iPhone 15 Pro may ditch two buttons for volume control

Rumors continue to grow that Apple will replace all of the physical buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro with solid-state ones, including a single redesigned volume switch instead of two buttons.

Back in October 2022, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that the forthcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max would switch from mechanical buttons to solid-state ones. He made no comment, though on whether those buttons would be redesigned.

Now purportedly leaked CAD drawings and renders for the phones, have been followed by people attempting to create mockups. Some of those say the designs clearly show that the regular two volume buttons will be replaced by a single long one.

Almost 100% sure that the iPhone 15 Pro will LONG Unified Volume button, rather than 2 separate ones.

While making our iPhone 15 Pro Concept, we've found that Apple uses 2 pins on each of the 2 volume buttons. The iPhone 15 Pro CAD only shows 2 pins on a longer volume button. pic.twitter.com/KzkpS9fYBB
— Daniel (@ZONEofTECH) March 2, 2023

This would be a throwback to the very earliest iPhones, which featured a single rocker-style volume control. But it would also potentially give the iPhone 15 Pro greater water and dust resistance, as a solid state button needs a much smaller hole in the frame to work.

The new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected in September 2023, and are believed to feature curved titanium sides, plus an EU-enforced USB-C charging port.

10 Comments

Japhey 7 Years · 1772 comments

About 1 year ago

JP234 said:

Am I the only one who is not a fan of these "solid state" haptic buttons replacing mechanical ones?
No fan of my latest car's gear shifter, either. There's no mechanical connection to the transmission. You have to push the shifter forward to reverse, and pull it back to go forward, and then you have to press a button marked "P" on the console to park. And none of the autos I'm interested in offer manual transmissions.

Something else you don’t like?
Shocking.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

mulasien 12 Years · 22 comments

About 1 year ago

But...why though? What problem is this solving that's not going to introduce bigger problems?

1 Like · 0 Dislikes

grandact73 3 Years · 70 comments

About 1 year ago

Japhey said:

JP234 said:

Am I the only one who is not a fan of these "solid state" haptic buttons replacing mechanical ones?
No fan of my latest car's gear shifter, either. There's no mechanical connection to the transmission. You have to push the shifter forward to reverse, and pull it back to go forward, and then you have to press a button marked "P" on the console to park. And none of the autos I'm interested in offer manual transmissions.

Something else you don’t like?
Shocking.

So you support this change?

0 Likes · 1 Dislike

StrangeDays 9 Years · 13000 comments

About 1 year ago

JP234 said:

Am I the only one who is not a fan of these "solid state" haptic buttons replacing mechanical ones?
No fan of my latest car's gear shifter, either. There's no mechanical connection to the transmission. You have to push the shifter forward to reverse, and pull it back to go forward, and then you have to press a button marked "P" on the console to park. And none of the autos I'm interested in offer manual transmissions.

I don't see them saying it's haptic, but I have zero issue w/ the haptic "click" on modern Apple trackpads. Nor the digital crown on AW. They feel entirely as I'd expect them to and on the trackpad it's hard to believe it isn't a levered button.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes

StrangeDays 9 Years · 13000 comments

About 1 year ago

mulasien said:

But...why though? What problem is this solving that's not going to introduce bigger problems?

FTA you just read: "
But it would also potentially give the iPhone 15 Pro greater water and dust resistance
"

What problems does your engineering background indicate this will introduce?