Cheaper iPhone 15 Pro, 20 watt charging, AAA games and more!

A few hours after Apple’s presentation which took place last night, we want to focus your attention on some oddities that emerged during the event in Cupertino. Oddities that are not necessarily synonymous with “bad choices” but which leave room for broad considerations and which we invite you to make in the comments.

Let’s leave immediately with iPhone 15 Pro.

After years of small but constant price increases with each iPhone launch, with the new generation we have witnessed something quite particular. In fact, the iPhone 15 Pro costs less, and not a little less! In fact, we are talking about a €100 reduction if we take the Apple price list of the iPhone 14 Pro as a comparison to the release in September 2022.

In fact, after a year, iPhone 15 Pro not only gains titanium as a material for the body, but also loses a few grams and the 128GB version starts from €1239 unlike of 14 Pro which started from €1339. The large model is also interesting: iPhone 15 Pro Max It has a starting price of €1489 which might seem “the same” as last year, but in reality we are talking about the 256GB model given that the 128GB size for Max does not exist. Last year iPhone 14 Pro Max from 256GB had a launch price of €1619 and therefore, proportionately, iPhone 15 Pro Max has undergone a downward adjustment even higher and equal to €130.

Apple’s choice is interesting and goes against the trend in a market that tends to rise where almost all manufacturers continue to increase their official price lists. Everything then takes on an even more interesting connotation if we analyze the American price positioning. Although it may make little sense for us Italians to look at the US price lists – among other things without taxes as they change from state to state – yesterday’s Apple presentation showed the “world” price lists that are not only comparable to the main competitors, but they are also psychologically very appealing to the user.

The $999 – same price as the iPhone 14 Pro – is that number that remains below the €1000 threshold for an iPhone Pro that is certainly popular. Max under $1200 – still the same price as the 14 Pro Max 256GB – once again breaks the issue in Apple’s favor and creates that positive noise that we haven’t seen in relation to iPhone prices for some time. No increase in prices in the USA at a lower cost in Europe/Italy thanks to the exchange rate.

A facelift that could lead to a readjustment of the prices of top-of-the-range smartphones in the short term. Regardless than the Pixel 8 are more or less expensive – their market has such small numbers that it is certainly not the positioning of the Pixels that changes anything – it will be interesting to see in 5 months what Samsung will do with the S24 range. An S24 Ultra without price changes it would be priced at €1479 in the 8/256GB version, the same price as iPhone 15 Pro Max 8/256GB which however will already be 5 months old and which will certainly have had at least €100 discount online in reliable shops.

How would the market respond if an S24 Ultra were to be more expensive than an iPhone 15 Pro Max? We will see…

Another oddity concerns iPhone 14 that remains on the list. A choice that I personally would not have expected considering that also iPhone 13 remains in the catalog – as expected. The peculiarity is that Apple now has the following “basic” iPhone positioning:

• iPhone 13 starts from €759
• iPhone 14 starts from €879
• iPhone 15 starts from €979

We all agree that getting an iPhone 14 at the list price is quite “strange” considering that the 15 has a slightly higher price compared to a much more modern design, a better processor, a better display, nicer colours, body bevelled and, above all, the Type-C port which is officially the new standard for Apple too. There are actually no sensible reasons to buy an iPhone 14 while, for 13, the price difference can still be considered significant.

The motivation is difficult to understand, but we might think that Apple still has a large stock of iPhone 14 and deletion from the list was not possible. Regardless, however, having more choice is certainly a good thing and Apple’s update policy helps make the company’s smartphones long-lived. However, we will hardly recommend the iPhone 14 to those who need to change their smartphone and are headed towards Apple.

Instead, he definitively leaves the scene iPhone 13 Mini. Those looking for a compact iOS smartphone can find their way on the SE model still in the catalogue.

L’arrival of Type-C has certainly brought uniformity within the Apple portfolio. Nothing miraculous but we could finally have a single cable to charge Mac, iPhone and accessories. Obviously a single cable is always reductive as Apple Watch has proprietary induction charging with a dedicated cable.

A USB 3 controller which allows for a 10 gigabit bandwidth in data exchange and which will therefore also allow direct video recording on external storage media – this obviously on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

It’s a shame that charging on both the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro remained at 20 Watts and it seems that this is the maximum even when changing the power supply.

Apple is never explicit but on the site we still read that you can reach 50% in 30 minutes of charging with 20 Watt or higher power supplies, that is, even if you have a 65watt the charging will always be the same and in 30 minutes you will do 50%. %. So 20 Watts seems to be the maximum no matter what.

Linked to this speech and in a rush of “sensible prices”, Apple also presented new accessories and in particular a Type-C cable certified for 240watts at a cost of €35. Considering that we are talking about a cable 2 meters longof quality and certified, it is a truly excellent price and could also be of interest to non-Apple users given that the cable is now standard Type-C.

In a rush of enthusiasm we are happy to also see the Airpods Pro with Type-C which completely replace the previous ones that are no longer in the price list. Good even if a piece is missing: Apple in fact does not allow you to purchase just the Type-C case for the Airpods.

There are no technical reasons, these are the same headphones, but it is a pure marketing move. Apple currently wants to sell the complete package for €279 and probably only the Type-C case will appear in a single purchase in a few weeks.

Perhaps unnoticed, Apple also presented the integration of the Qi2 standard, an evolution of the induction charging system present on the iPhone and many other Android smartphones and considered the de facto standard for induction charging. The news is that Qi2 debuts on the market for the first time with the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro improving charging performance potential and also the quality of Magsafe accessories. However, we leave you to the dedicated piece above where the news is better explained.

We close with a consideration on the gaming world. Apple has always, at least on the iPhone, focused on games, on the quality of the titles on the App Store and on Apple Arcade in recent years. Undoubtedly, iPhone is an ecosystem that satisfies all casual gamers but with 15 Pro Cupertino has gone further.

Thanks to the new GPU, iPhone 15 Pro will be able to run Triple A titles which until now were unthinkable on smartphones. An effort that joins several dots into what appears to be a real path towards gaming on the Apple platform in the coming years.

Apple not only manages to capture the attention of leading companies in game development, but thanks to its ecosystem and the now unification of architectures, it potentially promises a cross device experience that is almost unthinkable today.

The presence of RE 4 Remake on the App Store will not only guarantee iPhone users the ability to play anywhere, but also opens the doors to a future Apple TV as a “gaming console”, broadens the vision of Apple Vision Pro as a gaming device and makes the expansion of the native Triple A portfolio on Macbook and Apple Silicon is much more concrete.

In short, many steps on a path that goes in a clear direction: having a huge ecosystem, made up of many products in all price ranges and capable of winking even at game enthusiasts who today choose super powerful PCs or consoles and that perhaps tomorrow they will retire Fire TV and Xbox in favor of just one product: Apple TV. How long will it take?

Final curiosity that opens up to some speculation concerns the change in nomenclature of the Apple processor. In fact, on the new iPhone 15 Pro Bionic disappears and gives way to the adjective Pro. This is a seemingly unimportant change but could be significant for the future development of Apple chips.

In fact, with the A17 Pro the iPhones adopt a nomenclature much more similar to that of the Silicon processors of the Macbooks and the loss of the Bionic suffix could allow Apple to have more freedom in choosing future names and possible variations of the processors. A17 Pro today, A18 Max in a year and maybe an A19 Ultra in the future to differentiate basic iPhones from Pro models or even from foldable devices and why not Apple TV in home console style?

It’s difficult to say for sure but a homogeneity of names broadens the possibilities, speculations or perhaps just makes it easier to recognize an iPhone Pro with a Pro processor from a non-pro iPhone with Bionic. However, the question arises spontaneously: in 2024 will the basic iPhone 16 inherit the A17 Pro or will it be called the A17 Bionic?