When it comes to buttons, all rumors claim that the iPhone 15 Pro models will experience a major design change. Apple will move from physical buttons to capacitive buttons on these devices, which will resemble the functionality of the trackpad on MacBooks. The Taptic Engine provides haptic feedback, making you feel like you’re pressing buttons.
Over the weekend, a new set of iPhone 15 CAD designs leaked online, slightly changing the existing expectation. If the new information in this leak is correct, all four iPhone 15 models, not just the Pro models, will have capacitive buttons instead of physical buttons. Still, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus may have a different button design.
Twitter user ShrimpApplePro shared Twitter CAD files with detailed dimensions of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The leak showed the dimensions of different iPhone 15 Pro Max design elements such as the rear camera bumps, Dynamic Island, and the new mute button.
ShrimpApplePro realized at this point that the capacitive buttons of the iPhone 15 Pro Max have some kind of conductive padding. As detailed in recent iPhone 15 rumors, this design element will help the buttons work with cases.
The source of the leak says that after further inspection, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus CAD files also show the same design element. The phones will have the same conductive padding on the buttons, suggesting that Apple will use capacitive buttons on the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.
If the finding is correct, these buttons should behave like those on the iPhone 15 Pros. However, there are also some differences. For example, the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus can keep the physical mute key. Pro models, on the other hand, may have a mute button that is said to be customizable.
Also, the iPhone 15 Pros have a unified volume rocker, while the non-Pro models have two different ones. However, according to the latest leak mentioned by ShrimpApplePro, Apple is already testing the software for new capacitive buttons that will work in both designs.