As rumors about the iPhone 16 start to heat up, I can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness (okay, maybe more than just a twinge) about my iPhone 15. It feels like just yesterday I was unboxing it, admiring the sleek design, and marveling at the new features. Now, with the iPhone 16 on the horizon, boasting what sound like some significant upgrades—rumored to include a faster A18 chip, an even better camera system, and that new titanium frame—I'm starting to feel that familiar pang of obsolescence creeping in.
I know tech moves fast, and it’s the nature of the game. But it’s still tough when your shiny, almost-new device is seemingly about to get outshined by the next big thing. I’m curious—how are others feeling about this? Are you planning to upgrade, or are you sticking with your iPhone 15 for a while? How do you cope with the constant cycle of new releases making our current devices feel old?
Would love to hear your thoughts and strategies for dealing with this yearly dilemma!
As I already stated on a similar thread, the 15 is a beautiful and more than capable device with the A16 and 6GB of RAM. You will have iPhone for many years.
However, if you think you will really need Apple Intelligence, maybe waiting until next spring with the release of the SE 4 is a good idea. That way you will be able to choose between the Apple Intelligence powered devices.
Design wise, don’t worry: the regular 16 is coming in aluminum just like your 15, with bolder colors. With the addition of the capture button, that will likely be the new key feature, the star of the show. If that button doesn’t
capture your interest, then I think you’ll be fine with your 15.
As for the brain, well, I think we’re all adults here and can accept when there’s a bigger technological jump than usual. But that doesn’t mean your 15 is now obsolete, it’s just that maybe in two or three years, the A15 and A16 devices will age a bit quicker than usual. Or maybe not! Because remember that A18 devices will run Apple Intelligence, which already takes some of those 8GB of RAM, while your 15 has all of the 6GB of RAM at the system disposal.
Unless you plan to keep your iPhone for 4 or 5 years (or more) I wouldn’t be concerned. And if you’re really interested in Apple Intelligence but don’t need it now, my advice is: keep enjoying your iPhone 15 one or two more years, see how Apple Intelligence deploys all of the features between iOS 18.1 and iOS 19, and choose accordingly between the iPhone 17, 17 slim, 17 Pro…
or even the iPhone 18! with a much more powerful A20 manufactured at 2nm, with more and faster LPDDR6 RAM, and completely fine-tuned for an already tested and settled Apple Intelligence, an Apple’s own LLM (not relying on OpenAI) and many more features to come. This Apple Intelligence we’re going to see in iOS 18.1 is just the beginning, and maybe it will feel a bit rushed.
As you said, tech moves fast and that’s the nature of the game. So I encourage you to take advantage of that to enjoy your new (and gorgeous, those color-infused glass backs aren’t coming back) iPhone 15 while you watch how this new technologies develop and settle down during the next few years, waiting for potentially the biggest jumps in mobile computing: the 2nm Apple chips (probably the A20 and the M6 family) and the LPDDR6 RAM with way bigger bandwidth. Also Apple’s new in-house wireless chip (WiFi+Bluetooth+Cellular) should be extensively tested and perfected at that point.
So I think there’s a lot to look forward to while still enjoying your iPhone 15 during a couple more of years!
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