DodoFinance Breaking News Made For You!
This writing the generally well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo based on Apple production line insiders. The company was considering replacing the physical buttons on the sides of the iPhone 15 with some sort of artificial button with so-called haptic feedback.
The physical, round home button on devices like the iPhone SE has also been “wrong” for years. The round button is not a button, but actually a pressure sensor with a haptic motor. The sensor feels that the user presses, and the haptic motor gives the feeling of a click. Apple has been using the same trick for years with mouse trackpads on MacBooks. These tactile surfaces are in fact also static: the feeling of a click is made by a motor.
“New buttons probably on the iPhone 15 Pro”
Kuo says the new buttons may come on the two highest-end iPhone 15 models, presumably the Pro models. It doesn’t explain why Apple is making the switch. It is clear that Apple needs more haptic engines to integrate iPhones: now one per device, soon three.
Apple would order these motors from the Chinese companies Luxshare ICT and AAC, both of which specialize in this equipment. Kuo expects an 80-100% growth in Apple’s orders for so-called Taptic Engines. It’s the name Apple has given to the haptic motors it also uses in the Apple Watch, among other things, which tap users on the wrist, so to speak.
USB-c also expected
Kuo also clarifies that Apple will switch to a USB-c port with future iPhones. Apple made such a change earlier this week more or less at the top. Company executive says Apple must comply with local and EU laws requires from the end of 2024, every portable device has usb-c. It would make sense for Apple to presort it a year earlier.
