capture more of your friends and family in a single photo, as well as improve your group shots.
In addition, the dual-front camera would work with the Mac’s new Continuity Camera feature to make it easier to share your iPhone’s screen and video on a Mac. It’s not clear how Apple will manage to fit a second camera and all of the other Face ID hardware into the Dynamic Island cutout.
According to Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research, the new iPhone will have a new chip that can process more pixels at once. This will improve the Neural Engine capabilities of the camera, which should help to improve the quality of your photos.
Siri Shortcuts
The Siri Shortcuts feature of Apple’s virtual assistant is getting more powerful with each iOS update. It allows users to perform a lot of tasks without having to launch an app, invoke Hey Siri or press the side button. For example, a shortcut can automatically order coffee at the time of your daily run or send a message to your mom on your behalf.
Shortcuts can be accessed from the iPhone and iPad’s Lock screen, search results, or a notification. They’re based on collected data from your daily routine, your apps use, and your habits. For example, if you frequently order a certain type of coffee at a specific time, Siri will remind you to do it via a notification.
You can also set a shortcut to announce your time-sensitive alerts, direct messages or notifications from apps over CarPlay, AirPods and some Beats headphones. To configure this, head to Settings -> Siri & Search -> Announce Notifications and toggle it on. Moreover, you can also let Siri read and respond to notifications over the Lock screen when it’s in Silent Mode. You can enable this by going to Settings -> Siri & Search > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Explicit Language and choosing “Allow”. However, you need to note that some of these features may not work properly when your device is offline.
Camera Zoom Capabilities
In spite of Cupertino’s reputation for slow innovation, there have been a few persistent rumors about Apple upgrading its cameras for the iPhone 15. If true, it could finally give existing vanilla-model users a tangible reason to upgrade.
The latest rumor suggests the iPhone 15 Pro Max will get an optical zoom boost. According to MacRumors, a new periscope lens will allow for up to 6x zoom when taking rear-facing photos. This is significantly better than the current 3x maximum offered by the iPhone 14 Pro Max. The periscope lens is expected to be built into the existing telephoto camera module.
Periscope lenses work by reflecting light from multiple internal lenses at angles around 90 degrees to ip15 the image sensor. This allows for much more powerful optical zoom capabilities without sacrificing image quality. This technology is already in use by a few Android phone makers. Samsung, for example, offers 5x and 10x optical zoom in its Galaxy S23 Ultra models.
Unfortunately, the periscope camera upgrade will remain exclusive to the high-end iPhone 15 Pro Max for now. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says this exclusivity will continue for at least the next couple of years. If that’s the case, it might take a while for vanilla iPhones to get the camera upgrades they deserve.
