iPhone 15 Pro Max could turn into 'Ultra' in fall 2023 updates

AppleInsider · September 25, 2022 3:11PM

Apple's fall iPhone lineup for 2023 could see Apple revamp the design of the iPhone 15, a report claims, with the high-end model becoming "Ultra."

Apple's introduction of the iPhone 14 and Pro models largely consisted of an internal spec bump rather than an overhaul, with little externally different compared to one year prior. For 2023, it is suggested that there could be a lot more visible changes, as well as a new name.

In opinions on the iPhone 14 lineup for Bloomberg's "Power On" newsletter, Mark Gurman reckons that the cadence of Apple's previous iPhone refreshes puts the next model as due a major refresh. He cites how the iPhone 6's aesthetic stuck around until the iPhone 8, the iPhone X's design until the iPhone 11, and the iPhone 12 to the iPhone 14.

Changing on a three-year cycle, that would put the iPhone 15 as being at the start of a new cycle.

As for what that cycle could consist of, Gurman says the revamped design could coincide with a "shift to USB-C." This has been an idea that has repeatedly been brought up by analysts, but Apple has so far evaded actually including in its flagship models.

Along with a design change, Gurman also proposes that there could be a name alteration as well. Borrowing from the M1 variant and the Apple Watch Ultra, Gurman offers that a new "Ultra" model could take over from the Pro Max model of iPhone 15.

The report doesn't state exactly what is expected will differentiate the Ultra model from others in the range, aside from the name. Given the Apple Watch Ultra's diving credentials and ruggedness, the iPhone equivalent may have to undergo a lot of changes to be worthy of the name.

Read on AppleInsider

lkrupp · September 25, 2022 4:30PM

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

dk49 · September 25, 2022 4:41PM

I just hope they don't launch a 7 inch giant and call it the iPhone Ultra!

multimedia · September 25, 2022 5:38PM

Whatever they call it, it better have a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port or I will continue to wait until it does. Still on a 4 year old 512GB Xs Max from 2018 and it is FULL! After 5 years Apple has GOT TO SWITCH to USB-C like all of Android already is and throw Thunderbolt 4 in for a GIANT LEAP FORWARD. Plus a 2 TB storage option with 8K@60fps video recording capability.

Kuyangkoh · September 25, 2022 5:49PM

Whatah….im still waiting for my iphn14promax and now were already talking about 15? Gee

DAalseth · September 25, 2022 7:08PM

lkrupp said:

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

Yes, yes it is.

lkrupp · September 25, 2022 7:31PM

multimedia said:

Whatever they call it, it better have a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port or I will continue to wait until it does. Still on a 4 year old 512GB Xs Max from 2018 and it is FULL! After 5 years Apple has GOT TO SWITCH to USB-C like all of Android already is and throw Thunderbolt 4 in for a GIANT LEAP FORWARD. Plus a 2 TB storage option with 8K@60fps video recording capability.

Well, then switch to Android and be done with it. Why wait for something Apple is unlikely to if Android already has everything you demand from Apple before you will upgrade? In fact the rumor mill suggests Apple might get rid of the port altogether and go totally wireless. Just do it, man!

byronl · September 25, 2022 7:53PM

i really hope it's not different from the 6.1 model other than the name (and size, obviously). the 6.7 is a bit too big for me and i would hate the bigger model to getting extra features.

but the name suggests it might:(

Japhey · September 25, 2022 8:03PM

There were rumors that the 14 Pro line would come in titanium. Maybe the rumor was true, but the timing wasn’t.

slow n easy · September 25, 2022 8:23PM

DAalseth said:

lkrupp said:

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

Yes, yes it is.

I agree, except for the word interesting. Nomenclature is very important because Max denotes size vs. Ultra sounds like it would be fundamentally different. That would be very very bad for me. I felt so left out when the larger size 12 Pro had more features than the smaller 12 Pro. I don’t know why I need to have the largest size in order to have a fully featured phone. I don’t want a phone that is too big to fit in my front jeans pocket. But I also don’t want a phone that is less than, so I hope this rumor is wrong.

byronl · September 25, 2022 8:28PM

slow n easy said:

DAalseth said:

lkrupp said:

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

Yes, yes it is.

I agree, except for the word interesting. Nomenclature is very important because Max denotes size vs. Ultra sounds like it would be fundamentally different. That would be very very bad for me. I felt so left out when the larger size 12 Pro had more features than the smaller 12 Pro. I don’t know why I need to have the largest size in order to have a fully featured phone. I don’t want a phone that is too big to fit in my front jeans pocket. But I also don’t want a phone that is less than, so I hope this rumor is wrong.

exactly how i feel

9secondkox2 · September 25, 2022 9:15PM

So long as they find a way to get the ultra m3 running in a 32” iMac…

don’t really care what they call the best iPhone.

eightzero · September 25, 2022 10:44PM

This is really disappointing. AI is only just now talking about iPhone 15. Where's the summary on the changes ahead for the iPhone 16 (AI), iPhone 17 (VR), and iPhone 18 (medically implanted in our skulls.) And you have the never, the gall to call yourselves "insiders." Humpf.

urahara · September 25, 2022 11:03PM

lkrupp said:

multimedia said:

Whatever they call it, it better have a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port or I will continue to wait until it does. Still on a 4 year old 512GB Xs Max from 2018 and it is FULL! After 5 years Apple has GOT TO SWITCH to USB-C like all of Android already is and throw Thunderbolt 4 in for a GIANT LEAP FORWARD. Plus a 2 TB storage option with 8K@60fps video recording capability.

Well, then switch to Android and be done with it. Why wait for something Apple is unlikely to if Android already has everything you demand from Apple before you will upgrade? In fact the rumor mill suggests Apple might get rid of the port altogether and go totally wireless. Just do it, man!

Why? The 4 year old Android isn’t better than iPhone XS max. He apparently doesn’t need the newest iPhone/Android phone.

radarthekat · September 25, 2022 11:15PM

Gurman likely has zero actual evidence of this; he’s just overlaying the M1 Pro, Max, Ultra descriptors onto the iPhone. The Apple Watch Ultra gives him the hint that this may be the way Apple will go. No big prognostication here; any one paying attention could have made this prediction.

WhiskeyAPPLEcider · September 26, 2022 1:39AM

lkrupp said:

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

Apple will not be going wireless with no port because you need to be able to transfer data such as high resolution pics/video and wireless isn’t efficient at that yet.

mike1 · September 26, 2022 1:24PM

multimedia said:

Whatever they call it, it better have a USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 port or I will continue to wait until it does. Still on a 4 year old 512GB Xs Max from 2018 and it is FULL! After 5 years Apple has GOT TO SWITCH to USB-C like all of Android already is and throw Thunderbolt 4 in for a GIANT LEAP FORWARD. Plus a 2 TB storage option with 8K@60fps video recording capability.

It's funny that although the only practical advantage of USB C is the speed of wired data transfers, and this is sooooo important, that you will punishing yourself by sticking with a 4-year old phone with full storage that also doesn't have the one feature you require.

opinion · September 26, 2022 2:38PM

I only have one wish for the iPhone 15 or rather a update to iOS right now, to make Deep Fusion optional. After that they could call it Ultra, Extreme or Are you nuts.

crowley · September 26, 2022 3:03PM

WhiskeyAPPLEcider said:

lkrupp said:

Is nomenclature really al that important or even interesting?

Apple will not be going wireless with no port because you need to be able to transfer data such as high resolution pics/video and wireless isn’t efficient at that yet.

If data rates were a concern Apple would have upgraded Lightning a long time ago. To my knowledge, Apple have never released a Lightning connector capable of above USB2 data rates, 480Mbps. Wi-Fi 6 can be significantly faster than that, with real world data rates around 1.2Gbps and Wi-Fi 7 is looking at topping out at 40Gbps, real world world TBC.

Power consumption during the transfer will certainly be higher, if that's what you're getting at with efficiency, but I'm not sure that's a major concern, Apple can mitigate it.

9secondkox2 · September 26, 2022 3:10PM

radarthekat said:

Gurman likely has zero actual evidence of this; he’s just overlaying the M1 Pro, Max, Ultra descriptors onto the iPhone. The Apple Watch Ultra gives him the hint that this may be the way Apple will go. No big prognostication here; any one paying attention could have made this prediction.

He has to keep coming up with stuff a lot more often now that he’s made his newsletter a lot more frequent.

I agree that he likely pulled this out of a hat after seeing the Apple Watch ultra.

But he’s going to have a lot more missed swings now that he’s painted himself into a corner of having to have new “leaked info” so often.

He will likely become the next thinksecret.com in a couple of years.

libertyforall · September 26, 2022 3:44PM

Add an action button, port Walkie Talkie to iPhone and enable the action button for the same! Implement more lock screen 'complications' on iPhone, just like on Watch! Enable us to manually easily select external drives in the Finder to backup iPhones!

iPhone 15 Pro Max could turn into 'Ultra' in fall 2023 updates

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