News JVTech The iPhone 15 Pro could completely do without physical buttons: but what is Apple preparing?
An important design change could take place on the iPhone 15 Pro: indeed, Apple could choose to drop the physical buttons for the ignition and the volume, in order to replace them with a new way of handling the terminal. .
Soon the end of “physical” buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro? It’s been years since the “Home” button on iPhones disappeared from the radar and all that remains today is three embossed buttons on Apple smartphones : that of the ignition and those of the sound adjustment, which are all three present on the sides of the device. But the Cupertino company is about to change that.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple would consider swapping these physical buttons for “solid-state buttons”, or “solid-state buttons” in the language of Shakespeare. Flat surfaces that would be able to react to vibrations : enough to decide with the current mechanical buttons.
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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.— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) October 28, 2022
Apple’s Taptic Engine to the rescue
Apple’s goal would be touse its Taptic Engine technology to simulate the effect of pressure where buttons used to be. The user would therefore only have to touch the associated location to feel a vibration confirming that the command has been accepted.
Such a proposal is not new to Apple. Indeed, the Taptic Engine functionality already existed on l’iPhone 7 et l’iPhone 8 and it is currently used on MacBooks that have a Force Touch trackpad. The fact that the company would seek to use it more would not be surprising.
Besides giving a touch of novelty to the iPhone 15 Pro, this change also has an interest in the resistance of the terminal, especially to dust and liquids. In effect, solid-state buttons leave no gap in the shell, making it easier to seal. It would also allow Apple to limit the number of parts in the smartphone.
A way to increase iPhone sales for Apple?
It should be remembered, moreover, that iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus sales are currently very disappointing for Apple. Multiple observations have already largely underlined the fact that the manufacturer had not brought many new features to this generation of iPhone, and that this observation has pushed consumers, whose purchasing power is not fixed, to ignore this generation. The more fortunate preferred to turn to l’iPhone 14 Pro ou l’iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Apple therefore finds itself under pressure to innovate and make techies want to checkout again. For this, the firm could therefore decide to bring an interesting novelty to its next high-end models. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, if the “solid-state buttons” could be limited to the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max in 2023, Apple is already considering implementing it on future iPhones and Apple Watch in the years to come.
