What’s new from Apple: iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 make their debut

Apple billed the newly debuted iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus as a ‘huge leap forward for iPhone’, with the key advances being colour-infused back glass and a new contoured edge detail. The new models are available with 6.1in and 6.7in displays, with new features added to the ‘Dynamic Island’ interactive display that incorporates the front selfie camera. 

Apple iPhone 15: new features

The other detail that has caught the world’s attention is the iPhone’s long-awaited switch to the USB-C charging format. Driven in part by EU legislation, the benefits of a universal power cable for all mobile phones might take a couple of generations to filter through, although right off the bat you can charge your AirPods and Apple Watch directly from the iPhone with the USB C connector.

The iPhone 15 also continues Apple’s reputation for peerless camera quality, thanks to a 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor and three optical-quality zoom levels and the ability to auto-detect your subject so that depth information is automatically saved, allowing you turn the image into a portrait in post-processing. Results will look extremely impressive on the Super Retina XDR display, and in addition to the 48MP Main camera there’s also an Ultra Wide camera and the TrueDepth front camera.

Other new features (for American users) include Roadside Assistance, which connects drivers via satellite to the AAA if they break down away from cell coverage, as well as a crash detection that uses the iPhone’s motion sensor to detect when things go serious awry.  A better, more customisable contacts app and a faster, more efficient processor will make good use of the improvements in iOS 17, which will accompany the launch of the new phones. There’s also an update of Apple’s AirPods Pro, which get a USB‐C MagSafe charging case.

Apple Watch Ultra 2: enhanced capabilities

The company has also announced the Apple Watch Ultra 2, the first hardware upgrade for the flagship wearable since the launch of WatchOS 10. In addition to better performance, a brighter screen and a new double tap gesture interaction, the Ultra 2 has enhanced sensor capabilities for health and sport tracking.

The new iPhones continue Apple’s journey towards full carbon-neutral production, with increased recycled content (including 100 per cent recycled cobalt in the battery and 75 per cent recycled aluminium in the enclosure and fibre-based packaging). As part of this strategy, Apple will stop using real leather in all its products and accessories (although third-party vendors will rush to fill this gap). 

Also, the company announced that certain combinations of Apple Watch and bracelet (for example, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with the Alpine Loop) are already certified carbon neutral.

Does this all add up to a huge leap forward? Perhaps not. We’re accustomed to incremental improvements, not genre-defying innovation year on year, and are holding on to our personal tech for longer as a result. The average smartphone lifecycle is expected to creep up from around 2.5 years to around 3 years by the end of the decade. Apple is also clearly holding fire on risky strategies like the rumoured folding iPhone, perhaps waiting for the foldable market to mature. Cables aside, it’s business as usual for the world’s biggest phone manufacturer. 

Apple iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus are available in pink, yellow, green, blue, and black in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB storage capacities, from £799 (15) and £899 (15 Plus), Apple Watch Ultra 2, £799, AirPods Pro, $249 (UK/Eur price tbc), Apple.com/store

For more news from Apple, read our Apple Vision Pro review, with the product available in the US from 2 February 2024