iPhone 15 Pro Max Leaked Renders Hint at a Buttonless Design

iPhone 15 Pro Max or iPhone 15 Ultra could potentially be the first iPhone to ditch the physical buttons, if recently leaked renders are anything to go by. The new images suggest that the upcoming iPhone could have recessed spaces in place of the physical buttons, which are imagined to deliver haptic feedback to mimic the feel of a physical click. Compared to the current iPhone 14 Pro Max, the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max is said to be thicker, ever so slightly shorter, and could come with a USB Type-C port.

Of course, the Dynamic Island will still be there as we don’t expect any major changes, if any, having been just introduced last year. There is also talk that this buttonless phone could be called the iPhone 15 Ultra, which means we could have a fifth model launch this year alongside the two Pros and two standard models.

Twitter tipster Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) tweeted a bunch of CAD renders of the alleged iPhone 15 Pro Max, while also comparing the dimensions of the upcoming phone with the current iPhone 14 Pro Max. The first thing that grabs your attention are the empty spaces left by removing the physical buttons. These certainly look a bit odd and I highly doubt it will be the final design. The gaps will most likely be filled by solid-state buttons that will look like regular buttons, but with haptic feedback instead, similar to the Home button on an iPhone SE (2022) or the trackpad on a MacBook.

Exclusive：iPhone 15 Pro Max（or iPhone 15 Ultra），Rendering based on CAD.
Compared with 14ProMax,bezel is narrower，but thicker.
Titanium alloy middle frame with frosted process, Type-C ，No physical button design. pic.twitter.com/d4fLOeqWSu

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) February 25, 2023

One of the renders also suggest that the iPhone 15 Pro Max might be a little thicker than the current-gen model (8.25mm vs 7.85mm) without including the camera bump. At the same time, it would have a narrower width of 76.73mm (vs 77.6mm). The height of the phone could also be slightly shorter at 159.86mm, compared to 160.7mm on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Another major change, which I’m sure many would be happy to see is the possible use of a USB Type-C port instead of Apple’s Lightning connector. Ice Universe also mentions the use of a titanium alloy frame instead of stainless steel on the upcoming Pro iPhone. All of these things are pure speculation right now, so make of it what you will.

Past reports have suggested that the standard iPhone 15 models are also primed to get the Dynamic Island, floating notch treatment of the iPhone 14 Pros. It’s possible we might see a slight bump in the iPhone 15’s display size as well.

The iPhone 15 Pro is suggested to come in a Dark Red colour, which could be the Pro lineup’s signature colour this year. Thinner bezels are something else that we can expect, along with more RAM in the iPhone 15 Pro Max model.