I wonder anyway how Apple intends to build buttons into an area that is supposed to be a display.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
20th Anniversary iPhone May Replace Mechanical Buttons With Haptics
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
More glass sounds great! Also more slippery. I wonder if solid covers will have transparent edges.
that's a $ 800 repair if you drop it, they'll probably sell you a new phone plus profit margin minus taxes
I have never had any iPhone become truly bricked. Always been able to restart it and recover it from a previous backup.
I would imagine Apple could install a tiny pinhole button somewhere that could put the iPhone into a recovery restart.
But clickety buttons cost more and break more, as they've got moveable parts.
... I would suspect that Apple would be smart enough to include a flat physical power button on the back of the device.
Of course... This is also from the same company that gave us the magic mouse... Time will tell, I suppose.
I was thinking exactly that. Another rumour that was quite widespread a few years ago was that at some point Apple was going to get rid of the charging port completely which would be the partner to this all-haptic-buttons rumour if Apple does want to get to an entirely unbroken chassis design. I haven't seen that no-wired-connector rumour resurface for a while now.
There has been some discussion in these comments already about recovering a bricked device without buttons and maybe that needs some recovery via charging cable feature but the Apple Watch has some special debug/recovery radio protocol that seems to have not caused issues for all of these years so solutions would seem to be available.
To fully compensate for the removal of a physical connector Apple would also need to have some way to connect higher data rate peripherals to the iPhone, maybe via a special Apple USB hub accessory that connects to an iPhone (and maybe other Apple devices) via some specialist short range high bandwidth radio protocol.
That just leaves the inconvenience that with current iPhones if someone one runs short of charge then USB ports are pretty easy to find nowadays (in airplanes, other public transport, offices, hotels etc) so charging with a cable is unlikely to be an issue but wireless charging pads aren't in as many public places yet. Maybe that will change by 2027 but until it does a device that can't be recharged via a cable might be a bit more unnerving unless someone is willing to carry their own wireless charging capability with them whenever they leave home - or be very sure that the battery has enough charge that it's pretty much inconceivable that it will die before they know they can get to a wireless charger.
I wonder if "recover a bricked device" would use the same technology as they (proposed? are using?) for software updates when the device is brand-new and still in the box?
If they do this, I predict for myself even more unintended screenshots than I already end up with.
If they do this, I predict for myself even more unintended screenshots than I already end up with.
As long as there’s a fail-safe in case of loss of power, I’m open to a switch to haptic buttons. I had the iPhone 7 Plus with a haptic home button, and to my finger at least, it felt indistinguishable from a mechanical one.
For the 20th anniversary iPhone due in 2027, Apple is developing a solid-state button system as a wholesale replacement for the device's traditional mechanical buttons. That's the latest claim from Weibo account "Instant Digital," and it's not the first of its kind from the Chinese leaker.
Back in 2022, several reports suggested Apple intended to bring solid-state buttons to the iPhone 15 Pro in 2023 as part of "Project Bongo." However, the plan was reportedly canceled at a late stage. They were then rumored to come to the iPhone 16 Pro, before being shelved indefinitely.
Subsequently in April and May this year, Instant Digital claimed that Apple was still investigating haptic buttons for a future iPhone. They even went so far as to suggest that the project is active not just for the iPhone, but for Apple's "entire product line," including iPad and Apple Watch.
Now the leaker claims that solid-state buttons will debut on the 20th anniversary iPhone or "iPhone XX," which will reportedly feature the biggest design shake-up since 2017's iPhone X. According to the leaker, Apple's solid-state button design has completed functional verification, and includes haptic feedback for the Side button, volume buttons, Action button, and Camera Control button.
Solid-state haptic buttons reduce mechanical wear, while enabling users to differentiate between a light press and a firm press to trigger different functions. The current design reportedly integrates buttons directly into the device frame with zero physical movement when pressed. But Apple wants these haptic buttons to feel like real buttons, not like pressing on a ridged piece of metal. Instant Digital speculates that Apple may adopt a vibration-based sound system that uses the back panel or frame to produce audio, combined with an AI-based sound compensation algorithm.
The rumor adds a new dimension to reports that claim Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone could look like a slab of glass with no cutouts and no bezels. Apple is reportedly working on a display that curves down around all four edges of the device for a borderless visual experience.
If Apple truly intends to release such a device, then traditional mechanical buttons – requiring physical openings in the chassis – arguably become design liabilities. Solid-state haptic buttons could elegantly resolve that tension with a visually uninterrupted design.
With a wraparound display, the edges of the screen could potentially merge into the button zones, creating interaction regions that subtly illuminate or shift depending on context – something that would be impossible with mechanical components.
It's an intriguing prospect, but one we'll have to wait for corroboration from other sources before getting too excited about. Until then, the restart of Project Bongo at Apple remains another unconfirmed rumor.
Article Link: 20th Anniversary iPhone May Replace Mechanical Buttons With Haptics
Apple’s haptic buttons are the best in the game. I have an old iPhone 7 that I use to test my game on, and I still find myself surprised when it is dead and I pick it up and click the home button and nothing clicks at all. It feels real when powered.
However, for this iPhone 20 I don’t get how they’re planning to do this screen wrap around with regard to these buttons. Would these be protruding or flush with the display? Surely they won’t be flush or otherwise integrated into the display as that would be an accessibility nightmare for blind people? They would at least need some kind of lip in the glass to feel it. And any raised surface on the edge of an all glass device is going to create a pressure point for breaks. I suppose it could be depressed in the glass?
I just don’t get the usefulness of having glass wrap around the sides. I remember years ago when my wife’s friend’s husband got one of those android phones that does that, he was so excited, and I was like “But what does it do?” And he kinda shrugged and said it looked cool. Then it seems like they mostly stopped making those because it was an unnecessary cost and was kinda annoying.
Idk this just kinda feels like the TouchBar of the iPhone to me, but we’ll see what they actually deliver.
However, for this iPhone 20 I don’t get how they’re planning to do this screen wrap around with regard to these buttons. Would these be protruding or flush with the display? Surely they won’t be flush or otherwise integrated into the display as that would be an accessibility nightmare for blind people? They would at least need some kind of lip in the glass to feel it. And any raised surface on the edge of an all glass device is going to create a pressure point for breaks. I suppose it could be depressed in the glass?
I just don’t get the usefulness of having glass wrap around the sides. I remember years ago when my wife’s friend’s husband got one of those android phones that does that, he was so excited, and I was like “But what does it do?” And he kinda shrugged and said it looked cool. Then it seems like they mostly stopped making those because it was an unnecessary cost and was kinda annoying.
Idk this just kinda feels like the TouchBar of the iPhone to me, but we’ll see what they actually deliver.
firmware is software, but it runs outside the OS. it also can be buggy and lock up, just like other software. sure, it can be far simpler and thus easier to debug, but I am aware of only a single attempt to write code where all states were mapped and verified: the Apollo 11 lunar lander AGC. and wouldn't you guessed that, it did actually lock up due to a hw error.
since there's no way to remove the battery (and cut the power to the device), this is likely a one-way street.
at leas one button is usually needed to force the reset/poweroff of the device.
Last edited:
I wonder how they will perform when the phone is in case since an overwhelming number of iPhone owners put theirs in one.
Agree with what you say, although I don’t think that data transfer is a problem for most people except pro users.
So I would correct myself a little and expect that the pro devices would get capacitive buttons but maybe not lose the usb c port.
I think though an iPhone air / anniversary edition would be the ideal product to put these future forward things - along with the inconveniences that you mentioned.
People will tolerate them more if it feels they are holding 2030’s iPhone a few years early.
‘ah - two words: iPhone air’ people will say.
The problem with that phone is that it’s only partially the future. One speaker and camera and standard battery tech.
Perhaps Apple should’ve held back when they could’ve addressed all of the above and what we have now should’ve stayed as an advanced prototype.
Currently, for some apps (including some of Apple's own), the screen often takes multiple presses before it responds.
[Oddly, I never have that problem when using the keyboard, so I've no idea why other screen buttons don't respond similarly. And of course I never have that issue with the physical buttons (I'm referring to normal operation here-- if that happens with the physical buttons, it means they're broken).]
So yeah, that's just what I want—do away with the only type of interface (physical buttons) that responds reliably 100% of the time.
[Oddly, I never have that problem when using the keyboard, so I've no idea why other screen buttons don't respond similarly. And of course I never have that issue with the physical buttons (I'm referring to normal operation here-- if that happens with the physical buttons, it means they're broken).]
So yeah, that's just what I want—do away with the only type of interface (physical buttons) that responds reliably 100% of the time.
Last edited: