The iPhone 15 Pro models won’t have any physical volume and power buttons as Apple is looking to replace them with solid-state version(s) with built-in Taptic Engine to mimic the “click” aspect. The information comes courtesy noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The “prediction” has been made before and the latest update essentially builds on that with more details.
Apple isn’t new to using solid-state buttons with Taptic Engine. Cupertino has done this way back starting with the iPhone 7. There, the physical home button was actually removed in order to fit a solid-state version with specialised haptics giving users the feel of clicking a physical button— even though it wasn’t technically. There’s also a version of this available on the MacBook Pro as well, inside the trackpad. If at all the iPhone 15 Pro does get one, too, it is expected to be an improved version. That Apple wants to make a portless/buttonless iPhone some day has been subject of many speculations and the decision to remove the power and volume buttons could well lead to that eventually.
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“My latest survey indicates that high-end iPhone 15 models will feature solid-state buttons and will equip with additional Taptic Engines to simulate the feel of physical buttons’ force feedback,” Kuo wrote on Twitter, adding that “Cirrus Logic is the primary winner for canceling physical buttons and the change to adopt solid-state buttons on the 2H23 high-end iPhone 15 models.”
Apple has some of the best haptics available in the industry. The iPhones, or even the Mac where it has put up the technology has been nothing short of being phenomenal. You can’t really tell that there is no button unless you’re looking for it. But to remove legacy buttons entirely and replace them with haptics would mark a significant change in user experience so we’ll have to wait and watch out on how that pans out.
Kuo has also predicted that all of the iPhone 15 models would get Apple’s Dynamic Island after remaining an iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max-exclusive in the current generation.
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