Just like the annoying screen shots i take since power button moved to the side of the phone. I see a future of accidentally pushed mute buttons. And we will all have to live with it. 🙄
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iPhone 15 Pro Could Feature Solid-State Unified Volume Rocker, Mute Button Instead of Switch
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Are they trying to make iPhone 15 capable of being an underwater camera?
Exactly. If you're in a meeting or a movie theater or something, you can reach into your pocket and immediately know where the switch is (flip the switch and feel that little vibration that confirms silent mode). I think the certainty and unambiguity of the hard switch is quite valuable for trusting the device to do what I expect. There's no focus mode I forgot about that's going to override silent mode, no app I just installed with permissions to make my phone chime unexpectedly when I'm putting my kid down to sleep. The switch is the switch and that's that -- and that kind of thing is less and less common in this era of "soft" switches and control knobs (if you even get a physical control).
IF Apple can find a way to use a soft switch and still provide this absolute certainty, I'd be open minded about it. It would need some kind of tactile feedback to let it be done without looking at the display, as we can currently do, and it would need to be totally "authoritative" and put every alert* in silent mode as the switch does now.
* Except Find My, of course
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apple will always come up with the right solution
Last year: hole? pill and hole (very ugly)?
Apple: dynamic island
2y ago: diagonal camera lineup?
Apple: actually quite good
M1 iPad is too powerful: we need some multitasking features
Apple: stage manager
Snapdragon have better gaming capabilities
Apple: wait for A17
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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Anyone remember this? Apple is not playing with the new upcoming iPhone 15 line up!
Changing the types of buttons used isn't changing the form factor. It'll still look like my iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Forgetting to unmute my phone is a major annoyance. I don't use the mute switch that often for this reason.
On Android, it was extremely convenient to be able to turn on do not disturb for 2hrs for example (say you were at a movie) and then you don't have to think about it after that.
I DO sympathize with those who have been using the mute switch forever though. There are pros and cons to both approaches really.
I assume Apple is trying to get as close as possible to the best of both worlds. Maintaining a dedicated button for this function instead of moving it purely to software, while at the same time allowing for software to be able to have some control (a button, unlike a switch doesn't save "state" in a way that can't be modified by software). This seems like a reasonable compromise.
On Android, it was extremely convenient to be able to turn on do not disturb for 2hrs for example (say you were at a movie) and then you don't have to think about it after that.
I DO sympathize with those who have been using the mute switch forever though. There are pros and cons to both approaches really.
I assume Apple is trying to get as close as possible to the best of both worlds. Maintaining a dedicated button for this function instead of moving it purely to software, while at the same time allowing for software to be able to have some control (a button, unlike a switch doesn't save "state" in a way that can't be modified by software). This seems like a reasonable compromise.
Between getting rid of the volume buttons and mute switch plus going usb-c the 15 is going to be a game changer 😂
This might be a good time to have a second Haptic Engine for really stereo directional movements
I'm sure apple has usage data on the current mute switch. Between focus modes and the Apple Watch, I'd be willing to bet that the mute switch is seeing less and less use. I for one was a heavy mute switch user until I started wearing the Apple Watch, now the only time my phone is unmuted is on the rare occasion that the watch is dead or I'm not wearing it and I still want to hear a notification. All that said, a haptic button for the mute switch seems like a gimmick, but I thought that about Touch ID too before I actually used it.
Multiple rumors have indicated that a handful of design changes are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, but one that until now has gone under the radar is the possibility that the volume controls on the side of the device will be a single unified rocker button.
As noted by YouTuber ZoneOfTech on Twitter, Apple typically uses two pins to attach each button to the chassis, but in the latest renders based on leaked iPhone 15 Pro CAD drawings, only two pins are shown in a single indentation where the volume buttons usually sit. In contrast, CAD-based renders of the regular iPhone 15 show two separate slots with four pins in total.
In the course of making their own iPhone 15 Pro concept based on the leaked CADs, ZoneOfTech has become "100% sure" the iPhone 15 Pro will feature one long unified volume button rather than two separate ones. In addition, ZoneOfTech is just as certain that "the mute switch will also switch to a singular press button, rather than the up and down switch that we have now."
Rumors suggest Apple is adopting solid-state buttons with haptic feedback for the power and volume controls on its upcoming iPhone 15 Pro models, and it's beginning to look like a single unified solid-state volume button will detect touch on the top ("up") and bottom ("down") ends, and a haptic mute button will replace the classic switch.
It's unclear how the new haptic buttons will work through cases, especially if they require direct touch contact. Likewise, there will need to be solutions to accommodate device recovery in situations the iPhone may not be working as expected. On the plus side, solid-state button technology can improve protection against dust and water, since it doesn't need a physical depressing mechanic, but it does require extra hardware inside the iPhone.
Apple is rumored to be adding two additional Taptic Engines to the iPhone 15 Pro models to power the solid-state buttons. (Current iPhone models have a single Taptic Engine for haptic feedback.) The regular iPhone 15 models are expected to retain mechanical buttons.
The original iPhone featured an externally unified volume rocker, or one long button raised at both ends. This button design remained on the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. For the iPhone 4, the rocker was replaced by two circular buttons, which were eventually changed to longer separate pill-shaped buttons on the iPhone 6. Variations on the pill shape have been used right up to the iPhone 14.
Do you have a button preference? Let us know in the comments. And for more on what to expect from the iPhone 15 Pro models, check out our dedicated roundup with all of the rumors.
Article Link: iPhone 15 Pro Could Feature Solid-State Unified Volume Rocker, Mute Button Instead of Switch
I mean, one of the things that annoys me about the current iPhone is that the switch is no longer totally authoritative. I have more than once been in trouble when I've been scrolling through my phone while my wife was asleep and I've touched the screen slightly wrong and a video has started playing instead of scrolling the display. And sound comes out, even though the switch is set to silent. Facebook is a major offender there. But I think also Twitter, and even the App Store.
Wait until you get software control of the mute switch. You think you can mute your device so those autoplay videos don't annoy you? You WILL listen to the commercial, because we say so...
70% of iPhone users in the US don't have an Apple Watch. And I can't find stats for the rest of the world, but I'd be very surprised if anywhere else has more Watch users.
True, but silent mode has always been limited to alerts, not media. If it wasn't, you would never be able to watch a video or listen to music with your phone set to vibrate.
The larger issue, of course, is all those horrible boobytraps placed throughout modern interfaces that try to get you to play video. I disable auto-play everywhere I can and still end up playing accidental video sometimes.
Replacing the physical switch for muting with a push button would be a serious setback. A cheaper rocker switch for volume may be functionally no different. If they change the mute switch, we will go back to the days of cell phones constantly ringing during class and meetings and movies and auditoriums.
They should consider all of the elderly people trying to use iPhones for any changes.
They should consider all of the elderly people trying to use iPhones for any changes.
Besides all the well-pointed-out-by-others stupidity of this idea, how about getting the power and volume buttons to not be directly opposite each other, like they used to be a long time ago? I'm tired of all the screenshots of my lock screen when pulling the phone out of a pocket, and trying to hold the thing with one hand in landscape orientation and take a photo is nearly impossible. Buttons should always have nothing opposite them, so you can leverage the press.
Just make it so the mute switch mutes everything, including random ads that ignore it. No need to change the physical mute switch.
Nah I’d rather have a switch thanks. I bet if they did this they’ll add a icon on the screen to show its muted, and you’ll have to check the always in display too to confirm that. Rather then just checking a switches position without taking the phone out of your pocket.
Not sure how I feel about changing the mute switch. It truly is one of the best iPhone features.
I do not have the screen ON all the time on my iPhone 14 Pro Max and thus get more useful hours of use. Always on means lighting up the room when ever the phone would come out of a pocket. This would be a challenge at any event where the audience is seated in the dark for viewing purposes.
Not a good idea. Elderly people have trouble identifying and using a Unified Button as two buttons.
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Well, Apple got rid of the classic physical HomeButton. The elderly people ended up getting used to the Swipe up/Touch bar thingy.
The trick is to turn off your phone completely if you do not want to be disturbed. That's what you should always to if you are together with others unless you are really waiting for an important message.
I have had Android for many years and switched to iPhone 2 month ago. I struggled for weeks how to for instance mute the phone easy and quick. I was shoched to realise it was only done by a tiny little mecanical switch 😲 Come on Apple - it’s 2023 not 2003 …. and NOTHING on screen shows its on mute 😐
I don’t give up easy and found a way via haptic feedback buttom to do on and of with one push. Still can’t controle the vibration easy. Other settings are way behind Android unfortunately, but most things are working.
I don’t give up easy and found a way via haptic feedback buttom to do on and of with one push. Still can’t controle the vibration easy. Other settings are way behind Android unfortunately, but most things are working.
