By all stories, Apple had a refined however vital {hardware} improve within the works for its iPhone 15 lineup that by no means materialized. Had every thing gone in accordance with plan, at the very least some iPhone 15 fashions would have adopted capacitive solid-state controls to interchange the bodily buttons. Sadly, Apple’s ambitions have been stated to be derailed by “unresolved technical points” simply earlier than the iPhone 15 Professional was set to enter mass manufacturing, forcing the corporate to revert to the bodily buttons which have been normal on iPhones for years.
On the time, analysts and insiders believed Apple would merely push the expertise off to the iPhone 16. In spite of everything, if this was merely a query of needing extra time to good the expertise, it appeared cheap that one other 12 months ought to be loads of time for Apple to crack no matter nut was holding it again. Nevertheless, regardless of an April 2024 report that stated Apple was ordering all the mandatory parts to make this occur, the iPhone 16 lineup appeared with just one new capacitive button: the Digital camera Management.
Maybe the Digital camera Management was a check mattress for the expertise. Nonetheless, it appears odd that Apple may create a classy button that responds to stress sensitivity and swipe gestures along with normal presses, but it left the entire different buttons — together with the brand new Motion button — as clickable mechanical parts.
This led some to surprise if Apple had given up on the thought for some cause. Nevertheless, a rumor final month from leaker Setsuna Digital (aka Immediate Digital) claimed that Apple was nonetheless actively working to interchange the 4 different buttons on its iPhones — the aspect button, quantity up, quantity down, and the Motion button — with solid-state capacitive controls. In line with provide chain sources, Apple is all the way down to fine-tuning the sensors to strike the precise steadiness between responsiveness and resistance to false touches.
However, the leaker claimed that Apple had put the challenge, code-named “Bongo,” on the again burner because it’s thought-about a comparatively low precedence — an inexpensive notion contemplating the mechanical buttons work tremendous.
In contrast to the previous two years, we’ve heard no stories about solid-state buttons coming to the iPhone 17 lineup, which signifies that Apple’s plans stay long-term. Nevertheless, a report this week additionally means that Mission Bongo could also be far broader than anybody initially anticipated.
Setsuna Digital has posted a follow-up to their April Weibo put up, indicating that Mission Bongo is again in motion, and it’s expanded past the iPhone to Apple’s “complete product line.”
Bongo challenge restarted, not solely iPhone, Apple started to discover tactile button options for the whole product line, together with iPad, Apple Watch ???
Setsuna Digital on Weibo (machine translated)
The put up solely mentions the iPad and Apple Watch as choices, so it’s unclear how complete this might be. We will’t see solid-state buttons being a precedence for the MacBook, at the very least not within the quick time period, as it might be an enormous departure from a bodily keyboard. Lengthy-term, although, who is aware of? Eliminating mechanical keys looks like it may assist mitigate one of many greatest factors of failure on trendy laptops, however the tactile response would have to be nothing lower than good.
Whereas Setsuna Digital has a middling observe document for Apple rumors, there’s been sufficient smoke round this specific one for the previous two years to counsel Apple is engaged on one thing, and the thought itself isn’t a stretch.
Once more, there’s no phrase on when any of it will occur. Nevertheless, it is smart that Apple remains to be engaged on this and would need to use the hassle it’s put into growing and perfecting capacitive button expertise to embrace as many units as potential.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]