Technologies
iPhone 15 Rumors: All the Buzz About Apple’s Next Phone
Our unofficial curtain-raiser on Apple’s iPhone 15 series based on the most credible rumors circulating so far.
The iPhone 15 lineup likely won’t arrive until the fall of 2023, but there are plenty of questions about what to expect from Apple’s next-generation phone. Will the iPhone 15 have a USB-C port? Will Apple increase iPhone prices in 2023? Will it even be called the «iPhone 15»? No one outside of Apple knows for sure, but the rumor mill will certainly feed our curiosity until Apple throws the next iPhone event. Here are some of the biggest and most credible rumors we’ve seen so far, to paint a picture of what we may see from the iPhone 15.
iPhone 15 design: Embracing USB-C charging
The buzziest design rumor so far involves the iPhone’s charging port, given the European Union’s ruling that iPhones sold in the region will need to switch to a USB-C port by 2024. The question is whether Apple will switch all iPhone models to USB-C or just those sold in the EU. Apple already modifies iPhone models regionally, as it has done with the iPhone 14: The US version has an electronic SIM, while other variants retain the SIM slot.
But Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techsponential, believes Apple has good reasons to move all iPhones to USB-C moving forward. «There are larger ecosystem, security, and accessory considerations with the power/data connector, so I think it is more likely that Apple moves all iPhones [globally] to USB-C in the iPhone 16 timeframe to comply with European regulations,» Greengart said.
iPhone 15 design: Dynamic Island expands to all models
Apple is likely to continue selling four iPhone models with the iPhone 15 lineup. Rumors point to a generally similar design across the board, except that the iPhone 14 Pro’s shape-shifting cutout, known as Dynamic Island, is set to make its way across all models.
That rumor comes from display analyst Ross Young, who also said in a September tweet that he’s not expecting base iPhone 15 models to have a higher refresh rate like Apple’s Pro iPhones because the supply chain can’t support it.
Read more: iPhone 14 Pro’s Most Eye-Catching Feature Feels Like It’s Winking at Something Else
iPhone 15: Solid-state buttons come to pro iPhone 15 models
Noted Apple observer Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities, expects Apple to differentiate further between its base and Pro models in the coming years. One way he’s expecting that to happen is by giving the iPhone 15 Pro models solid-state volume and power buttons instead of the standard keys present on today’s devices, he wrote in a tweet in October.
The solid-state buttons, which Kuo says will be similar to the home button found on the iPhone SE and iPhone 7, mimic the feel of pressing a button with the help of haptic feedback. The apparent advantage of this type of button is that it also protects against water getting in.
iPhone 15 camera: Periscope-style telephoto lens arrives
Yet another Kuo prediction has been making the rounds, but this time it’s about the iPhone 15’s camera. The analyst forecasts that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will receive a periscope-style telephoto lens. This sort of telephoto lens allows for higher optical zoom levels, with Kuo forecasting a 6x optical zoom could arrive in the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Pro Max is limited to 3x, which lags rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra’s 10x optical zoom.
Read more: The iPhone 14 Pro’s Camera Upgrade is Bigger Than You Think
iPhone 15 price: Up, up and away?
Prices have dramatically increased since the original iPhone arrived in 2007. And that may happen again in 2023 with the iPhone 15, except not in the way you might think. The price of the regular iPhone 15 is currently expected to remain the same, according to analysts who previously spoke with CNET.
However, the upper limit of the price range could be pushed higher if rumors about a luxe iPhone 15 Ultra turn out to be true. The rumored Ultra model could potentially replace the iPhone 15 Pro Max next year, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman writes. This falls in line with predictions from Kuo, who expects Apple to differentiate further between the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models. US prices currently range from $829 for the entry-level iPhone 14 model (128GB) all the way up to $1,599 for the highest-end iPhone 14 Pro Max with 1TB of storage.
Read more: What Apple Could Do With iPhone 15 Prices in 2023
iPhone 15: Launch and release timeline
Apple holds its annual iPhone event in September almost every year, so we’d expect the timeline to remain the same for the iPhone 15. New iPhones typically get released shortly thereafter, usually the Friday of the following week. Sometimes Apple will stagger release dates for specific models, especially when introducing a new design or size. So it’s possible that the iPhone 15 lineup will have more than one release date.
Here’s what we know:
- Apple tends to hold its events on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Apple’s iPhone 14 event was held on Wednesday Sept. 7, while its iPhone 13 event was held on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
- iPhone release dates are typically a week and a half after Apple’s announcements.
- In general, new iPhones are released on a Friday, around the third week of September. For the iPhone 13, preorders began Sept. 17 and the phones went on sale Sept. 24.
Looking for more iPhone advice? Check out our iPhone upgrade guide, our list of the best iPhones and our roundup of the best cases for your iPhone 14 or 14 Pro.
Technologies
Google’s New AI Features Are Trying to Make Data Entry a Thing of the Past
More Gemini AI features will come to Google Docs, Sheets and Slides.
The latest batch of Google updates to its workspace tools highlights AI’s promise to automate mundanity in the workplace. Google Docs, Slides, Sheets and Drive all have new AI-powered features, the company announced Tuesday. The one thing all these updates have in common? Gemini is using your files, emails and chats to give you relevant information, not random answers gleaned from the web.
These updates come as AI is playing a bigger role in our work lives, for better or worse. Agentic tools like Claude Cowork and coding assistants like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex are more capable than chatbots and able to handle tasks announced independently. AI tools are also becoming more customized, with Google’s personalized intelligence rolling out across its platforms to help refine AI outputs to things that are relevant and useful for you. Google continues that trend with this new batch of Workspace updates.
New Gemini AI features in Google Workspace apps will cite their sources after each query. For example, if you ask Gemini in Google Docs to fill out an itinerary template, it will pull the information from your email, chats and files. The «sources» tab in the Gemini side panel will show you where it found the information it used, like your flight confirmation email and chats discussing dinner plans. Seeing where Gemini pulled its answers from is also how you’ll double-check Gemini’s work.
The most impressive new features are in Sheets, where AI can fill in the holes in your spreadsheets. You can describe what you want the AI to do with a simple prompt and avoid writing an exact formula. You can click on an empty cell, select the pop-up that says «Drag to fill with Gemini,» then highlight the cells you want Gemini to fill in. That deploys an AI agent to search the web to fill each cell with the necessary information.
For example, if you have a spreadsheet of the contact info for local companies, you can have Gemini search the web to fill in a the location, CEO and other publicly available information of each company. The tool aims to dramatically reduce the time needed for manual data entry. Gemini can also summarize, categorize and create charts with prompts alone.
You can also chat with Gemini in Sheets and have it scour your raw data to make custom reports and charts. No need for pivot tables if they confound you as much as they baffle me. One of the biggest uses of AI at work is helping create presentations.
In Google Slides, you can now tell Gemini in natural language what you want to appear on a slide, and it will create it, matching the style of your existing slides. You can also ask Gemini to edit your slides if you don’t want to waste time painstakingly moving design elements around the slide. The AI should fill the slides with relevant information based on your instructions and the work files it has access to, so you shouldn’t need to replace a bunch of filler text.
If you use Docs, Sheets and Slides through the Workspace account of your company, then you won’t be able to turn off AI features individually. The managing company is in control of AI access for users. Personal users can tweak their settings to limit Gemini. The new features are rolling out in beta now, in English only, to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in the US, as well as some Google Workspace customers who are part of the Gemini Alpha testing program.
For more, check out the new cowork feature in Copilot and how to use Perplexity AI for deep research.
Tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump were struck down by the Supreme Court last month. Companies that were subjected to those fees, such as FedEx and Dollar General, have since sued the federal government, and Nintendo wants a piece of the action.
Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the federal government in the US Court of International Trade on Friday, as first spotted by Aftermath. The complaint seeks refunds of tariffs Nintendo paid, plus interest, and asks the court to declare the tariffs unlawful and stop the government from collecting them going forward.
«Since February 1, 2025, President Trump has executed the unlawful Executive Orders, imposing tariffs on imports from a vast swath of countries,» Nintendo said in the complaint.
When reached for comment, Nintendo of America confirmed the lawsuit.
«We can confirm that we filed a request. We have nothing else to share on this topic,» Nintendo of America said in an emailed statement on Friday, March 6.
It’s unclear how much Nintendo paid in tariffs, and it did not state an amount in the lawsuit. While the Switch 2 was priced at $450 when it launched last year, and has stayed at that amount, Nintendo did increase the price of the original Switch and accessories for both consoles. Microsoft and Sony also increased the prices of their hardware and accessories last year due to tariffs.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Feb. 20, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 6 to 3 that the sweeping tariffs Trump instituted last year exceeded his executive powers. Following the ruling, on the same day, Trump announced a new set of tariffs of 10% on imported goods that would last for 150 days, starting Feb. 24.
The decision on what to do with the collected tariffs — a reported $166 billion — has been left to the US Court of International Trade. Judge Richard Eaton told the US Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday, March 4, to refund the importers that were forced to pay tariffs, which is more than 330,000. On Friday, the CBP said it couldn’t easily issue tariff refunds because its system requires duties to be recalculated and refunds processed entry by entry. This process would involve tens of millions of transactions. The agency said it’s updating its systems and could start providing refunds by late April.
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