Enhanced Audio Experience: New Wireless Sound Technology on iPhone 15
Apple’s iPhone 15 models are expected to launch in the fall, and rumors about them have been trickling out for months. This year’s models will have some significant upgrades over the iPhone 14.
One of those upgrades is a new peak performance capability that prevents sudden shutdowns and limits the amount of data the iPhone consumes over 5G.
Offline Siri
Apple’s virtual assistant Siri is now able to work without an internet connection thanks to iOS 15. This feature, which allows for basic requests such as setting timers and alarms, changing themes, launching apps and music control, works when Airplane mode is enabled. This is possible thanks to on-device processing where the audio of your commands won’t be sent to Apple’s servers, according to the company.
Apple says this will result in faster, more accurate response times and added privacy. Siri’s understanding and recognition will also improve over time as the software learns your contact information, words you use and topics you read about. This personalization will remain private on your device and is only used by you.
Apple lists 22 SiriKit domains that will no longer work when offline, including ridesharing apps such as Uber and Lyft. You will also be unable to use the voice assistant to set climate, defroster or seat settings in third-party cars. You won’t be able to pay bills or transfer money between accounts either. If you ask Siri for help that it can’t give, the app will tell you to try again when online. This is understandable considering that many of these tasks require a web search to complete. Nevertheless, the addition of offline Siri is a welcome one.
5G Support
While Android rivals have been working on 5G support for years, iPhones didn’t add the feature until this year. The iPhone 12 range all supports it, ip 15 and Apple claims it can reach theoretical speeds of up to 4Gbps in real-world conditions.
The current iPhones can also use 5G to download apps and system updates over cellular instead of Wi-Fi, so they work faster when you’re in areas with weaker Wi-Fi coverage. You can enable this feature in Settings > Cellular Data.
There’s been a lot of speculation about how the iPhone 15 will look, and CAD renders shared by 9to5Mac appear to confirm rumors that the Lightning port will be replaced with USB-C. That would allow it to support Thunderbolt 3 speeds of up to 40Gbps.
Other rumors suggest that Apple will replace the physical power and volume buttons with solid-state touch buttons. These would use haptic feedback to let you know they’ve been activated, like the Home button on the iPhone 7 and later models. Popular analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that these buttons may be able to be programmed for different actions depending on what app you’re using at the time. This would include functions such as turning off the screen when in a presentation or quickly starting Siri for hands-free voice control.
Optimized Power Management
Apple has a few battery saving suggestions that can help your iPhone last longer. Some are more obvious than others, like avoiding extreme temperatures or disabling apps that drain the battery. But the iPhone 15’s Optimized Power Management feature takes it one step further.
The software-based feature uses on-device machine learning to learn your daily charging habits. It delays charging past 80% until just before you typically start using the phone. This reduces the wear on the battery, increases its lifespan and means your iPhone spends less time at full charge.
You can enable Optimised Battery Charging from Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging. A notification on the Lock screen tells you when your battery will be fully charged, and you can also choose to have it activate when the iPhone senses that it’s close to your daily wake up time.
The iPhone 15 also has a Low Power Mode that cuts down on email fetch, background app refresh, automatic downloads and some visual effects. But to enable this feature, your iPhone must be running iOS 13 or later. iOS CPU throttling is designed to protect batteries from overdraw, which can lead to thermal events and fires. It’s not meant to frustrate users into upgrading their phones, despite what some YouTubers might say.
