iPhone 15 Pro models will retain two-button design for volume control: report

The iPhone 15 series is set to launch later this year, with four variants – the standard iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which could debut as a model “Ultra” this year. Although Apple never releases specs for its next set of flagship smartphones before they are released, there have been various leaks and reports regarding the handsets in recent weeks. A pair of news sources have revealed some important details about the Pro versions of the series.

According to a report from MacRumors, Apple intends to revert to a two-button design for the iPhone 15 Pro models — both the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max — rather than the volume button Unified, which was previously reported to feature on Apple’s upcoming flagship phones. The unified volume button was originally intended for solid-state technology, but Apple has reportedly decided to go with the older design now that the solid-state buttons have been delayed, to keep up with their production schedule.

The report adds that despite Apple still using the previous two-button design for volume control, the company intends to replace the mute switch with a new mute button. The mute button would be customized similarly to the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button, as was also mentioned earlier.

The report’s renders describe the design Apple intended to use before deciding to omit the solid-state buttons, and they feature the design Apple intended to use for much of the development phase of the iPhone 15 Pro. This is most likely the design that Apple will use for the iPhone 16 Pro models, which are now supposed to launch solid-state button technology rather than the iPhone 15 Pro models.

A previous report also suggested that Apple decided to keep the original design of the volume buttons on the iPhone 15 Pro models, instead of integrating new solid-state buttons, due to the much more complicated construction of the new solution. The report noted that the new buttons would require three new haptic engines to be installed in the hardware of iPhones.

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