Future iPhones may not have physical buttons, according to an unconfirmed report from a leaker who goes by Instant Digital, and who shared the information on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Tech news site 9to5Mac translated the post from Chinese.
“The solid-state button scheme of Apple iPhone has completed the functional verification and is planned to be mass-produced and applied on the iPhone 20 in 2027,” the translation read. “At that time, the power button, volume button, operation button and camera control button will be upgraded to solid-state buttons with local vibration feedback.”
A representative for Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
It’s not an entirely new concept in the smartphone world.
“There have been plenty of Android phones that have tried replacing buttons with faux ones in part,” said CNET managing editor Patrick Holland. “But in 2018, HTC launched the U12 Plus, which lacked actual buttons. Instead, there were raised areas that were touch-sensitive and simulated the action and feel of a real button using haptics.”
Haptics refers to the iPhone’s way of providing feedback through vibrations or taps, which can let users know they’ve touched the right spot on the phone, even if there’s no physical button to feel.
A buttonless iPhone might take Apple customers a while to get used to, but Holland sees a positive side to the lack of physical buttons.
“The upside is that there isn’t anything that can break,” he said. “Apple has had haptic buttons on its devices for years. The home button on the iPhone 7 and newer was all haptics. And the trackpads on MacBooks have all used capacitive touch, instead of actual hardware, for nearly a decade.”
Holland also notes that while Instant Digital, the account that leaked this report, has a mixed record when it comes to accuracy, “lately more (of their reports) have been right than not.”
Even back in 2021, there were rumors that the then-upcoming iPhone 13 would have no physical buttons, and a similar rumor popped up for the iPhone 15 Pro.
