Apple iPhone 17 Pro Action Button and volume controls reportedly seeing big change
For a while now, leaks and rumors have been hinting at Apple ditching or, at the very least, reducing the number of buttons on future iPhone models. However, rather than limiting the number of buttons, Apple has so far only replaced the mute switch with the Action Button and introduced the new Camera Control on the iPhone 16 phones.
According to a new rumor shared by MajinBu, Apple is looking to combine the volume controls and the Action Button into a single input on the iPhone 17 Pro. Combined with the Camera Control that likely will also be available on the iPhone 17 Pro phones, the iPhone 17 Pro will have a radically different button layout than two generations ago.
Sadly, we don’t know what mechanism the proposed iPhone 17 Pro button would use. While a traditional mechanical system is the safest bet, it wouldn’t surprise us if Apple goes with a capacitive solution like the new Camera Control.
iPhone 16 Camera Control is divisive
Camera Control is one of the biggest and most hyped hardware features on this year’s iPhone 16 smartphones. The pre-launch hype surrounding the Camera Control makes perfect sense. It is a dedicated physical shutter button that brings a new way to use the iPhone camera thanks to its capacitive nature. However, user sentiment regarding the Camera Control is all over the place.
While some users love having a dedicated button for taking photos, some contend that Camera Control is hard to use and located in the wrong place.
Therefore, assuming the combined volume and Action Button input on the iPhone 17 Pro is capacitive, we hope it is easy to use, brings new intuitive gestures for added functionality, and is placed at just the right spot.
That said, we are at the very beginning of the iPhone 16 series’ lifecycle. So, any concrete information regarding next year’s iPhones will take some months to start leaking out. Until then, take the information presented here with a giant grain of salt.
Source(s)
MajinBuOfficial on X via Wccftech, Teaser image: Apple, Adrien Converse on Unsplash, edited
