The iPhone 15 Pro could be the first iPhone without physical buttons
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro are only a month old. However, predictions for the next generation of devices (iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro) have started to emerge. The latest rumor comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Twitter.
The „two high-end iPhone 15 models“ (most likely the iPhone 15 Pro and the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max) may use a non-press button design.
He says this based on information from vendors working with Apple.
Instead of being pressed like mechanical buttons, they don’t move at all. This means that they are essentially just touch-sensitive surfaces. This wouldn’t be the first time Apple used this design for its buttons. Before it replaced it almost entirely, the Home button on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 was like this.
The same design is still used by Apple in the iPhone SE (2022).
To help these new buttons feel like mechanical ones, Kuo said Apple will use haptic feedback. This will mimic the feeling of pressing a real button. The same way things happen with the Touch ID button.
As with all rumours, this one should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Until Tim Cook steps onto Apple’s stage in Cupertino, there’s no guarantee what the next iPhone will look like. In fact, even whether it will be the iPhone 15. Apple has jumped on the numbers before — like with the defunct iPhone 9. But Kuo has a solid track record of predicting Apple’s next technology, so it’s worth paying attention to what the analyst has to say. .
Is it important that the buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro can be changed?
The main advantage of switching to this type of button is that the parts are much less likely to wear out from use. Their mechanical counterparts are much more susceptible to time. In addition to helping your iPhone 15 last longer, these buttons will also give Apple the opportunity to introduce new control gestures.
There is an option to still be able to press buttons to control volume and power on your iPhone. However, Apple could also introduce swipe gesture controls or data entry that changes depending on the force of the button press. A light press can increase the volume by one step, while a hard press instantly increases the volume or mutes the device.
We’ll have to see how Apple chooses to implement these new buttons, assuming they introduce them at all. There are many options for their implementation.
Kuo adds in a follow-up to his original tweet that if Apple does indeed implement these changes, it likely won’t be the last smartphone maker to do so. Kuo thinks we’ll likely see many of the future top Android smartphones follow suit with their own buttons of this type.