Apple Supplier Seemingly Confirms Previously Rumored iPhone 15 Game-Changing Feature

American fabless semiconductor maker and Apple supplier Cirrus Logic confirmed that the next generation flagship smartphones from tech titan Apple, presumably the iPhone 15 series, would introduce the game-changing feature of solid-state buttons.

Last month, TF International and supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared via a Twitter thread that Apple would replace its traditional power and volume keys with solid-state buttons along with Taptic engines. Kuo's information was seemingly backed by Cirrus Logic in its letter to shareholders issued this month.

The Apple supplier said that it is currently engaged with a "strategic customer" and anticipates to "bring a new HPMS component to market in smartphones next year." HPMS or high-performance mixed-signal chips feature drivers for Taptic Engine in iPhones.

This particular chip, according to Cirrus Logic CEO John Forsyth, will be available in the market "back half of next year," which lines up with Apple's traditional month of launching new iPhones, which is September. While the Apple supplier did not mention anything about iPhone 5 or solid-state buttons, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O'Malley noted that the new component coming from Cirrus Logic will most likely be a part of the extra Tactic Engines for the haptic buttons of the more expensive iPhone 15 models.

"The biggest change to our thinking here is to model $1 of new content in the IP15 Pro models. To be clear, the company hasn't said much here other than that the chip is mixed signal and not in the power domain. When looking at potential use cases, the largest change in new iPhone models next year is the removal of the buttons, which would require additional drivers for the haptics engine, making it the most likely use case for new content," Barclays analysts said in an investor note released last week een by Macrumors.

Barclays' comment also aligned with that of Ming-Chi Kuo who said in October that the "solid-state button design" that would "replace the physical/mechanical button" feature will be available on "two high-end iPhone 15/2H23 new iPhone models."

As to how Apple would do this, it is believed that the tech giant would use Taptic engines on the left and right internal sides of the more expensive iPhone 15 models that would give the user the feeling that they are pressing physical buttons. This change would also mean that Apple would use three Taptic engines instead of one on the iPhone 15. These Taptic engines would provide haptic feedback each time the user presses the button.