Rumors surrounding the iPhone 15 Pro are starting to get fractured as we get ever closer to the expected September 2023 announcement. Now, we're hearing more about the rumored Action button and what roles it might play.
The Action button claims stem from the expectations that Apple's best iPhone of 2023 would use new capacitive buttons instead of the clicky ones we're all familiar with. A recent report said that those solid-state buttons were no longer happening, but one Twitter leaker continues to double down on their claims that the Action button remains regardless.
Now they've shared more details about what that might entail including a change that would remove specific functionality from the volume buttons.
Rumors that may or may not be on the button
The move away from physical buttons was reported as being canceled a week ago with Apple thought to have been struggling to make the new solid-state ones work properly. However, a leaker who has a reasonable track record of sharing information about iPhones before their release claims that the Action button is still happening.
What's more, they've now shared even more information that suggests Apple is ready to change the way iPhones are restarted as well.
Furthermore, within the camera app, the action button (formally; mute switch) will replace the volume up button for taking a photo.Action button use in Camera:– Light press: auto-focuses the camera– Hard press: captures photo– Hard, Long-hold press: captures/records videoApril 16, 2023
According to them, Apple will change the force-restart button combination away from the volume button combined with the power button — it'll use the Action button and volume button instead.
The leak goes on, saying that Apple's button will also know how firmly it is being pressed. That sounds similar to the 3D Touch technology of yesteryear, with the leaker saying that different types of button presses will trigger different kinds of actions. The example given included the Camera app, with a light press causing the camera to focus and a hard press capturing the shot.
It's also thought that a longer firm press could be used to capture a video recording.
At this point, it's difficult to be sure exactly where this is all going, with the Action button potentially the biggest iPhone upgrade of the year. But if Apple is struggling to make solid-state buttons work reliably that would throw the Action button into doubt.
With iOS 17 set to be released to developers on 5 June, it's possible we could learn more then. Otherwise, we might just have to wait for September to roll around instead.
