New iPhone 15, USB-C charging ports…bigger price tags? What to expect from the Apple Event 2023

Apple is anticipated to unveil its vary of iPhone 15 smartphones at its Apple Event on Tuesday – with one in every of the massive questions round charging ports.

Many will likely be on the lookout for the newest shiny merchandise, apps and options the expertise large likes to exhibit because it makes an attempt to drum up gross sales at its annual occasion.

Nevertheless, the European Union has mandated that Apple’s merchandise offered inside the bloc will need to have a common charging port, bringing to an finish the firm’s lengthy custom of getting its personal charging ports.

There will likely be loads of intrigue round the rumoured iPhone 15 announcement, alongside potential bulletins of different tech upgrades reminiscent of with its Apple Smartwatch.

iPhone 15

Apple is anticipated to reveal the iPhone 15 as the star of the occasion, however as with different smartphone makers, it’s unlikely to be a significant technological leap ahead from its present era of telephones.

The iPhone 15 fashions are seemingly to vary from lower-priced primary fashions to dearer premium variations, consisting of principally incremental advances to the units’ chips, battery and cameras.

The essential iPhone 15 fashions additionally could also be redesigned to embody a shape-shifting cutout on the show display screen that Apple calls its Dynamic Island for app notifications.

Dynamic Island was launched with final yr’s Professional and Professional Max units.

There are rumours that this yr’s iPhone 15 Professional and Professional Max could function a periscope-style telephoto lens that may enhance the high quality of photographs taken from distance.

The telephoto lens might boast a 6x optical zoom, which might nonetheless lag behind the 10x optical zoom on Samsung’s premium Galaxy S22 Extremely, however can be a big improve from the 3x optical zoom on the iPhone 14 Professional and Professional Max.

The improved digicam is one in every of the causes Apple can also be anticipated to increase the costs of the Professional and Professional Max.

The iPhone 14 Professional begins at $1,000 (€932) whereas the Professional Max begins at $1,100 (€1,026).

Analysts suppose the iPhone 15 variations of these fashions could value a further $100 (€93) to $200 (€186), testing how a lot customers are keen to pay for the units at a time when post-pandemic inflation has been squeezing family budgets.

Common charging ports

Away from the flashy facet of the tech, a extra primary query will likely be resolved – will Apple roll out common charging for all its merchandise, slightly than simply these for the EU market?

The bloc has mandated that by the finish of 2024, all cell phones, tablets and cameras offered in the bloc could have to be outfitted with a USB Kind-C charging port.

Apple is due to this fact being pressured to begin phasing out the Lightning port cables it rolled out in 2012 with the launch of the iPhone 5, nevertheless it’s unclear whether or not the firm will initially restrict the switchover to USB-C ports to fashions made particularly for the European market or make the change worldwide.

“In accordance to rumours, Apple will undertake USB-C this yr slightly than wait till subsequent yr to adjust to European laws,” stated Techsponential’s Avi Greengart.

“This can annoy a whole lot of Apple customers… however they will get used to it, they will not have a selection,” he continued.

Two years in the past, when the EU’s textual content was underneath dialogue, Apple tried to oppose it, arguing that its Lightning expertise was utilized in over a billion units worldwide, and that the new laws would “stifle innovation” and “hurt customers”.

For the EU, the intention is to simplify life and scale back the quantity of digital waste created as chargers change into out of date.

Troublesome quarter for the tech large

The occasion on Tuesday at Apple’s Cupertino California headquarters comes on the again of a slight hunch, which has seen its gross sales drop from final yr in three consecutive quarters.

Administration at the firm have signalled one other downturn is probably going throughout the present quarter. Apple’s inventory price has dipped by practically 10 per cent since mid-July, placing the firm’s market worth beneath the $3 trillion (€2.8 trillion) threshold it reached for the first time earlier this summer season.

Apple will likely be hoping that taking the wraps off its new vary of telephones will drum up the sort of enthusiasm Apple Occasions have efficiently garnered many occasions earlier than.