New leaks raise fears that Apple will hike the upcoming iPhone 15's price

The price of a new iPhone 15 Pro model in 2023 might be going way up according to Macrumors.com after reporting on an unverified source from the Chinese social network Weibo.

While the source of the leak is still currently unknown, and the leaker has no proven track record, previous Apple leaks on Weibo have proven to provide accurate information.

In 2022, an unverified leak from a different Wiebo user apparently accurately revealed Apple's iPhone 14 and 14 Pro's new color schemes and True Tone flash according to Macrumors writer Hartley Charleton.

The iPhone 15 Pro price hike leaker didn't provide an actual number according to Hartley, but they did note that Apple was looking to hike the prices of the Pro model to help differentiate it from Apple's more budget-friendly non-Pro model.

The latest version of the iPhone isn’t expected to hit shelves until September 2023, but Apple fans already know quite a bit about what to expect after a ruling from the European Union (EU) standardizing phone chargers before the end of 2024. 

Back in October 2022, the EU Parliament voted 602-13 in favor of mandating Universal Standard Bus type C charging ports, more commonly referred to as USB-C, for all handheld electronic devices no later than 2024. 

The law was a global first and aimed to also standardize the charging ports of several categories of electronic devices in the EU, including laptops, cameras, and other small gadgets. But it also gave Apple fans a glimpse into one of the few newly added features to expect in the company’s latest iteration of their flagship product. 

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Apple senior vice-president Greg Joswiak confirmed that iPhone users would see USB-C ports on Apple’s 2023 devices, but he made it clear that the switch wasn’t Apple’s preferred choice. 

“Governments get to do what they’re gonna do,” Joswiak said at the WSJ Tech Live conference this week.“Obviously, we’ll have to comply. We have no choice.”

Clearly, executives at Apple aren’t happy about the choice. But many users are praising the change online, including some high-profile tech journalists like YouTube’s Marcus Brownlee and Cnet’s Ian Sherr. 

So what else can we expect from the new iPhone model in 2023? Many Apple fans are expecting a full chassis redesign, something Apple tends to do every three years like clockwork. 

Twitter leaker ShrimpApplePro has suggested that in addition to a new chassis design, customers can expect a new titanium chassis construction that will return the design to a more curved one with rounded-off edges leading to the back of the device, similar to Apple’s 2021 14 and 16-inch Macbook Pros.

This addition makes sense since it will nearly complete Apple’s 2021 design revamp and bring the iPhone more in line with its iPad and Macbook brands. 

Plus the addition of a new USB-C port would help to improve data transfer speeds, something that has been seriously lacking as Apple has continued to improve the size and quality of its iPhone camera system. 

The iPhone 15 will also reportedly feature new solid-state volume and power control buttons similar to the iPhone 7, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. 

“My latest survey indicates that the volume button and power button of two high-end iPhone 15/2H23 new iPhone models may adopt a solid-state button design (similar to the home button design of iPhone 7/8/SE2 & 3) to replace the physical/mechanical button design,” Kuo wrote in a Tweet. 

If true, this could mean that the iPhone 15’s new buttons would probably use Apple’s patented haptic feedback mechanism to mimic the feel of a button, meaning they would need to include at least two more Taptic Engines to the phone—the cost of which would undoubtedly be passed onto the consumer. 

Kuo has also commented on the likelihood of seeing a new type of “periscope” camera lens added to the new iPhone, noting in a recent Medium post that any periscope lens would probably be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro Max model. 

Other features customers and analysts would like to see added include a revamped under-the-screen Touch ID system, Qualcomm’s new 5G modem chips, and an updated A-series processor developed from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's revolutionary 3-nanometer chip technology.  

Unfortunately, it is too early to speculate on any other major additions to the new iPhone. Apple has always held its cards pretty close to its chest when it comes to new products and has spent years rooting out suspected product leakers within the company. 

We will just have to wait until September 2023 to see what new technology Apple brings to its flagship mobile phone product lineup. Maybe we’ll even see the return of the iPhone Mini!