Apple is reportedly planning big changes for the iPhone 15 Pro models. First, the company’s executive confirmed that the USB-C port would make its way to the iPhone (probably with iPhone 15), and now Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reported that drop the physical power and volume buttons in favor of solid-state buttons.
Talking more about the solid-state buttons, Kuo says that these buttons would be similar to the Home Button of the iPhone 7/8/SE2 & 3. This means that the buttons won’t actually click, and instead, the Taptic Engine could be used to provide the vibrating feeling of a click. “Like with the Home button, Kuo says Apple will rely on Taptic Engine vibration motors to simulate the feeling of a click,” Kuo writes.
The company not only uses this technology on the iPhone but modern MacBooks as well. Due to the design change, Kuo predicts that iPhone 15 Pro models will feature three Taptic Engines — up from one in the current iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 series. What effect would this change have on the design (thickness) and battery of the iPhone? It remains to be seen.
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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.— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) October 28, 2022
Kuo adds that Android manufacturers will probably follow Apple and bring solid-state buttons to the other side as well. It is, however, worth noting that Apple won’t be the first to replace physical buttons on its smartphones. LG was said to be developing two buttonless smartphones before it went out of business. Even HTC’s U12 Plus also relied on pressure-sensitive buttons rather than physical ones.
The solution didn’t prove to be that great, and it was reported that a lot of users had issues with the solid-state buttons. Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 with a more robust solution. Would you be interested in buying an iPhone with no physical buttons? Let us know in the comments section below!
Source: Twitter
