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iPhone 16 Pro Now Has 'Low' Chance of Featuring Solid-State Buttons
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Just remove the volume buttons, with all the accidental screenshots I take, I’d prefer it. My phone has been on silent since middle school. Just let me swipe from the left edge over to bring it up and let me swipe for the volume.
the most hilarious part is watching the people who make a living off the rumor mill trying to milk it for all its worth. quick post conflicting rumors about whether it will or won't make the cut every other week in the hopes of driving more clicks! manufacture heightened drama about the most boring nonsense!
Thank god I don’t want to have to take my gloves off to work the buttons.
I’ve had iPhones since the very first one and never had a single button break. I realize some people here might be unlucky having things break on them, but I don’t think buttons breaking is nearly a big enough issue to redesign for.
It needs to go away and I just saw in person the one on the MBA and it’s more annoying then the one on the phone. 🙄
Or just put the power button back on the top :-/ problem solved.
Pray, tell, what’s the feature that literally everybody is asking for?
This is a mature market.
Exactly. I've never had a button failure with an Apple device. But I don't know how the price of a physical button compares to a pressure transducer. Plus, the need for another haptic engine would increase costs for virtual buttons.
Again Apple finding something to change that isn't really an issue to most users at all. The buttons are perfectly fine I don't see why they need to focus on changing them. I would rather them focus on enabling touch authentication in addition to Face ID and improve battery life than anything else, but I'm probably the minority on these.
Keep in mind that these are just hints and rumors from people attempting to stay relevant.
Gonna wait for the 16 to upgrade my 4S because SoLiD sTaTe bUtToNs
Exactly this! Can you imagine if the Mac's trackpad didn't actually click like a button? People would HATE it.
I feel there is an issue with cases. And this issue escalates if taptic buttons include 3D/sliding/swiping capabilities.
There is now a "low" chance that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be equipped with solid-state volume and mute buttons, according to Jeff Pu, a tech analyst at Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities. Pu shared this prediction in a research note today alongside some details about the more imminent iPhone 15 lineup.
Solid-state buttons were initially rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models, but Apple reportedly faced "unresolved technical issues before mass production" and had to revert to mechanical buttons. Pu previously said the solid-state buttons would be postponed until iPhone 16 Pro models, but he now believes even those devices are unlikely to have them.
Apple supplier Cirrus Logic hinted at the solid-state buttons in a shareholder letter last year, but seemingly confirmed the plans were scrapped in May.
With a solid-state design, the buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro would not have moved when pressed. Instead, it was rumored that two additional Taptic Engines inside the iPhone would have provided haptic feedback to simulate the feeling of movement, similar to the Home button introduced with the iPhone 7 and the Force Touch trackpad on newer MacBooks.
iPhone 15 Pro models are still expected to feature a mechanical Action button in place of the Ring/Silent switch. It is likely that users will be able to assign the button to various system functions, such as Ring/Silent or Do Not Disturb.
With solid-state buttons now considered unlikely through 2024, it remains to be seen if Apple will ever move away from mechanical buttons on the iPhone. A benefit of solid-state buttons would be fewer moving parts that can break, and there is also potential for improved water resistance given there would be fewer points of ingress.
iPhone 16 Pro models are still over a year away from launching, so Apple's plans for the devices remain subject to change.
Article Link: iPhone 16 Pro Now Has 'Low' Chance of Featuring Solid-State Buttons
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To heck with solid state buttons - how about a little solid state battery tech for a more than 12 hour Watch/iPad/MacBook experience!
An iPod with touch controls, an Internet communicator, a phone!
I think its technically a notch on a MBA and not an island but would using a darker wallpaper coupled with the menu bar make it kind of disappear?
Not to mention that the solid state button rumor suggested that the simple, cheap-to-replace buttons were slated to be supplanted with solid state electronic sensors for the buttons and a pair of haptic feedback components -- a series of much more complex components with a likely higher risk of failure and much higher cost to repair.
It really seemed like a Rube Goldberg way to solve a simple problem that has already been solved.