iPhone buyers should avoid iPhone 15, wait for iPhone 16 instead

iPhone 15 is Apple’s marquee smartphone from last year’s lot. It has everything a buyer would want on a decent premium phone, and even though it lacks the bells and whistles of the more expensive iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, it offers a complete package to customers for its price. The price, particularly, has reduced significantly over the past few months. Launched at Rs 79,900, the iPhone 15 is currently available for less than Rs 65,000. And even though it will become even much cheaper after the iPhone 16 launch, it may not be the best proposition right now. There is a good reason behind it.

Why the iPhone 15 should be avoided?

The simplest answer to that question is the launch of the iPhone 16. Apple is launching the next-generation iPhone devices on September 9. They will likely include four models once again, namely, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The iPhone 16 will replace the iPhone 15 as Apple’s latest marquee model, bringing more advanced features and technologies that will not be available on last year’s iPhone 15 even though it is eligible for the upcoming iOS 18.

The spotlight is on Apple’s generative artificial intelligence, dubbed Apple Intelligence, which will debut on the iPhone 16 series. Apple announced that Apple Intelligence will be supported on iPhone 15 Pro models and higher, leaving iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus users high and dry. While the company did not immediately say why it has left out the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus from the list, it later clarified that the unavailability of the AI tools can be cited to the lack of necessary specifications. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus have 6GB of RAM, whereas Apple Intelligence needs at least 8GB of RAM to run smoothly.

Not having the Apple Intelligence features on a newly purchased iPhone may be off-putting, especially when the discounted price of the iPhone 15 will not be too far from the launch price of the iPhone 16. Apple slashes the price of the previous-generation iPhone devices by Rs 10,000, meaning the official price of the iPhone 15 post-iPhone 16 launch will be Rs 69,600. Giving up on the latest features for about Rs 10,000 may not be the best purchasing decision. The iPhone 16 is also expected to come with the Action Button and better features, which may make the deal worthwhile for the buyers of the latest iPhone.

iPhone 15 is still good

While the iPhone 16 will be a better deal, the iPhone 15 will continue to be one of the best smartphones. Rightly so because it will sell for a lot less than its revised price after the iPhone 16 launch. Shopping websites such as Flipkart and Amazon run festive season sales multiple times a year, giving customers big discounts on popular smartphones, including the iPhone 15. So, buyers can go for the iPhone 15 if they do not want to spend around Rs 80,000, but should refrain from buying it currently and wait for festive sales.