iPhone 15 to Face Challenges Despite New Hardware Upgrades as Apple Acknowledges Market Slowdown: Mark Gurman

iPhone 15 — Apple's purported next-generation smartphone — is expected to launch in the coming weeks, but the Cupertino company will reportedly face challenges amid a tough smartphone market despite major updates that are tipped to make their debut on the smartphone. The iPhone 15 is said to be the first major upgrade since the iPhone 12 was unveiled in 2020, with upgrades to the display, charging port and faster processors, while the iPhone 15 Pro models could feature a more durable titanium frame and slimmer display bezels than its predecessor.

In his weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman points out that Apple has finally acknowledged that “the smartphone market has been in a decline for the last couple of quarters in the United States.” As a result, the smartphone maker will have to do more to convince customers to purchase the upcoming iPhone 15 series, which is said to comprise the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

According to previous reports, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus will feature the A16 Bionic chip and the Dynamic Island from last year's iPhone 14 Pro models, along with upgraded cameras. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are said to feature a new titanium chassis that is more durable, and a 3nm chipset that is much faster than last year's models. Gurman previously claimed that the Pro models will be equipped with displays that have 1.5mm bezels, the thinnest on an iPhone to date.

Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone 15 Pro Max model is also tipped to feature a periscope camera for improved optical zoom. Meanwhile, the iPhone 15 lineup is also expected to drop the Lightning port in favour of a USB Type-C port to comply with EU regulations.

However, Gurman states in his newsletter that despite all these expected hardware upgrades, Apple will face challenges due to the ongoing market slowdown. The company's smartphone sales were more resilient than its competitors, which have also suffered due to the slowdown, but Apple revealed that its iPhone sales fell 2.4 percent to $39.7 billion (roughly Rs. 3,28,189 crore) in the June quarter.

The iPhone 15 series is tipped to debut next month and Gurman says that the lineup could be unveiled on September 12 or September 13, and go on sale on September 22. While the firm will face a challenge as it tries to convince customers to upgrade their smartphones amid the sluggish market despite all the new hardware upgrades, Gurman says it "shouldn't be hard" for the Cupertino company's next phone models to show year-over-year growth, after the iPhone 14 series' production hiccups last year related to the COVID-19 restrictions at assembly plants in China.

Meanwhile, Apple is testing a new Mac model powered by a M3 chip that could make its debut in October, according to Gurman. Previous reports hint at the arrival of new Mac models with the next-generation chipset, and the latest model that is being tested is reportedly powered by an octa core M3 chip with 10 graphics cores and 24GB of RAM and could debut as the company's next Mac mini model. Apple is yet to announce plans to launch new Mac models a month after the expected debut of its next generation of smartphones in September.