Here's What the New iPhone 16 Camera Control Button Can Do

[wbeasley]

Name one tech device 16 versions in that ads revolutionary features rather than evolutionary ones.

It takes a hardware generational leap and total mind shift to do it.

Face it, we are at Peak Phone.
The small changes are more than enough for those with two or three year old phones to be happy.

 

[nutriousmitten]

Almost seems like this was what they wanted last year on the Pros, and when it didn't work out in testing or production, they made that hole in the phone into the action button.

And, they couldn't drop the action button after a year, so another button it is.

Definitely specific types of engineers are ruling the roost over designers these days at Apple.

 

[iZac]

I'm unclear as to whether the 'lock focus & exposure' feature will only be available on the Pro models, since it was only mentioned during the iPhone Pro introduction and within the iPhone Pro webpage?

Almost seems like this was what they wanted last year on the Pros, and when it didn't work out in testing or production, they made that hole in the phone into the action button.

And, they couldn't drop the action button after a year, so another button it is.

Definitely specific types of engineers are ruling the roost over designers these days at Apple.

Perhaps Apple will keep adding buttons until they have a full QWERTY keyboard on the bottom. I also wonder of they will disable the volume rocker to act as a camera shutter now?

 

[coolfactor]

It’s on the 3B company with their millionaire Silicon Valley engineers to come up with something, not on the customers.

Huh? That makes no sense. What people are calling "innovations" are generally outwardly-visible changes. Because the phone looks and functions virtually the same as last year, they claim there have been no innovations. When, in fact, engineers have innovated internally in ways the average consumer can't appreciate. From hardware to software, each new iPhone is packed with creative and innovative solutions that engineers are proud of.

 

[Jmausmuc]

Huh? That makes no sense. What people are calling "innovations" are generally outwardly-visible changes. Because the phone looks and functions virtually the same as last year, they claim there have been no innovations. When, in fact, engineers have innovated internally in ways the average consumer can't appreciate. From hardware to software, each new iPhone is packed with creative and innovative solutions that engineers are proud of.

Maybe they are proud maybe they are not.

If Deepmind and OAI had not made drastic AI leaps possible, there would be nothing new then another button added, the screen size increased for the 10th time and a better camera.

If Apple ever releases their AI features that is. Google is currently far ahead. For some reason they were also able to just release their AI features worldwide why apple for some reason will only support US English and a very small subset of regions.

 

[sunny5]

Nice idea but bad location. It should be where the action button is located on the other side. It's too far from the right side which it quite difficult to hold on to it.

 

[MikeTech]

Maybe they are proud maybe they are not.

If Deepmind and OAI had not made drastic AI leaps possible, there would be nothing new then another button added, the screen size increased for the 10th time and a better camera.

If Apple ever releases their AI features that is. Google is currently far ahead. For some reason they were also able to just release their AI features worldwide why apple for some reason will only support US English and a very small subset of regions.

Huh? Google did NOT release their AI features worldwide! It’s the same there. The new Pixel’s AI stuff requires english as device language and some stuff aren’t even released here in the EU.

 

[nutriousmitten]

Nice idea but bad location. It should be where the action button is located on the other side. It's too far from the right side which it quite difficult to hold on to it.

Good point, and further lends credence to the thought that the action button was always supposed to be this button...but, from the archives, Apple's response is "You're holding it wrong"...

 

[zachz]

I’m terrible at taking photos and don’t know much about photography, although I do enjoy using my 15PM for photos when I travel and have used it quite a bit for that. I feel like the new button will be somewhat inconvenient and requires two hands. I can just hold my iPhone and zoom with my thumb. Although I guess this new feature is for a more professional feel, and I take it professionals tend to use two hands when taking photo?

 

[wbeasley]

I’m terrible at taking photos and don’t know much about photography, although I do enjoy using my 15PM for photos when I travel and have used it quite a bit for that. I feel like the new button will be somewhat inconvenient and requires two hands. I can just hold my iPhone and zoom with my thumb. Although I guess this new feature is for a more professional feel, and I take it professionals tend to use two hands when taking photo?

and you can still use your phone exactly as you are now... so no difference for you.

 

[gphome]

Am I reading the specs on Apples site correctly? The only difference between the two pro-max's is the one has larger battery? If so I want the smaller phone. I only went with the bigger phones for the extra camera features.

That’s the way I’m reading it, IDENTICAL camera specs on the Pro and Pro Max across all 3 lenses. Been a while since we’ve had that

 

[ghostface147]

Can I still use the static options instead of that button? I don’t want to have to slide to go from 1x to 5x. Just tap on the camera screen for me!

 

[cmbyd]

My first thought was “how will this work with a case?”… I actually think it’s a cool hardware feature, but it seems like it will only be useful for people who go raw since the button is touch activated 🤔

 

[chrono1081]

I’m terrible at taking photos and don’t know much about photography

The best tip I can give you is when you look at your phone screen think "Would I hang that on my wall?" If not, reframe your shot, try and get lower or higher or find a more interesting angle. If you think that each time you go to take a picture you'll vastly improve.

Also pay attention to the background, make sure distracting elements aren't popping up (like a tree that looks like it's sprouting out of someone's head).

 

[Phillyfinest89]

im sure it’s a good upgrade for people coming from certain iPhones,but I’ll pass and see what’s next year move is. iPhone 17…

 

[platinumaqua]

Not against them adding a camera button, but why make it so complicated?

Sony/Sony Ericsson phones have a shutter button that works like a real camera's shutter button and uses the volume control buttons to zoom. Simple and easy to understand.

 

[satchmo]

Will non-camera apps be able to use this for control? I'm not even sure what they would be yet, but I'm sure some imaginative dev or designer could come up with something.

Good question.

Games could use the button to either zoom in to shoot or simply move side to side.

 

[roguefury]

Jony Ive took all our buttons away and Tim Cook is bringing them back

 

[F27]

They managed to talk about a button in the event like it was reinventing the wheel 😂. So not unlike how camera shutter buttons have worked for decades and Sony Xperia phones for example have had them going back over 10.

 

[jonnysods]

Steve Jobs must be very happy in his Grave that Apple is innovating upon iPhone's Inception in 2007, last few years eMoji innovation, and now this button! I know your move next Warren Buffet

I honestly think he'd rip his teams to shreds for how compicated the UI has become. There are so many features you need a degree to figure out how to use it all.

 

[Fatboy71]

What's going to stop you from opening your camera app every time you pull the phone out of your pocket?

Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Fatboy71]

Just wondering if the 16 models will lose the ability to swipe on the lock screen to open the camera, as I see little point in the gesture now. I wished Apple had scrapped that feature when they put the shortcut to the camera on the lock screen. I've lost count of how many times I had accidentally opened the camera with that gesture.

 

[orangermac]

Does this work from the Lock Screen?

 

[sviato]

Just wondering if the 16 models will lose the ability to swipe on the lock screen to open the camera, as I see little point in the gesture now. I wished Apple had scrapped that feature when they put the shortcut to the camera on the lock screen. I've lost count of how many times I had accidentally opened the camera with that gesture.

I use the swipe as the primary way to open the camera, hope it never goes away

 

[pencilscribbler]

My first thought was “how will this work with a case?”… I actually think it’s a cool hardware feature, but it seems like it will only be useful for people who go raw since the button is touch activated 🤔

Either

• raw/caseless, or
• via a hole in the case like with the silent switch, USB-C / Lightning ports. Then the button remains uncovered & functional.
  • Maybe case makers will have to reduce the thickness of their side bezels so you can reach the button…?