There’s been plenty of buzz around an iPhone 15 Ultra model arriving later this year – basically the iPhone 15 Pro Max with a new name – and now a lengthy video showing off a mockup has given us our best look yet at this smartphone.
The video and mockup comes courtesy of Unbox Therapy (opens in new tab). It’s not clear exactly what the origins of this dummy unit are, but it seems to have been put together based on all of the leaks and rumors that have emerged up to this point.
We’ve got the thinner bezels, the USB-C port, and the rounded edges, which have all been previously predicted. The video also mentions the possibility of an ultra-strong titanium frame, a rumor that’s been floating around since last year, and includes a reference to the Thunderbolt 3 leak that we heard about a few days ago.
Bezels and buttons
Unbox Therapy host Lewis Hilsenteger digs out his calipers to measure the super-thin bezels on the iPhone 15 Ultra mockup, and they come in at 1.55mm – as previously reported. It looks as though the iPhone 15 Ultra is going to be a few fractions of a millimeter thicker than the iPhone 14 Pro Max as well.
We can also see that the mute switch has been turned into a button, and the two volume buttons have been combined into one. It would seem that the rumored solid-state buttons won’t be arriving this year.
While there’s not much that’s completely new here, it is interesting to see how the flagship smartphone might look in its physical form. Hilsenteger himself says there’s no guarantee that this mockup will match the actual phone, so bear that in mind. If Apple sticks to its usual schedule, we should see the iPhone 15 series unveiled in September.
Analysis: how Pro can Apple go?
It’s intriguing that Apple seems to be ready to rename the Pro Max iPhone the Ultra iPhone – it’s an issue that comes up in this video as well, and at this stage it’s by no means certain that we’re going to see some new branding for the Apple iPhones.
If you look at Apple’s other products, the terms Pro and Max are used, as is the word Ultra with the Apple Watch Ultra. It seems these naming schemes aren’t going to get simpler any time soon if we get the iPhone 15 Ultra later this year.
What does seem clear is that Apple wants to push people towards the more expensive handsets. We saw the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max get a whole host of exclusive features not on the cheaper models, not least the Apple A16 Bionic chipset on the inside.
In 2023, the differences between the two cheaper iPhone 15 models and the two more expensive ones could be greater than ever before. While it does feel like the standard model is getting forgotten about to some extent, it does at least give consumers a greater range of price points to pick from.
