The mechanical volume and power buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max could be replaced with solid-state toggles that provide haptic feedback. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the buttons may perform similarly to the solid-state home button that was initially introduced on the iPhone 7 that vibrates in response to contact but cannot be physically depressed.
The solid-state home button on the iPhone 8, as well as the second and third iterations of the cost-effective iPhone SE, is driven by Apple’s Taptic Engine. The haptic keyboard presses in iOS 16 and the Force Touch trackpads on Apple’s MacBooks both make use of the same technology.
In a tweet, Kuo adds that in order to give customers the impression that they are pushing physical buttons, Apple will need to add Taptic Engines to the left and right sides of the two high-end iPhone 15 models. The iPhone 15 would then have three Taptic engines instead of just one. Since the base iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Plus are not mentioned by Kuo, the power and volume buttons on these two versions may remain clicky.
Even the new $799 Apple Watch Ultra still includes some physical toggles, despite the firm allegedly wanting to add a solid-state button to its Apple Watch in 2018. Even though the iPhone 15 won’t be released for about a year, there are still a lot of speculations floating about about it. For example, it may ditch the “Pro Max” name in favor of “Ultra,” and all models, not just the Pro ones, may include the new Dynamic Island. Additionally, the iPhone 15 is anticipated to be the first iPhone to support USB-C.
