Remember when the iPhone 15 Pro was rumored to include haptic buttons? But like many good things, it never saw the light of day.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that Apple planned to add haptic buttons to the iPhone 15 Pro series. Apple even tested prototypes with these buttons but faced technical problems that made it revert to regular physical buttons instead.
A year later, we have come across some alleged prototypes of the iPhone 15 Pro with haptic buttons. Thanks to a collector who gathers Apple prototype devices, the good folks at AppleInsider got hold of pictures showing an iPhone 15 Pro Max prototype with solid-state power and volume buttons. Internally, this design with a haptic button was dubbed “Project Bongo”.
Later versions of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max prototypes switched from haptic buttons to traditional mechanical ones. The Action button, which carries out a preset function when pressed, remained mechanical, just made rounder and wider.
It’s believed that the haptic button tested for the iPhone 15 Pro series was made to give tactile feedback and a clicking sound upon pressing, which could have been a delight to use. But I am unsure how many people would actually care.
Anyway, you might question why Apple would create haptic buttons that feel like the mechanical ones they aimed to replace. The reason is that mechanical buttons wear out over time with use. But then again, I have used iPhones for years as my primary device, and personally, my iPhone’s buttons have never come off.