iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus announced at Apple Event

Apple’s new base model iPhones, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, are here! While they may only offer incremental updates over last year’s iPhone 14 models, they’re well worth your attention if you’re looking to upgrade to a powerful, user-friendly smartphone with outstanding battery life and a great camera.

Both enjoy a speed and power efficiency boost from Apple’s A16 Bionic chip. While there’s a long explanation we could give you about what makes the chip tick, what matters to users like you and me, is the fact that it lends itself to blazing-fast performance and superior battery life over the last-generation iPhone. By the numbers, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus offer faster processing speeds than last year's models and up to all-day battery life (or, battery life beyond a full day, in the case of the 15 Plus, thanks to its larger battery). Thanks to the iPhone 15's second-generation Ultrawide band chip, finding your keys or, your partner in a crowded mall, will be more precise and work from up to three times further away.

For the rare times that you make phone calls, instead of sending a text, you'll discover that voice isolation is greatly improved. At times when there's no cellular service, Apple's SOS service is being expanded to work as a satellite-enabled roadside assistance appliance: no matter where your car breaks down, you'll be able to get help. Best of all, Satellite services come free, for two years, with the purchase of an iPhone 15.

The iPhone 15 (6.1-inch OLED Super Retina display) and iPhone 15 Plus (6.7-inch OLED Super Retina display), along with this year’s iPhone Pro models, are the first Apple smartphones to forgo a Lightning port in favor of USB-C. One of the biggest takeaways from the Wonderlust Event about this update? The fact that you'll be able to use your iPhone 15's battery to charge devices like your Airpods.

And of course, no iPhone update would be complete without a few quality-of-life improvements, provided by new hardware perks and software updates specifically tailored to the handset’s speedy new chipset.

The most obvious example of this is the fact that the 15 and 15 Plus have done away with the display notch at the top of their screens in favor of Apple’s Dynamic Island: a black area on the iPhone 15's OLED Super Retina display that conceals the location of the handset’s front-facing cameras and acts as a notification center. Previously the Dynamic Island was a feature available exclusively to iPhone 14 Pro users. We're certain that iPhone 15 users will enjoy the amount of utility that the inclusion of Dynamic Island will bring to their daily lives.

We should also talk about the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus’ rear-facing cameras. Everyone from casual shutterbugs to professional photographers will be thrilled to hear that both handsets can, in addition to 24MP photos, they'll also be able to capture more detailed, data-rich 48MP ProRAW images for the first time. These images boast larger file sizes that allow for a greater level of manipulation in photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom Mobile. What's more, the main camera can capture 12MP 2x 'optical quality' telephoto still and video content. Your portrait photography will improve as well, thanks to the fact that machine learning will automatically switch your camera into photo mode for people, dogs, and cats. It's also possible to control the depth and bokeh of the photos you take, after the fact. Meanwhile, the iPhone's new TrueDepth front-facing camera is able to capture superior images. Your Instagram selfies will never look better.

The iPhone 15 starts at $799 (128GB), while the iPhone 15 Plus can be had, starting at $899 (128GB).

Make sure to follow USA Today's live Apple Event coverage and to find out why the Apple Event matters. Preorders begin on Friday, September 15 at 5 a.m. PDT.