The iPhone 15 Pro’s buttons have been the talk of the town, from being solid-state and switching the mute switch for an action button, to axing the plans and reverting to the same mechanical buttons used on the likes of the iPhone 14.
And now, thanks to a shareholder letter from Apple supplier Cirrus Logic, we just got the clearest indication yet that the latter is true. Don’t expect solid-state buttons on the next iPhone.
Not so solid (state) crew
Cirrus Logic, well known for creating the likes of the Taptic Engine, has been hotly tipped to be the company working on these solid-state buttons, and the timings talked about in the letter line up. "That said, among the HPMS opportunities we have discussed, a new product that we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for introduction this fall is no longer expected to come to market as planned," the letter states.
This also correlates with Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s report about these being axed for the more traditional mechanical options of old — the reason being down to “technical issues before mass production.”
As for when we could see these make their debut, Cirrus Logic writes about “limited visibility” into Apple’s “future plans for this product at this time.” However, Kuo does report that you will likely see them used on 2024’s iPhone 16 Pro.
Outlook
I’ve got to be honest — always been a little confused by the whole hullabaloo about buttons on an iPhone. I know the benefits of it, but the wall-to-wall coverage over a change from mechanical to solid state seems a little excessive.
However, we could very well see a more interesting button-based change, as the ring/silent switch looks set to be replaced by an action button like what you see on the Apple Watch Ultra. To get something more contextual and customizable could be a big step forward in terms of the iPhone’s usability.
