iPhone 15 Pro could end up having physical rather than solid-state buttons after all

After months of leaks saying Apple will ditch the bodily quantity and energy buttons on this yr’s iPhone 15 Professional in favor of fancy solid-state replacements, one of many authentic sources of the rumor now says it’s not occurring.

“My newest survey signifies that because of unresolved technical points earlier than mass manufacturing, each high-end iPhone 15 Professional fashions (Professional & Professional Max) will abandon the closely-watched solid-state button design and revert to the normal bodily button design,” respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a Medium submit. 9to5Mac studies that one other analyst, Haitong Tech’s Jeff Pu, additionally thinks Apple will stick to conventional mechanical buttons for iPhone 15 Professional fashions.

Rumors that Apple would swap to solid-state buttons for the iPhone 15 Professional and Professional Max emerged round October final yr. On the time, Kuo predicted that Apple would swap to a solid-state answer just like what it used for the house button on the iPhone 8 for the upcoming telephones’ quantity and energy buttons (although there was no point out of the change coming to the non-Professional iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus). As an alternative of mechanical buttons, a pair of Taptic Engines would generate haptic suggestions on a button press. Subsequently leaked telephone renders appeared to verify this design change.

In at the moment’s be aware, Kuo doesn’t provide many particulars on the “unresolved technical points” that prompted Apple to take away the function, however says that switching to easier bodily buttons at this stage shouldn’t lead to any delays on the telephones’ manufacturing schedules. Kuo notes that it’s not nice information for the suppliers of the solid-state button {hardware}, nonetheless. That doesn’t imply it couldn’t nonetheless occur in future years, however not for 2023.