Apple has made a last-minute decision to drop the much-expected unified volume button we’d been expecting to see on this fall’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models, says leaker Unknownz21. Instead, Apple will hang in there for at least one more year with the two-button volume controls on the higher-end iPhone models, which will be similar to the buttons on the current iPhone 14 Pro models.
Although Apple will stick with the two-button volume controls for at least one more year, it is still planning to make a change to the devices’ mute switch, replacing the switch with a physical button. The new button, known internally as the “ringer button” or the “action button,” could possibly turn out to be a customizable button, much like the Action button on this year’s Apple Watch Ultra.
Up until this week, it was believed that Apple was working on a unified solid-state button design. However, recent leaks have indicated Apple will stick to the twin volume buttons, due to what Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said is “unresolved technical issues.”
Kuo had said in October that the volume and power buttons on next year’s two high-end iPhone models would adopt a solid-state design, similar to the iPhone 7’s home button. The new solid-state buttons would replace the current mechanical button design. The new buttons would likely use a method similar to Apple’s Mac trackpads, which mimic the physical feeling of being pressed with small vibrations.
Tech analysts Jeff Pu and Shelly Chou at Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities have also said the new Pro iPhones will still use physical buttons. Unknownz21’s tweets back up Kuo’s, Pu’s, and Chou’s claims.
“Based on our supply chain checks, we now expect iPhone 15 Pro series to move back to the current design of a physical button due to a more complex design,” said Pu and Chou, in a research note. Pu and Chou say they believe the solid-state button design will not make an appearance until the iPhone 16 series in 2024.
While Apple reportedly created some iPhone 15 Pro models with solid-state buttons and the volume button design that we had expected, MacRumors says those will be used internally for testing to properly ready the technology for the iPhone 16 lineup.
While late-stage design changes are a bit unusual for Apple, we have seen it happen when there are issues with features that can’t be figured out before the product’s launch. For example, Apple’s AirPower charging mat was canceled after it had been announced because Apple had issues in making the charging device work as expected.