Apple has announcedthe date of its September event, switching back to the traditional second Tuesday of the month. The event - which will likely be a pre-recorded stream - will take place on 12 September at 10AM PDT and there are a number of devices rumoured to be revealed during the presentation.
There’s one in particular that is giving me pre-event jitters however, and that’s thetop-of-the-range iPhone, which will apparently be called the iPhone 15 Ultra this year rather than the iPhone 15 Pro Max in a move thatmakes perfect sense. After all, the company already introduced the Ultra naming concept with theApple Watch Ultra in 2022so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to too many people that the iPhone could also get a new flagship tier moniker.
Last year was the first year I found a love for the larger iPhones. I used to be a 6.1-inch girl through and through. I thought the 6.7-inch Max was far too heavy and frankly unnecessary - it also just didn’t really seem to have a place other than “I’m a bigger more expensive iPhone”. But then I used the Max for a few weeks and found that I really enjoyed the larger display and bigger battery. So much so that I struggled to go back to the smaller6.1-inch iPhone 14 Proas a main device.
TheiPhone 14 Pro Maxhas been my device of choice for the last 11 months - challenged only bythe iPhone 14 Plusthat I also had a whole lot of love for, especially for how light it was in comparison to the iPhone 14 Pro Max. That leads me on to one of the reasons why the iPhone 15 Ultra is so exciting for me. Rumours suggest it use titanium over stainless steel, which should make it significantly lighter than its predecessor. There’s also the suggestion of slimmer bezels around the display too, which should make for a very compelling design overall. Add the programmable action button to that design and there’s a great foundation for a super flagship here.
More than that, the iPhone 15 Ultra is rumoured to be introducing aperiscope lensand this is really where I see the Ultra coming into its own. A periscope lens would allow for much greater zoom than previous iPhone models. The current iPhone 14 Pro offers 3x optical and while this is great in most part, it’s a fraction of what is offered by the likes ofSamsungon itstop tier flagship smartphones.
The potential change in name to iPhone 15 Ultra over the slightly clunky iPhone 15 Pro Max suggests this device will be a super flagship and that it will offer more than the iPhone 15 Pro - not just in terms of size and battery. Apple did this with the iPhone 7 Plus over the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 8 Plus over the iPhone 8. Since the iPhone XS and XS Max however - and including the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max - the two top-end models have delivered the same hardware. This is great for those that don’t want a larger device as they don’t miss out on features by not opting for the bigger and more expensive handset.
But several other manufacturers offer an “Ultra” flagship. A device that is bigger and better than the rest of the range - yes,Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultrayou are one of them - and that is what I want to see from Apple this year. Just as the 2022 event gave me the biggest and baddest Apple Watch, I want to see the biggest, baddest iPhone of them all in 2023.
