iPhone 15 Pro Models to Drop Physical Buttons: Ming-Chi Kuo

iPhone 14 series was unveiled during the company’s ‘Far Out’ event in September but rumours of next year’s iPhone models, speculated to be the iPhone 15 series, have already started surfacing online. A reputed market analyst has now suggested that the high-end models in Apple’s 2023 iPhone family will debut with solid-state buttons instead of physical volume and power buttons, similar to the home buttons on iPhone 7, iPhone 8 and iPhone SE units. Kuo forecasts that iPhone 15 smartphones would come equipped with three Taptic Engine vibration motors to simulate the feeling of a click. The analyst states that a button-less design and support for USB type-C charging would be the major highlights of the iPhone 15 range.

On Friday, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that physical volume and power buttons on next year’s two high-end iPhone 15 models will be replaced with solid-state buttons. The volume and power buttons of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max could adopt a solid-state button design similar to the home button design of the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone SE 2 and iPhone SE 3. He also indicates that the launch of iPhone 15 lineup will take place in the second half of next year, which aligns with Apple’s usual release window for new iPhone models.

Kuo says Apple will equip the next-generation iPhone models with Taptic Engines on the internal left and right sides to provide haptic feedback similar to the physical clicking of buttons. Upcoming iPhone 15 models are expected to come equipped with three Taptic engines in lieu of one vibration motor on the iPhone 14. Kuo notes that the move could benefit Apple’s existing Taptic Engine suppliers – Luxshare ICT and AAC Technologies and the shipments of Taptic Engine would grow by 80 percent to 100 percent YoY in 2023.

Further, Kuo said high-end Android phones will also follow Apple’s design to create new selling points, adding that this would be a structural positive for the mobile phone vibration motor industry. iPhone 15 is expected to switch from lightning cable to USB Type-C charging. According to Kuo, Buttonless design and USB Type-C port would be the two major updates for iPhone 15.

The iPhone 15 lineup is tipped to include the regular iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are tipped to come equipped with Apple’s next-generation A17 Bionic chip and 8GB of RAM. The non-Pro models could be equipped with this year’s A16 Bionic chip.