TitaniPhone
Some thoughts on the iPhone 15 Pro — mainly the name
Ah, the iPhone 18. What else is there left to say? Well, for one thing, the naming scheme is now beyond ridiculous. Because no, this year’s model isn’t the ‘iPhone 18’, as it would be was the device actually named chronologically in order (though even that isn’t exactly straightforward — more below), instead, it’s the ‘iPhone 15’. Cue the voice of The Architect from The Matrix Reloaded:
The iPhone is older than you know. I prefer counting from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the 18th version…
The first 17 models of the iPhone were a mishmash of different naming schemes, which led to a mismatch of names. And actually, it’s perhaps only the 17th vintage of iPhone, depending on how you want to count the ‘iPhone 8’ which was unveiled alongside the ‘iPhone X’ in 2017. Using the current naming conventions, they would have been the same vintage, with the ‘iPhone X’ technically the ‘iPhone 8 Pro’ — or, in chronological order, the ‘iPhone 11 Pro’.
So yeah, the ‘iPhone 15’ is actually the ‘iPhone 17’ or ‘iPhone 18’ depending on how you count. Unless you count like Apple with ‘S’s randomly thrown into names and orders. Let’s count them out just to check my math:
- iPhone — 2007 (‘iPhone 1’)
- iPhone 3G — 2008 (‘iPhone 2’)
- iPhone 3GS — 2009 (‘iPhone 3’)
- iPhone 4–2010
- iPhone 4S — 2011 (‘iPhone 5’)
- iPhone 5–2012 (‘iPhone 6’)
- iPhone 5S — 2013 (‘iPhone 7’)
- iPhone 6–2014 (‘iPhone 8’)
- iPhone 6S — 2015 (‘iPhone 9’)
- iPhone 7–2016 (‘iPhone 10’)
- iPhone 8–2017 (‘iPhone 11’)
- iPhone X — 2017 (’iPhone 12’)
- iPhone XS — 2018 (‘iPhone 13’)
- iPhone 11–2019 (‘iPhone 14’)
- iPhone 12–2020 (‘iPhone 15’)
- iPhone 13–2021 (‘iPhone 16’)
- iPhone 14–2022 (‘iPhone 17’)
- iPhone 15–2023 (‘iPhone 18’)
As you can see, only two iPhones names are technically correct, chronologically: the original iPhone and the iPhone 4. We won’t even include the ‘iPhone 5C’ (an iteration I actually enjoyed, but Apple clearly felt was a mistake), the ‘iPhone XR’ (I’m still confused by this name, though it’s funny to think about now as we await the Vision Pro “XR” device), or the various ‘SE’ models.
This is a long-winded way of saying that I wish Apple had changed the naming scheme away from the numbers this year. Yes, every year I wish they would do this, but are we really going to have an ‘iPhone 24’ in 2032? Maybe! Probably? But this year, with a material change — quite literally — on the high end models, they had an easy way to stray from the course. Or course-correct, as it were. The ‘iPhone 15 Pro’ should be called the ‘iPhone Titanium’.
It’s both the best and most visible change to the iPhone this year. Sure, it’s only a part of the Pro models, but they could have pulled the 2017 naming trick mentioned above and gone with the ‘iPhone 15’ for the “regular” new models, and the ‘iPhone Titanium’ for the “premium” models.
And sure, given how nice the material looks and feels (and apparently does not contribute to overheating devices), it seems likely that Apple uses the material going forward. Perhaps it remains a ‘Pro’ line exclusive for some time, or maybe it spreads across the whole range of iPhones eventually. Still, it was worth calling out the new material by name in the naming of the device this year, in my opinion.
Breaking this naming cycle could allow Apple to get more creative next year. Much like they do with macOS, perhaps each new iPhone could get a “fun” name. Sometimes related to the device itself, like “Titanium”, sometimes something different — geographic, like macOS? Something else?
Yes, it’s all marketing. But Apple loves marketing! Apple is arguably the best at marketing. Let me just ask you: what sounds sexier: the ‘iPhone 15 Pro’ or the ‘iPhone Titanium’? How about the ‘iPhone 16 Pro Max’ or the ‘iPhone Ultra’? (More on this below.)
Anyway, that’s 600ish words on the name of this year’s iPhone. But again, I do believe the best, most noteworthy feature is the titanium finish of the Pro model this year. It looks great, but it feels so much better in hand than previous models. It’s noticeably lighter than last year’s iPhone 14 Pro, while also feeling more polished. Sort of like a smoothed stone compared to last year’s harsh edges. It just feels right. Which is subjective, but also not wrong. This. This is the way an iPhone should feel.
The other big upgrades this year include the 5x optical zoom on the ‘Max’ variety of the ‘Pro’ (more silly naming schemes). Others have written about this in far more detail than I could ever hope to — but in general usage, it’s great. I understand that some people don’t want to carry around a larger device just to get access to this feature, but if you’re on the fence, it’s probably worth it for you. The larger size, which I’ve had for a few years now, is easy to get used to. It will feel massive the first few days, and then it will feel entirely normal. And, I suspect the aforementioned lighter weight thanks to the titanium this year will only help the transition, if you choose to make it. Also, it has a bigger battery.
The other major upgrade this year is the inclusion of an “Action button” in the place of the traditional ‘mute’ toggle. This was obviously borrowed from the Apple Watch ‘Ultra” (see, Apple can still have fun with names!) and is something I wanted on an iPhone since day one with that device last year. As expected, it’s great. I use it to launch the camera with one click — well, long click — and to snap a photo with another click of the same button. It’s awesomely customizable, and I wish Apple made the software even more so — so, say, if the iPhone is locked, the button launches the camera. But if it’s unlocked, it does something else. And if you’re in a certain app, it does something else. In a certain ‘Focus’ mode, something else. Etc.
You can sort of “hack” together solutions in this vein thanks to Apple’s Shortcuts app, but it’s a little more clunky than it would be as an actually mapped system feature. Similarly, it would be great if you could set a double or even triple click of this button to do something different. But this is full on “if you give a mouse a cookie” stuff. The button is great and I suspect it will get more great with time and software updates.
One other small nit that software won’t be able to update: the positioning of the button isn’t ideal — for the camera in particular. It’s a reach, more so on the ‘Max’ variety of the iPhone. It would be great to have it on the other side of the iPhone, again, similar to how it’s positioned on the Apple Watch Ultra. For the camera function, this would also allow the camera system to be more naturally positioned at the top of the device when held horizontally. Perhaps this is something Apple looks into for future versions, now that the ‘Mute’ transition has happened. Or maybe we get another new button with the move to all-haptic solid-state buttons, as is rumored for future iPhones? It would be cool to have the Action button have a different accent color as well, just like the Apple Watch Ultra. Again, all nits.
What else? Overall, the phone feels a bit snappier this year compared to the iPhone 14 Pro, but this may have just as much to do with more RAM on top of the new chip. Speaking of, battery life does seem improved versus last year’s model, but it’s hard to know if you can chalk this up to the new 3nm chip architecture or if my old model was just sucking wind at the end there (probably some combination).
The screen is indeed more edge-to-edge this year, but that’s honestly only really noticeable when held side-by-side with older models. It’s nice, but fairly subtle.
I nearly forgot, because I often forget: this year’s iPhone models have USB-C. I forget it because I charge my phone wirelessly most of the time. Still, it will be nice when traveling to only have to carry one cable for my Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Of course, my wife’s iPhone still uses a Lightning cable so… it will be a few-year transition.
Bringing it back to titanium, the color options are nice, but muted. I chose the “natural” model and I’m happy with it. Depending on the light you’re in, it goes from looking gray to white to almost blue. This plus the aforementioned feel of the device has eased my displeasure with the “FineWoven” case, which I ended up returning. This is a device definitely best used without a case, as scary as that may seem. So thank you, Apple, for crapping the bed with FineWoven and making it an easy call.
Back to branding, my actual guess would be that Apple introduces an “Ultra” branding to the iPhone line next year. I don’t know why they didn’t do it this year, as was rumored — again, the move to titanium feels like a good excuse to introduce a new name — but it feels like one of those things where there’s fire behind the smoke. Perhaps they’re waiting for full capacitive buttons. Or a fully behind-the-screen front camera system. Or a new monthly payment bundle that includes an iPhone. Or some combination of things. Maybe they just didn’t want to jack up the price this year (instead, they raised the entry level price on the Pro models by removing a smaller, cheaper storage option) with everything going on from a macro perspective. It does feel like a more premium priced ‘iPhone Ultra’ would go over better in boom times…
But I still have to wonder when the numbers go away. I know, I know, don’t overthink it. The numbers have been working for Apple for years — to the tune of perhaps the most successful product ever created! — but it’s one of those things that feels like it will work until it suddenly doesn’t. It’s messy now but it risks looking ridiculous if Apple allows the iPhone to go past, say, the ‘iPhone 20’ (which, if the current system holds, will debut in 2028). Let’s do an ‘iPhone XX’ and use that to transition to something either simpler — how about this: the ‘iPhone’, the ‘iPhone Plus’, and the ‘iPhone Pro’ — or something more fun: the ‘iPhone Titanium’, the ‘iPhone Ultra’, the ‘iPhone Supernova’. Space themes? The ‘iPhone Insanely Great’?
Anyway, yeah the ‘iPhone 15 Pro’, the artist that should perhaps be known as either the ‘iPhone 17 Pro’ or ‘iPhone 18 Pro’, is great. Just like the 17+ other iPhones before it. If you use an iPhone, it’s undoubtedly your most-used and important device. And this is the best version yet. It’s also undoubtedly your most-used and most important camera. And this is the best version yet. In particular if you get the Max version of the Pro. Which remains a ridiculous sentence to type. Titanium, FTW.
