iPhone 15 may look to the past for the lineup's first major redesign in years

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Who remembers the iPhone 5C?

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(Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

Apple's 2023 iPhone, likely to be called iPhone 15, could come with a new look that's actually an old one. Oh, and it could use a material new to the iPhone lineup, too.

Starting with that material, leaker ShrimpApplePro claims that the iPhone 15 will get a "new border design" that will see the rear of the iPhone take on a decidedly iPhone 5C look. And that might not be a bad thing — nor will the also rumored use of titanium, either.

What is old is new again

The leaker suggests that the back of the iPhone 15 will be more rounded than the boxy affair we're used to today. The most obvious comparison would be the old iPhone 5C's rounded back edges, with the leaker also making the same comparison.

As for what the iPhone 15 will be made from, the leaker claims that "the material also will be titanium," although they also point out that it is still early in proceedings and things could change between now and September 2023.

Apple already uses or used titanium in some of its products, most notably the Apple Watch Ultra. We haven't seen titanium come to the iPhone yet, but it would likely help reduce scratches around the outside of the iPhone. We can expect the actual rear of the iPhone 15 to remain glass to allow for MagSafe wireless charging, however.

It's possible that Apple could reserve the titanium construction for its iPhone 15 Pro lineup, of course, with the rumored iPhone 15 Ultra also a possible destination for the new material. The best iPhone of all the 2023 models, the iPhone 15 Ultra is rumored to replace the iPhone 14 Pro Max at the very top of Apple's lineup. If that turns out to be accurate, it's possible Apple may use titanium as another way to differentiate it from the other iPhone models.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.