Next-gen Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad bound for Taptic Button upgrade in new leak

Apple's iPhone design end-game reportedly involves a completely button- and port-free design (of the kind that once famously crashed out in the Meizu Zero); in the meantime, the Cupertino giant might switch to a new kind of physical button instead.

As opposed to those of a mechanical nature as in the latest iPhone 16 line, they are allegedly rated to respond to different levels of pressure so that, for example, a volume rocker could also be used to mute the device with a long press, and so on.

They might also respond to swipes and taps as well as presses, all with different levels of haptic feedback. This initiative (also often known as "Project Bongo") had reportedly been dropped by Apple prior to the release of the iPhone 15 series; however, the Weibo user Setsuna Digital now presumes to contravene those claims.

Furthermore, the project might have been expanded to produce these so-called Taptic Buttons for next-gen iPads and Apple Watches as well as iPhones.

Therefore, one of them might replace features such as the Action Button for the Watch Ultra one day.

It is also possible that these Taptic hardware controls might become solid-state and/or fully integrated into a device's frame over time, thereby helping Apple's theoretically monolithic iPhone dreams a reality one day.