Does the LE require an Old-School Key???

I don’t think they’ve ever done that?

I believe it’s: LE has fob like all the others, push button start, but not 3-door touch to unlock. But maybe touch to unlock for driver’s door only?

 

You’ve quoted from the specifications for model year 2023 (fifth-generation) Prius cars, but this is posted in the fourth-generation forum.

For model year 2022, the LE grade, among others, has “Smart Key System on driver's door with Push Button Start,” but higher grades have “Smart Key System on three doors with Push Button Start and remote illuminated entry” (emphasis added). You always get two electronic keys (remotes or key fobs) that you can use to lock or unlock the car by pressing a button. The main difference is that on lower grades, only the driver’s door has the electronics to allow you to walk up with the key in a bag or pocket and unlock the door just by pulling on the handle, while the higher grades have this also on the front passenger door and back door (hatch).

Specifications do change, so if these features are important to you, I’d encourage you to confirm that they’re present on actual car you’re planning to buy.

 

Yeah, it's a matter of cost and logistics.

While the original cars like the Prius c, Corolla, and Camry used existing steering columns originally design for physical mechanical keys, the newly designed Gen 5 Prius and all new offerings using newly designed steering columns will not have physical keys in even the base model.

It saves on design, mold and OEM and replacement parts costs and other logistics.