Apple Working on Haptic Buttons for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch

[CausticSoda]

This will never work because of mistouches. What if you grab your phone and switch hands real fast. It’s a stupid idea. The current buttons work perfectly fine. This is typical Apple working on stuff no one asked for.

It already happens frequently when I pick up my 15PM. It is probably worse because I don't use a case.

 

[demodave]

Apple is actively exploring stolid-state buttons with haptic feedback, not just for the iPhone, but also for future iPad and Apple Watch models, claims a rumor out of China.

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Details of the how being set aside, I think this could be very interesting. We already have a generation of people accustomed to typing on touchscreens. But it’s not seen as the same as a keypad, and keypad development is limited.

I think developing a “flat panel”, but flexible keyboard with haptic feedback could be a very good option. Think about a “full-sized” keyboard that can go from QWERTY to Dvorak with a flip of a System Setting. Or any number of other activity based configurations. An overlay shows you what the buttons/keys do and where they are, and an array of haptic pins are instantly configured to respond to that lay out.

But then, I thought the TouchBar on the MacBook Pro was kinda cool.

 

[t–úll fón cliste]

did they not perfect this w/ the iPhone 7 series home button?

 

[victorvictoria]

Unless I’m mistaken they’re never actually completely “off” (unless the battery is completely drained).

or you turn it off. But if the battery dies, now what do you do when it's recharged?

 

[victorvictoria]

Say nice things. Make it feel wanted.

Or tell Siri, "Get your lazy a$$ up and make me a sandwich, OR ELSE!"

 

[Regret]

Genuinely the biggest takeaway from this is that iPads are getting haptics at some point

 

[yadmonkey]

Apparently you've never used any of Apple's haptic buttons. The Home Button on the last few iPhones that had them, or the trackpad on MacBooks, are some of the most impressive haptic buttons you will ever find. You'd have a hard time convincing someone that they weren't real buttons at all with the way they feel.

The way you knew that they weren't real was that they felt far better -- crisp & more precise -- than real buttons. The home button they replaced was awful.

 

[SactoGuy18]

Genuinely the biggest takeaway from this is that iPads are getting haptics at some point

Given there isn't the battery and physical size constraints of the iPhone, future iPads will likely get true haptic buttons, possibly as early as 2027.