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Rejoice! Sub-menus to change the climate could become a thing of the past.

The touchscreen has been perhaps the most influential and invasive technological feature of the 21st century. Tesla has sparked a massive trend in the auto industry, with manufacturers rolling out dashboard-wide screens and gaming-level graphics. It has become a nuisance for drivers as brands have moved climate controls, stereo controls and even vital functions like drive modes to touchscreen sub-menus. But there's at least a glimmer of hope the maximalist touchscreens in cars fad may be on the downslope.

Longtime Apple designer Jony Ive, speaking on a panel at Vox Media's Code conference, noted that "the pendulum may swing a little to have interfaces and products that are more tactile and more engaging physically," and that would be particularly true in places where touchscreens have been overused, such as cars.

Though he made his name in tech, Ive is not a complete outsider to the car industry. His design firm LoveFrom has been working on Ferrari's upcoming electric car.

We may already see a bit of this swing at the upper end of the car market. One of the ways brands like Lincoln, Genesis and Jeep (on the pricier offerings) differentiate themselves is with artfully designed and tactile knobs and controls.

However — even if they are more cumbersome for the driver — we'd expect most manufacturers will continue leaning into touchscreens for the foreseeable future. A touchscreen-led interior reads as a clean, tech-forward design. But one of the significant appeals of a touchscreen to automakers is that it cuts costs. It's cheaper and simpler to code functions into the infotainment system than to design, produce and incorporate physical buttons and switches into the cockpit.

Electric cars are proliferating. But the R&D costs remain great. Battery technology is expensive and any bit of savings helps. Slapping a screen in the center console is a compelling way to sneak in some cost cutting, whether you'd rather knobs and buttons or not.