iPhone X A Question for those who understand engineering.

[fumi2014]

Hi there,

I didn't really know where to post this as it probably could have been posted in any of the portable device forums - iPad, Watch etc.

I'm really curious about buttons such as the side button on an iPhone, iPad and also on the Apple watch. When you press these buttons, you can physically feel them moving in momentarily but what causes them to revert back to their previous position?

I'm assuming it's some clever engineering but as I am studying engineering, I am looking to find out how that actual mechanism works.

Maybe someone on here can explain or point me in the direction of some further reading matter.

Kind Regards

 

[Phone Junky]

Here's a video where they're replacing a button on an iPhone. It might give you some kind of insight.

 

[dmr727]

Damn, you can find *anything* on YouTube!

Cool find, Phone Junky.

 

[maerz001]

What u can see in the video is actually just the back support.

What makes it move back is the button itself called: dome switch

its just a thin metal plate which snaps back and forth.

https://images.app.goo.gl/f1Jt62PDbfEo7dC78

 

[fumi2014]

What u can see in the video is actually just the back support.

What makes it move back is the button itself called: dome switch

its just a thin metal plate which snaps back and forth.

https://images.app.goo.gl/f1Jt62PDbfEo7dC78

The dome switch sits behind the side button?

 

[primarycolors]

^ Correct.

It's a dome switch — a switch made with a tiny dome of metal — that sits behind the button. When you push the button you're forcing the dome to cave in on itself and it makes electrical contact with another piece of metal (that's how the phone knows you're pushing the button). But the dome doesn't like being caved in on itself, so as soon as you remove pressure from the button it snaps back out.

It's a very common technology, and in maaaany more things than you probably even consider

 

[fumi2014]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your input on this thread.

 

[maerz001]

The dome switch sits behind the side button?

Yes. The side button is actually just a cover.
This principle is used for ages. I guess 40+ years

 

[MisterSavage]

I remember this really fascinating me: "Eventually, something had to change. In 2016, Apple released the iPhone 7, which replaced the home button with an unmoving, solid circle that wasn’t really a button at all. Thanks to a new haptic feedback engine, users could still “press” on the home button area and feel a fake click, but the “button” didn’t move. Deserved or not, the concern over iPhone button failure had reached the point where Apple had to design a wholly fake button around it."

Apple’s now-defunct home button is a reminder that even the best buttons can fail

Button of the month: The iPhone home button

www.theverge.com