iPhone 15 Pro will not have physical keys, back to say Ming-Chi Kuo: the analyst of TF Securities, specialized in rumors and advances on Apple products had already predicted this significant paradigm shift several months ago, but in the past few hours he has returned to the subject adding some more details. Specifically, he says Cirrus Logic will be the company in charge of producing the solid-state buttons that will replace the mechanical ones. Small detail: it is interesting to note that Kuo expressly speaks only of the volume and power buttons, omitting the ringtone slider.
As we have seen for the Home button of the iPhone 7, 8 , SE 2020 and SE 2022, the solid state keys will have a dedicated Taptic Engine to recreate the feeling of pressure. Cirrus Logic is the exclusive manufacturer of the component’s controllers, and therefore will benefit from the innovation, Kuo says. The analyst also predicts that if the novelty is well received by users it will expand to other types of high-end products – imagine for example iPad Pro.
Kuo does not add information about the charging port, another much discussed detail. Many hope for the advent, finally, of USB-C instead of the now outdated Lightning, also in light of the new European law that imposes it as a standard; But the law will not come into force before the end of 2024. This means that technically Apple could delay the introduction of the USB-C port until the iPhone 17 of autumn 2025, even.
Not everyone, however, believes that Apple will really make this move. European law offers a “loophole”, if you will: it only applies to devices that offer wired charging. Those based only on wireless charging are of course exempted. In short, according to some Apple will go directly from the Lightning to no physical port. The decision to remove the mechanical keys can be seen as a first step in this direction.