Apple Delaying Solid-State Buttons Until iPhone 16 Pro Due to 'Design Issues'
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo on Tuesday indicated that iPhone 15 Pro models will no longer have solid-state buttons due to "unresolved technical issues before mass production." He now expects the buttons to have a "traditional" design.
The change in plans was first reported by tech analysts Jeff Pu and Shelly Chou. In a research note with investment firm Haitong International Securities on Tuesday, the analysts said they believe the solid-state buttons will be pushed back to the iPhone 16 series in 2024 due to unspecified "design issues." As a result, they said the iPhone 15 Pro models will not be equipped with two additional Taptic Engines, as previously rumored.
With a solid-state design, the buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro would not have moved when pressed. Instead, two additional Taptic Engines inside the iPhone would have provided haptic feedback to simulate the feeling of movement, similar to the Home button introduced with the iPhone 7 and the Force Touch trackpad on newer MacBooks.
It was also rumored that iPhone 15 Pro models would be equipped with a unified volume button, and that the Ring/Silent switch would become a multipurpose Action button, but it is not entirely clear if those changes will still occur. Apple could proceed with these changes with clickable buttons, but the other possibility is that Apple sticks with two volume buttons and a Ring/Silent switch until the iPhone 16 Pro next year.
Apple is expected to announce the iPhone 15 Pro at a September event. Other features rumored for the device include a titanium frame, USB-C port, A17 Bionic chip, thinner bezels around the display, faster Wi-Fi 6E, increased RAM, and more.
Popular Stories
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Juli CloverApple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Apple plans to release an iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip "in the coming weeks," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple retail employees say that inventory of the iPhone 16e has basically dried out and the iPad Air is seeing shortages as well," said Gurman. "I've been expecting new versions of both (iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air) in the coming weeks."...
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically.
The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
The MacBook Air is Apple's most popular laptop – a thin, fanless machine that wields quiet power thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon. While the M4 model isn't exactly old, attention is already turning to its successor.
Apple doesn't telegraph new product launches ahead of time, but we can draw a surprisingly clear picture of what to expect by looking at Apple's silicon roadmap,...
