Tim Hardwick, writing on MacRumors about why Apple paused its plan to bring haptic buttons to iPhones:

The project was believed to be on hold while Apple prioritized display and battery technology advancements for upcoming models. While the feature is still not expected to arrive in the iPhone 17 lineup, Project Bongo has indeed “restarted” at the company, according to Instant Digital.

On the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple dropped the traditional mechanical Home button in favour of a haptic-enabled button that simulated a press. I remember being pretty mesmerised by it. And then Apple completely ditched the Home Button on the iPhone X.

A couple of years ago, there was a rumour that the iPhone 15 Pro models would replace the volume and power buttons with similar haptic buttons. That rumour never materialised. I suppose we now know why—sort of.

This approach would have made a lot of sense for the iPhone 17 Air, given its more compact design and the need to save internal space. Hopefully, this idea comes to fruition soon.