We might have just gotten a sneak peek at the iPhone 15 Pro’s design. Notorious leaker ShrimpApplePro tweeted a video of a mould of the alleged phone, and it has left me somewhat uninspired.
Of course, the usual caveats apply: this is a leak supposedly from Weibo (like China's Twitter, sort of), but if true, the iPhone 15 Pro looks to be virtually identical to its iPhone 14 predecessor.
Don’t get me wrong, the iPhone 14 range features some of the best phones out there, and this leak is simply of a mould, not a functional device, but it would be nice to see an obvious change in the design.
iPhone 15 Pro’s aluminum mold. Source: Weibo. pic.twitter.com/kQWc1j4mr5May 10, 2023
There had been some rumours of the iPhone 15 foregoing physical buttons altogether (particularly the volume rocker) and opting for haptic feedback similar to the home button on the iPhone SE, but that doesn’t now look to be the case.
Above the traditional volume controls, the mute switch seems to have undergone a transformation – and there’s talk that it may actually now be a customisable action button that users can assign a function of their choice.
The colour of the mould is quite fetching, but ShrimpApplePro was quick to assert that it isn’t relevant to the colour options of the iPhone 15. They also demonstrated that the phone will seemingly have curved bezels with ‘2.5D’ glass (so more of the same, really).
It only curve just a tiny bit You can see it pic.twitter.com/nYq8RFNQ8pMay 10, 2023
With Google announcing the exciting (but expensive) Pixel Fold this week, it’s somewhat sobering to see Apple seemingly so tied to a tried-and-tested formula with its devices. For now, we can keep dreaming of that folding iPhone.
While the MagSafe markings on the back of this leaked phone mould are likely just from the moulding process, the camera on the model seems to be nearly identical to the iPhone 14 Pro as well. In one sense this is good, as it was a great camera, and it stops the trend of ever-increasing camera modules which peaked with the ginormous Xiaomi 13 Ultra.
But how long can Apple go on with minor iterations and keep asking punters to upgrade every year? Although the bigger model, the iPhone 15 Pro Max, is said to feature a new zoom camera as part of its spec. But will it? Well, it looks like we've got another four-or-so months before we'll truly find out...
