Apple May Replace Mechanical Volume and Power Buttons in iPhones 15 Pro

Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst, believes that the mechanical volume and power buttons could be replaced in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max with solid state toggles that use haptic feedback.

According to the analyst, the new buttons could work similarly to the solid state home button such as on some iPhones models, including iPhone 7, iPhone 8, second and third generations of the iPhone SE. The buttons won't be physically pressed, but they will vibrate in response to touch.

In the aforementioned iPhones, Apple uses Taptic Engine technology to operate the solid state home button. The company uses the same technology to provide haptic keyboard presses on the keyboard in iOS 16, as well as in its MacBooks for the Force Touch feature.

Kuo tweeted that Apple will have to add the Taptic Engine to the left and right sides of the two Pro models of the iPhone 15 to "provide force feedback to make users feel like they are pressing physical buttons,” meaning the number of haptic engines in the iPhone 15 goes from one to three.

Kuo doesn't mention the iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Plus, so those two models may retain the same classic power and volume buttons.

The iPhone 15 is expected to be the first iPhone with a USB-C connector.