Forget the iPhone 15 range, leaks are already appearing for Apple’s 2024 iPhone 16 models. And the latest brings a surprising twist that suggests Apple’s most controversial iPhone 15 Pro upgrade may have now bitten the dust for good.
After confirming iPhone 15 price increases, Haitong International Securities tech analyst Jeff Pu has revealed that their controversial solid-state volume buttons are now unlikely to come to iPhone 16 models either. This contradicts earlier leaks which claimed Apple was forced to delay the feature one generation due to unresolved technical challenges during the mass production phase.
At one stage, solid-state buttons appeared to be a lock for the iPhone 15 lineup. Apple supplier Cirrus Logic cited the technology in a thinly veiled leak to shareholders in November before issuing an update in May, saying it was “no longer expected to come to market as planned.”
Solid-state volume buttons do not physically move when pressed. Instead, they deliver haptic feedback to simulate the sensation of button movement. The tech has already been used in the Home button in the iPhone 7 and the Force Touch trackpad found in newer MacBooks.
It offers potentially significant advantages, including a reduction in moving parts, which can minimize the risk of mechanical failure, and enhanced water resistance by eliminating points of water ingress.
That said, the tech splits opinion with early iPhone 15 CADs showing flush volume buttons that would be hard to hit with muscle memory and support for custom swipe gestures. Functionally, it felt like needless overcomplication. While those volume buttons won’t make it to release, one solid-state button will survive, with a customizable Action Button replacing the mute switch on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models this year.
Pu’s information isn’t the first iPhone 16 leak to appear. Last month, consistently accurate industry insider Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, said Apple plans to supersize the displays of iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Young states that the iPhone 16 Pro will come with a 6.3-inch display, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max will jump to 6.9 inches. The jump for the smaller Pro is expected to allow it to fit a periscope optical zoom lens, something that leakers claim isn’t possible for the 6.1-inch iPhone 15 Pro chassis this year.
On a hardware level, the benefits of larger iPhones are clear: more space for bigger batteries, larger camera modules, improved thermals, etc. Then again, fans of smaller smartphones are going to be frustrated yet again after Apple dropped the 5.5-inch iPhone 13 Mini in favor of the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 Plus last year.
Whether this early iPhone 16 information undermines the upcoming iPhone 15 range remains to be seen, but with 2023 looking like an incremental upgrade year, Apple won’t want any more of its 2024 plans leaking.
More on Forbes
Read the full article here
