What will the iPhone 15 look like? The design differences we expect to see

The iPhone 14 launch date of September 2022 isn't far away, and that means Apple's plans for the iPhone 15 are already well advanced. So what will the iPhone 15, which is likely to be one of the very best phones of 2023, look like?

We can't tell for sure, and the rumour mill hasn't got its hands on any tasty leaks yet. But we can make some informed predictions based on what we know from previous and current iPhones, such as the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, and the features we're expecting to see.

The short version: it'll look a lot like the iPhone 13, but there will be some significant differences.

iPhone 15: what to expect

Apple's design language for the iPhone hasn't really changed since the iPhone 4. The chin and forehead have disappeared as Touch ID became Face ID but the basic idea has evolved rather than gone off in wild directions. If you were to look at the different models from the last 12 years in a time lapse it'd show you a phone becoming slightly more elongated with the screen growing to take more and more of the screen.

I don't think you'll see massive design changes to mess with that. The notch will almost certainly be gone – it'll go from the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max this year – in favour of a hole-punch design, and the Lightning port will almost certainly be swapped for USB-C. It might even drop the port altogether in favour of MagSafe-only charging, although I think that one's a long shot – some accessories, such as CarPlay stereos, need a cabled connection. If you thought the outcry over the end of the headphone jack was bad, an iPhone that made people's in-car entertainment obsolete would be louder still.

Round the back, you'll still have that camera bump – but there will be improved sensors and possibly a periscope lens in there for better optical zoom, something current iPhones aren't brilliant at and something that may arrive in the Pro models of the iPhone 14 first. And rumours suggest that in addition to Face ID, near-future iPhones will also have a fingerprint sensor embedded behind the screen.

I don't think we'll see a folding iPhone becoming the standard iPhone for a good while yet, but having a folding iPhone 15 as the most expensive option isn't impossible; we know Apple is working on folding and bendable phones but while some pundits predict a 2023 release Apple isn't known for rushing things to market. It'll be released when Apple is ready.