An Apple supplier has apparently confirmed the iPhone 15 Pro’s solid-state button abolition

in Shareholder letter Today, Apple supplier Cirrus Logic has apparently confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro models will no longer feature solid-state buttons.

“However, among the HPMS opportunities we’ve discussed, a new product we mentioned in previous shareholder letters as being scheduled for launch this fall is no longer expected as planned.” “Because we have limited visibility into our customers’ future plans for this product at this time, we are removing the revenue associated with this component from our internal model.”

HPMS stands for Cirrus Logic’s High-Performance Mixed Signal Chips, which include haptic drivers for the Taptic Engine in iPhones. In a shareholder letter last November, the Texas-based company said it continued to “engage with a strategic customer” and expects to “bring a new HPMS component to market in smartphones next year.” Apple is Cirrus Logic’s largest customer and accounted for 79% of its revenue in fiscal 2022.

In a note to investors today, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis and Tom O’Malley said Cirrus Logic’s aforementioned comments likely refer to solid-state buttons. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo initially said that the iPhone 15 Pro models were equipped with two additional Taptic Actuators that provide haptic feedback when solid-state buttons are pressed, and Cirrus Logic likely provides the relevant components.

Last month, Kuo said that the iPhone 15 Pro models will no longer have solid-state buttons as was initially rumored due to “unresolved technical issues prior to mass production.” Devices are now expected to have traditional buttons that move when pressed. Rumors suggest that the Ring/Silent switch will continue to be replaced by a button as previously claimed, and that button could be as customizable as the Action button on the Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple analyst Jeff Bowe believes that solid-state buttons will be returned to iPhone 16 Pro models launched next year, but Cirrus Logic’s comments today indicate that the supplier has no knowledge of those plans yet.