Unspecified technical issues are forcing Apple to return to the classic moveable button design for the iPhone 15 Pro.

Apple is believed to have returned to the classic movable buttons for the iPhone 15 Pro due to technical issues with their solid-state counterparts.

• What’s happening? New analyst reports claim that future Apple iPhone 15 Pro models will not have the rumored fixed buttons due to technical issues.
• Why care? Some people have said that fixed buttons will lead to poor usability. Others, too, weren’t so sure about the supposedly multi-purpose silent switch. If you are one of them, today’s report should be music for you.
• What to do? Read analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s full report on Medium.

iPhone 15 Pro may have regular buttons

The upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models were to have solid-state buttons, like the iPhone 7’s Home button, that would be touch-sensitive and provide false presses with the help of two additional Taptic Engines.

But Apple has apparently decided to go back to the classic movable buttons for up and down volume control, as well as a single pressed “Mute/Ring”toggle due to “unresolved technical issues ahead of mass production.”So says Ming-Chi Kuo, perhaps Apple’s most trusted analyst.

This will “simplify the development and testing process,” Kuo said. “Removing the solid buttons should have a limited impact on the mass production and delivery schedule for the Pro models,” says Kuo.

Kuo’s findings, based on his sources in Apple’s supply chain, are supported by Haitong International Securities analysts Jeff Pu and Shelly Chow. Apple may update the design of the iPhone 15 Pro as the device is currently in its EVT (Verification Engineering Test) phase, which precedes mass production.

Don’t write off solid-state buttons just yet!

We no longer expect the iPhone 15 Pro to ditch separate volume buttons in favor of a single fixed volume rocker and adopt a capacitive silent switch because it’s unwise to bet against Kuo. None of the analysts seem to know the details of the technical issues that forced Apple to opt for traditional buttons.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the company won’t equip the 2024 iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max with solid buttons – assuming it can fix technical issues within the next twelve months.