Who could have guessed that volume buttons would be the biggest rumor to track for the iPhone 15 Pro cycle? A new set of volume button renderings shared by MacRumors and made by Unknownz21 is the latest in the iPhone 15 Pro volume button chapter.
To recap, the iPhone 15 Pro was rumored to switch from a mechanical click mute switch and volume rocker to a solid-state version with haptic feedback simulating the click. Apple uses haptic feedback to simulate clicking buttons without moving parts on its current products with Home buttons as well as its trackpads.
Talk of haptic volume toggles started with supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, and 9to5Mac caught the first CADs and created renderings that visualized how the new buttons and mute switch would appear.
This week, however, another supply chain analyst named Jeff Pu broke the bad news that Apple is no longer planning to enhance the volume buttons with the iPhone 15 Pro. The new system was apparently not foolproof enough to commit to shipping this September. A little later, Ming-Chi Kuo echoed the development.
It seems at this point that the most likely scenario is that volume buttons will be mechanical and that the mute switch function will remain the same. Leaker Unknownz21, who has been actively involved in sharing iPhone 15 details this year, gave their take on the news this week as well.
“So far I haven’t seen anything to suggest a different exterior design for the buttons – if this is true then I think it’ll likely be more of an internal change, rather than something visible,” Unknownz21 wrote on Twitter. “Currently, EVT units use the existing design – although changes are always possible,” they added.
This is the design that MacRumors says was “created before the most recent solid-state rumors.” Unknownz21 shared shortly after MacRumors published its piece that they’re told the iPhone 15 Pro volume buttons will be identical to the iPhone 14 Pro button design. Rumors move fast, I suppose.
At any rate, Ming-Chi Kuo and, more recently, Jeff Pu have good track records for Apple hardware plans based on supply chain check-ins. It’s much more difficult to gauge the accuracy of leaks that start on Twitter, but enough pan out each year that they can’t go ignored. It’s a safe bet that, at this rate, we’ll have to wait for the iPhone 16 Pro (or iPhone Ultra?) for what has been rumored to ship.
TL;DR: The iPhone 15 Pro volume buttons have been with us all along – they’re just iPhone 14 Pro volume buttons. The camera upgrades and thinner bezels sound nice, though.
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