After months of conjecture, Apple‘s iPhone 15 Pro versions may wind up using physical buttons rather than solid-state ones.
According to Apple expert Ming Chi-Kuo, the iPhone 15 Pro models will include conventional physical buttons due to unresolved technological concerns before mass production.
“My latest survey indicates that due to unresolved technical issues before mass production, both high-end iPhone 15 Pro models (Pro and Pro Max) will abandon the closely-watched solid-state button design and revert to the traditional physical button design,” Kuo wrote in a Medium post on Wednesday.
Furthermore, he stated that investors expected the new solid-state button design to boost suppliers’ sales and profits; consequently, this move is especially detrimental to Cirrus Logic (sole Controller IC provider) and AAC Technologies (Taptic Engine supplier).
Luxshare ICT, another Taptic Engine provider for solid-state buttons, will most likely be unaffected by this shift due to its substantially bigger operational scale than AAC Technologies.
According to Kuo, the iPhone 15 Pro is now in the EVT development stage, which means there is still time to change the design.
Furthermore, removing the solid-state buttons and replacing them with physical buttons will make development and testing easier.
Based on these factors, the removal of solid-state buttons should have only a modest influence on the Pro model’s mass manufacturing schedule and shipments.
