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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Saqib Shah

Apple iPhone 15 price cut could make you think twice about buying iPhone 16

With a brighter screen and a significantly improved camera, last year’s iPhone 15 stood out as a surprisingly meaty upgrade after years of minor tweaks.

Twelve months later, Apple’s 6.1-inch marvel is getting a chunky discount that makes it even more tempting, especially for bargain hunters. 

You can currently snag the iPhone 15 for as little as £681 from John Lewis or Amazon, as long as you don’t mind settling for it in black or pink. That amounts to a saving of almost 15 per cent on its original price of £799. Meanwhile, Apple currently has it listed for £699, or £100 off.

Of course, the big reason for the price cut is the arrival of the new iPhone 16, which is currently available to pre-order from £799 ahead of its release on Friday, September 20.

iPhone 15 versus iPhone 16: Which one should you buy?

So, which one should you get? While the iPhone 16 does boast some notable hardware upgrades, many core features remain the same. 

The iPhone 15 in pink is currently on offer for £681, down from £799. (Apple)

The two models both have the same, dazzling OLED display, with a maximum brightness of 2,000 nits and a smooth enough refresh rate of 60Hz. They also have the same cameras, including two on the back (a 48MP main lens and a 12MP ultra-wide) and a single 12MP sensor on the front. 

Plus, they both use USB-C for charging, meaning you no longer have to juggle different cables for different devices.

As for those new improvements, the iPhone 16 includes a new A18 chip that is supposedly 30 percent faster than the A16 in the iPhone 15. It also comes with 8GB of RAM, up from 6GB in the iPhone 15, allowing for better multitasking.

The iPhone 16 also has a new Camera Control button for quickly taking pics and accessing advanced photo settings. (Apple)

Both features are built to fuel Apple's new AI system, Apple Intelligence, unlocking capabilities like image generation, a smarter Siri, and concise email summaries. The iPhone 16 is also more future-proof than its predecessor, thanks to support for WiFi 7 connectivity.

So, if you don’t mind skipping the AI tricks, you should be fine with the iPhone 15. In our five-star review of the device, we praised it as a great all-rounder with a long-lasting battery, a stunning camera with improved optical 2x zoom, and solid performance. Ultimately, that’s what most people want out of a phone - and the discount is the icing on the cake.

How long will the iPhone 15 last?

Best of all, the iPhone 15 will last you at least another four years, barring any mishaps on your part. 

That’s because Apple provides up to five years of security updates for its phones, ensuring they remain protected, up-to-date, and fully functional well beyond their initial release.

As such, the iPhone 15 should receive updates until at least September 2028.

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