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Good morning! ☀️ *Tim Cook voice*
iPhone 15 price hikes & design changes incoming, Twitter is now 𝕏, iOS 17 releases, and more!
Estimated reading time: 3.5 minutes
📊 Poll
Last week, I asked: if you were to switch to Android, what iOS feature would you miss the most?
Here were some of my favorite replies:
Continuity - “When I worked in Cell Phone sales, I was tempted ALL the time by the newest Android devices, but never actually pulled the trigger because of the ecosystem I have created.” It’s impossible to escape!
iMessage/FaceTime - “I was abroad recently and was able to keep in touch with my friends for free by using iMessage. Those on android set me back a lot of money causing me to limit access to them.” I can relate!
Other - “all of the above… also, the UI, UX, and quality of apps; many apps are not on Google Play, and those that are do not function—or have the same functionality (missing capabilities)—as their App Store counterpart.” I used Android again last week and the apps were so much worse than iOS, especially social apps.
This week: What is your current battery capacity? (Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging > Maximum Capacity)
What is your iPhone's Battery Capacity? |
📲 iPhone 15 Price Hikes & Design Changes
The iPhone X was priced at $999 in 2017, and the 14 Pro was priced at $999 in 2022. Apple has managed to keep the starting price of the “Pro” model iPhones the same for 5 years!
But that’s about to change this year with the iPhone 15 Pro (according to a Barclays analyst).
iPhone 15 Pro will cost up to $100 more than the iPhone 14 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max to cost $100-200 more than the 14 Pro Max
Pricing will remain similar for the iPhone 15 & 15 Plus models
Potential Pricing
So if this rumor comes true, here’s the pricing we’re looking at this year (in the US):
iPhone 15: $799 (unchanged)
iPhone 15 Plus: $899 (unchanged)
iPhone 15 Pro: Up to $1,099 (vs. $999 now)
iPhone 15 Pro Max: Up to $1,299 (vs. $1,099 now)
The iPhone 15 Pro Max could see a bigger price increase due to the rumored Telephoto lens with periscope technology, something the 14 Pro likely won’t receive this year. The analyst believes the periscope lens will add ~$50 to the 15 Pro Max's bill of materials
And while a price hike had to come sooner or later due to inflation alone, at least we’re also going to see some added features like the periscope lens, USB-C, a titanium frame, customizable Action button, etc.
Design Changes
Speaking of the customizable Action button, it looks like that might actually be happening!
In the code of iOS 17 Beta 4 are references to 9 different “action button” options that users might be able to choose from (via MacRumors):
Accessibility: This option would presumably let users access various accessibility features, such as VoiceOver, Zoom, AssistiveTouch, and more.
Shortcuts: As on the Apple Watch Ultra, this option would let users run any shortcut they have created or downloaded from the Shortcuts app, such as sending a message, playing a playlist, or controlling smart home devices.
Silent Mode: Similar to how the switch works on current iPhone models, this option would let users toggle silent mode on or off, which would mute or unmute the ringer and alerts.
Camera: This option would likely let users launch the Camera app and/or take a photo or video with a single press of the Action button.
Flashlight: This option would let users turn on or off the flashlight on the back of the device.
Focus: This option should let users activate or deactivate a Focus mode.
Magnifier: This option would presumably let users activate the Magnifier app to use the iPhone's camera as a magnifying glass to zoom in on small text or objects.
Translate: This option could let users launch the Translate app and start a conversation or text translation with a single press of the Action button.
Voice Memos: This option would let users start or stop recording a voice memo with the Voice Memos app.
As someone who owns the Apple Watch Ultra and hardly ever uses the Action Button, I’m actually hoping for this to come to the iPhone. I would find it much more useful than on the Apple Watch! Thoughts?
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