Were you waiting for the iPhone 16 announcement to decide between the new iPhones and last year’s best iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro? Well, you might be out of luck, because Apple has discontinued the iPhone 15 Pro and its bigger sibling, the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
While this isn’t necessarily a surprise since Apple discontinues the Pro models of the iPhone every year, it does impose restrictions on new buyers who want to use Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI tools.
Until this week, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max were the only iPhones to come with new Apple Intelligence features like proofreading, Genmoji and a revamped Siri. But you can no longer buy those from Apple.
Instead, Apple’s lineup of iPhones now includes the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Of these, only the 16 lineup can use the new AI technology.
It’s worth noting that you can buy the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max for the same price as last year’s 15 Pro and Pro Max. It would have been nice if Apple had included the old Pro devices with the kit, though, to give an additional option for those who don’t want the iPhone 16 but also don’t want to pay over the odds for the Pro.
There is still hope
You can still buy the 15 Pro and Pro Max from carriers at the moment, but deals on the older models may not last much longer as the emphasis now shifts to Apple’s shiny new smartphones.
As for what Apple Intelligence can do, expect all but the same features on the new iPhones and last year’s offerings. Visual Intelligence, Apple’s Google Lens competitor, is activated via the new Camera Control side button, which is exclusive to the iPhone 16 line, so iPhone 15 Pro owners will miss out on that particular AI tool.
If you’re in doubt between buying an iPhone 15 Pro for Apple Intelligence or the iPhone 16, read our hands-on iPhone 16 review and our hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review to see how these phones perform based on Apple Intelligence.
