iPhone 15: A Notch-Free Future with Under-Display Face ID
Despite its success, the iPhone X’s notch has been controversial. It takes up valuable display space and has been copied by rival brands.
A source at The Elec tells Stuff that the new iPhone 15 models will eliminate the pill cutout and move the Face ID sensor under the display. This will allow for a higher screen size without the notch.
Face ID Improvements
Face ID is Apple’s fast facial recognition system for locking and unlocking your device. It also securely authenticates iCloud Keychain and password auto-fill in Safari. It’s also used for e-commerce purchases and to confirm your identity in the App Store.
FaceID can recognize you whether or not your phone is on the screen and even if you’re wearing a hat, glasses, scarf, or sunglasses. It’s attention-aware, too, so it only unlocks when you’re looking at your device and when its display is on.
FaceID uses a combination of sensors to scan your face and measure depth, creating an invisible map of your unique features. This information is encrypted in the Secure Enclave and never backed up to iCloud or anywhere else. To ensure that Face ID keeps pace with natural changes in your appearance, the system continually refines and updates its mathematical representation of your face. If you successfully unlock your device using Face ID, the new data replaces the old one for a finite number of unlocks.
Camera Advancements
One of the main reasons people purchase a new iPhone is to get better photos, and that’s what this year’s upgrade is all about. It’s expected to bring a 48-megapixel primary camera that’s 27% larger than the current 12MP cameras on the Pro models of the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus.
This means that it can take higher-quality pictures at the same level of detail, even when zoomed in. This will also enable 2X “lossless” optical zoom without sacrificing image quality like the iphone 15 512gb digital zoom on most smartphones.
Another important improvement is a periscope-style zoom lens that’s been added to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which will allow for up to 5 or 6X optical zoom. This is a significant improvement over the 3X zoom on the non-Pro iPhone 15 and will help it compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra. This improved camera is probably the most important thing Apple needs to do this year if it wants to keep up with its competitors.
A17 Bionic Chip
The A17 Bionic chip is expected to be manufactured using TSMC’s cutting-edge 3nm process, resulting in significant performance and efficiency improvements. It’s reported to feature a CPU configuration of six cores and five GPU cores, which means it’ll be able to handle a wide range of computational tasks with ease.
Its GPU is rumored to be capable of supporting ray tracing, which will further enhance its graphical performance. Apple typically increases the GPU performance of its mobile chips by around 20 percent every year, and the A17 is no exception.
When it comes to RAM, the new iPhone 15 Pro will reportedly feature 6GB of LPDDR5 RAM. This is a major decrease from the 8GB RAM that was previously anticipated, but it’s still a solid upgrade. It’s worth noting that a viable rumor claims TSMC will shift from its N3B to N3E manufacturing process for the A17 chip next year, which could have an impact on efficiency levels.
Battery Life
For a long time, battery life was a major turnoff for iPhone users. But now that Apple has improved its charging speeds and efficiency, the iPhone 15 is expected to offer much longer battery life. This is especially true since it will use a new 3nm A17 Bionic chip that should be up to 35% more efficient than the previous iPhone 14 model.
Moreover, the iPhone 15 will feature stacked battery technology that allows for increased energy density in a smaller size. This will allow Apple to pack in larger batteries for longer usage times without affecting the overall design of its smartphones.
Additionally, iPhone 15 models will reportedly have fast charging capabilities via USB Type-C. It’s rumored that cable charging power will be up to 40 watts and wireless MagSafe charging will be up to 35 watts. Thanks to this upgrade, it should take less than one hour for the device to fully charge.