Rumor: Apple makes buttons on Watch touch-sensitive

Apple is planning to stop ‘clicking’ the physical buttons on the Apple Watch. Instead of physically pressing the buttons, the whole should become touch-sensitive, which should facilitate production and take up less space in the case.

The plans have not been made public by Apple, but a source tells Fast Company that a next-generation Apple Watch will no longer have physically depressible buttons. So these ‘solid-state’ buttons can no longer move, which should make the whole thing more solid and easier to produce. A physical button press would be simulated by haptic feedback. The ‘crown’ wheel on the watch would remain rotatable, despite the fact that it can no longer be physically pressed.

Other benefits of removing the physical button press is that the whole thing is easier to waterproof. Also, less space is needed for the buttons, and that could benefit other parts, such as the battery.

Apple is said to be planning to make the changes in the next generation of its smart watch. If it fails to implement the plans on time, it will come in a next generation that will be released in 2019, according to Fast Company. In a more distant future, there should be an Apple Watch that has no buttons at all, but the plans for that have not been worked out yet.