The wait is over. Apple today has officially launched Pro and Pro Max variants of its new iPhone 15 series, along with the standard and Plus models as well as its Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches. As revealed by the company’s Wonderlust keynote, the next generation high-end offerings arrive with vast improvements to its design, performance, imaging and more.
For starters, the two iPhone Pro models now feature Grade 5 titanium chassis and aluminium frame that’s touted to be both durable and light, along with an equally tough rear glass cover, as well as a Ceramic Shield glass cover for their displays. Speaking of the latter, the regular Pro is offered with a 6.1-inch screen size, while the Pro Max is larger at 6.7-inches. Regardless of which, both feature the same Super Retina XDR panel with Always-On and ProMotion technologies, as well as the Dynamic Island feature. Another improvement in this category is the smaller bezel sizes, which improves the screen-to-body ratio on both Pro models.
Newly introduced to either device is a new Action Button, replacing the alert slider from past iPhone models. This change provides the user with more functionalities through an extra button, where it can be used as a dedicated shutter button or as a quick shortcut to launch Voice Recorder. And much like its counterpart on the Watch Ultra models, the Action Button can also be customised for different purposes. For those who enjoy some peace and quiet, fret not, as pressing and holding down on the button will enable Silent Mode.
Performance-wise, the iPhone 15 Pro models are powered by Apple’s latest 3nm A17 Pro chipset which is touted to offer up to 10% faster processing than its predecessor, while the newly introduced “pro-class” onboard GPU provides up to 20% boost in graphics acceleration. The latter features hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is claimed to be four times faster than its software-based counterpart.
As usual, the company didn’t disclose how much RAM is included on either variant, but it did reveal that the Pro will be offered in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage configurations, while the Pro Max is available with either 256GB, 512GB or 1TB. Meanwhile, both devices are yet again claimed to feature an “all-day battery life” with no exact details regarding their respective capacities.
Then there’s the new onboard second generation Ultra Wideband chip that allows for better precision tracking through Find My features, as well as three times longer connection range between two compatible iPhones for functions such as AirDrop and NameDrop. Besides that, the Pro and Pro Max also comes with Wi-Fi 6E and 5G connectivity, MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging support, as well as numerous safety features such as Crash Detection and Emergency SOS via satellite. Like before, Malaysia is still not included in the list of supported countries for the latter function just yet.
And as heavily rumoured prior to this, all iPhone 15 models – including the two top-end versions discussed here – have been officially confirmed to finally ditch Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector for the more commonly used USB-C. The new connector offers USB 3 speeds of up to 10gbps, but only through an optional Thunderbolt 4 data cable that’s not included together with the phones. Unfortunately, the company did not detail the supported charging speed for either Pro variants.
As for imaging, both models come with a triple camera setup consisting of an improved 48MP primary sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide and a 12MP telephoto with OIS, though keep note that the optical zooming capabilities on the two phones differ from one another. To be specific, the regular Pro only offers up to 3x while the Pro Max exclusively features up to 5x, which is equivalent to a focal length of 120mm. It’s also worth mentioning that the main camera on either variant now shoots at 24MP by default, and offers three different focal lengths: 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. Apple did not specify what sensor is featured for the front-facing camera, however.
Video capabilities have also been improved on both Pro models, allowing up to 4K60p recordings in ProRes RAW which can be streamed directly to a connected device or stored on an external drive, thanks to the faster USB-C connection. Apple adds that the two variants include a new option for Log encoding, and are also the first smartphones in the world to support the Academy Colour Encoding System (ACES) standard.
Last but not least, the Pro and Pro Max will feature a new Spatial Video recording capability via an update that’s coming later this year. This new function enables for 3D footage capture by utilising two of the available cameras on either phones, which is designed to be viewed through the Apple Vision Pro headsets. Unfortunately, the company did not say whether this new format is compatible with non first-party VR or mixed reality devices.
The all-new iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are slated to arrive in Malaysia on 29 September, available in black, white, blue and natural titanium finishes. The former starts at RM5,499 for the 128GB configuration, while the latter starts at RM6,499 for the 256GB trim. Local pre-order for both models start from 22 September onwards via Apple’s official website.
(Source: Apple Malaysia [newsroom])
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