Less than 6 months and Apple will finally present the iPhone 16 to the world. Actually, major surprises are impossible at this stage of development and yet the manufacturer could surprise all fans and insiders again. Namely, if the renewed rumor about abandoning classic keys turns out to be correct in the end.
Anyone who is a regular guest in the Apple rumor mill can still remember. In the run-up to the iPhone 15, reports circulated last year that Apple wanted to say goodbye to the classic mechanical buttons. Instead, so-called capacitive buttons would be used „Solid-State-Tasten“. The key stroke is only emulated by a Taptic Engine. We already know it from the trackpad on MacBooks or from the home button on the iPhone SE.
But that wasn’t to happen in the end. Technical problems in development forced Apple to rely on classic mechanical buttons for the iPhone 15.
With the iPhone 15, Apple still relies on proven button technology:
iPhone 16 without classic buttons: Apple’s second attempt
Now Apple wants to know again and dares to take on the hot potato again. At least that’s what a current industry report suggests. He reveals that the company Advanced Semiconductor Engineering has received an order from Apple. The deal includes modules for integrating capacitive components with two Taptic Engine motors. They should be used on every side of the iPhone (source: Economic Daily News).
The report further claims that Apple is changing the existing physical buttons on both sides of the iPhone 15 will be replaced by capacitive versions, which give the iPhone 16 user haptic feedback. Ergo: The “solid-state keys” known from the rumor mill.
Tight scheduling
According to the source, the corresponding components should into series production in the third quarter of this year go. Admittedly a somewhat tight production plan for the iPhone 16. There is therefore also the possibility that the modules will only be used in the iPhone 17.
The only thing that is certain is that Apple does not want to give up the idea of “solid-state buttons” in the future and dare to push the topic forward again. The only question is whether we will see the results of these efforts this year with the iPhone 16 or next year with the iPhone 17.