The upcoming iPhone 15 Pro series is said to come with numerous upgrades but so far the biggest update is that the smartphones could ditch the clickable physical buttons and instead go for solid-state buttons. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in his latest survey has found that the power and volume buttons of iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max could drop the clickable buttons to adopt a solid-state design similar to the home button design of iPhone 7 or iPhone 8. These are buttons that basically don’t click like physical buttons. Instead, they use haptic feedback. You can’t press down these buttons and you get vibrate in response.
For the unaware, Haptic feedback was recently introduced by Apple for the keyboard in its latest iOS16 update. Haptic feedback, although battery-draining, comes with several benefits like higher typing speed, precise input accuracy and is an easy way to know if the text you are typing is coming through.
Improved typing speed, better input accuracy and is a great way to know if the text you’re typing is going through. The solid-state buttons that Kuo is talking about or which we’ve also seen in iPhone 8 or iPhone SE (2nd or 3rd generation) are powered by Apple’s Taptic Engine. The technology basically produces small vibrations in response to an input.
“My latest survey indicates that the volume button and power button of two high-end iPhone 15/2H23 new iPhone models may adopt a solid-state button design (similar to the home button design of iPhone 7/8/SE2 & 3) to replace the physical/mechanical button design,” Kuo tweeted.
According to the analyst, Apple will place Taptic Engines on the internal left and right sides of the button to make users feel like they are pressing physical buttons.
In the same thread of tweets, Kuo notes that the increased number of Taptic engines in the iPhone from current one to three will significantly benefit Luxshare and AAC Technologies which are the two Taptic Engine suppliers.
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