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iOS 15 compatible iPhones are readily available, although Apple only tends to manufacture the latest line of iPhones, which at the time of writing, is the iPhone 13 series. Buying refurbished Apple products is a great way to save some cash and a great way to find iOS 15 compatible iPhones, but you won’t be able to use some functionality on the iOS 15 features list. Can iPhone SE get iOS 15?
iOS 15 Features List
With a new wave of iPhones comes new technical headroom for cameras, SoCs, screen size/resolution, and more. Naturally, iOS 15 compatible iPhones won’t all share the same level of prowess, meaning some older iPhone models will miss out on some new features. Well, Apple needs a couple of reasons to make you buy their new iPhone 13s, right?
These features are especially tied to the iPhone 13s powerful camera array, more specifically the iPhone 13 Pro/Pro Max and its cinematic mode. This records a video with a shallow depth of field in 1080p @ 30FPS. For more information about the differences between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, check out this handy article. For those who aren’t sure what the iOS 15 fuss is all about, here’s the best iOS 15 features list:
FaceTime
Kicking things off with the most requested feature, SharePlay allows you to bring movies, TV, and music into your calls in real-time, which is also synced for all participants. You can also share your screen to bring up web pages, apps, and more, including allowing others to add to your Apple Playlist. The focus on FaceTime is about conversation, which is why smart volume keeps media volume at just the right level automatically.
Gridview makes it easy to see all FaceTime callers at once, which is complemented by wide spectrum mode, a microphone feature that picks up a wide array of sounds, ideal for music lessons, and more. Spatial audio also gives the effect that your contacts’ voice is coming from where they’re positioned on the call, helping bridge the gap towards a normal face-to-face environment. This applies to every, even those without an Apple device thanks to a new browser version of FaceTime, although the lead caller will need to be using an Apple device.
Messages
Shared with you plays a big part in iOS 15, allowing users to have a hub in apps such as Photos, Safari, Apple News, Apple Music, and more for pictures and messages from others. You can now also switch phone numbers in the Messages app, even in the middle of a conversation for dual SIM iPhone models.
Focus
A smarter take on ‘do not disturb’ thanks to specific Focus settings based on work, personal time, sleep, fitness, mindfulness, gaming, reading, or driving. Location and time of day play a big part in smart Focus suggestions that also map your past activity once activated to help match your lifestyle. Customize focus with new icons, which notifications you’ll need, and of course, give it a name.
Maps
Maps have had a facelift for iOS 15 with an interactive globe, featuring detailed mountain ranges deserts, forests, and more with detailed city experiences. London, New York, San Francisco, and LA have been scanned for enhanced textures for a truly intuitive and interactive navigation experience. More cities are to follow, which will make for a far better walking experience thanks to augmented reality directions. It#s also easier and quicker to send in map contributions thanks to a little redesign alongside a new and improved filtered searching system.
Safari
With the tab bar at the bottom, tab groups, and tab syncing, handheld use of Safari on iOS 15 is efficient and seamless with other Apple devices. Pull to refresh is a great feature and very intuitive, there are also new privacy protections in place and HTTPS upgrades being used where available.
Wallet
You can now add your Covid certificates alongside home, hotel, car, and office keys to your Apple wallet, with some functionality being locked to buying the specific HomeKit hardware of course.
Live Text
Live text allows users to extract text from photos and paste it into messages or wherever text input is supported. Visual lookup also uses object recognition to identify things like art pieces, plant life, animals, book, and much more.
For the full list of iOS 15 features, click here to go to the Apple iOS 15 features list page. for process-heavy tasks, some iOS 15 features may struggle to work with iPhones pre-A12 bionic processors. Old phones simply don’t have the horsepower or bionic engineering features to make the magic happen. This means any iPhone manufactured before the iPhone XR won’t be able to use the following features:
- Spatial audio and portrait mode when using FaceTime
- Interactive 3D globe, detailed city globes, and augmented reality directions
- Live Text and Visual Lookup
- On-Device Siri requests
- On-Device dictation
- Storing digital keys in Wallet
- Quicktake videos
iOS 15 Compatible iPhones
Here’s a full list of every iOS 15 compatible iPhone. Looking to buy one? We’ve included links where applicable to pick one up if you need to as well:
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone SE (2016)
- iPod Touch (seventh-generation)
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPhone XR
- iPhone Xs
- iPhone Xs Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone SE (2020)
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
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