iPhone 15 Pro Rumored to Feature Multi-Use Action Button Instead of Mute Switch

[jclardy]

Mute switch was a main reason I stayed on iPhone in the early days, going to android then having to go through clunky menu settings to change the ringer setting was a pain (Also the multiple volume levels before they sorted it all out.)

But I welcome this change - I'm pretty much always on silent anyways, so a configurable button would be way more useful. Especially if it can configure focus modes, a direct DND button would be great.

 

[johnediii]

Careful. Press 11 times for Apple Pay, and 13 times for Apple Pay Later.

Unless you have triskaidekaphobia, then it's 14 times.

 

[johnediii]

When are they going to go the route of the Magic Mouse and put the charging port in the middle of the screen?

 

[jamezr]

Unless you have triskaidekaphobia, then it's 14 times.

lol...i had to look up what that meant
Or imagine if you have some sort of ADD disorder...did i push it 5 times or six or what...better start over/
rinse and repeat...rinse and repeat

 

[Stromos]

You could map it to mute. You lose nothing. All of use who always-ever have it on mute get to make it do something useful. Win-win.

For me, it'll activate the camera, hell yeah.

Yes going from a physical recessed switch to something that will be a button sticking out that can unmute your phone in your pocket or turn the camera on in your pocket is a great idea.

In a meeting and your phone starts blaring no quick flip of the switch you gotta fiddle with your phone.

 

[Xangelkiller]

I expect this feature to have amazing potential, but will be severely limited by the OS for no reason at all.

 

[Born Again]

A solution to a problem no one has. Just leave the mute button FFS!

Should we leave the phone alone? Not change it

 

[floral]

Careful. Press 11 times for Apple Pay, and 13 times for Apple Pay Later.

You'll also make sure you're doing 12 short presses. 12 medium presses closes the charging port which will maul anything plugged in. Nobody's figured out what 12 long presses does...

 

[SactoGuy18]

However, Apple may not implement this on the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max models because it may cause more confusion than needed. They may just turn to a slider-style Mute button control (for now).

 

[Born Again]

I love it. We can finally customize something. My phone stays on mute so a mute switch is 100% pointless for me.

But Apple doesn’t want us to customize anything. It’s not the apple way. Or are we turning into google now?

 

[MadDog31]

Why not be able to program the action button to mute the phone? This way, for those of us who sit on mute 100% of the time anyway can have this do something else?

 

[klasma]

You could map it to mute. You lose nothing.

You lose the ability of having a physical switch you can feel which position it’s in by touching it in your pocket, or by quickly looking at it.

 

[HyperFlow]

I would find this pretty useful if they allow you to map different actions to double press, or long press.

 

[klasma]

When are they going to go the route of the Magic Mouse and put the charging port in the middle of the screen?

Or at least in the island. They could also add an island for it at the bottom, so that the iPhone is symmetric again.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Too funny!

Yeah that's about what I expected.

 

[nerdAFK]

AHHHHHHHHH!

Now Tim can easily tell himself that a price hike is so completely justified.

 

[ginuz]

ugly

 

[MrRom92]

If it only controls mute as originally rumored then yeah having a physical switch is ultimately preferable. Changing it to a solid state button would suck. But if it ends up being configurable as rumored… I would see that as a positive change I would actually get use out of. Maybe I’ll put the camera on it, for quick access. Or maybe the flashlight. Or a dedicated screenshot button. Lots of ideas.

Maybe they can integrate a Touch ID sensor too!

 

[Jamo12]

The always on display could allow for seeing if it is muted or not. If could have a certain ’feel’/vibration pattern so you know it is muted/not muted you can adjust it in your pocket. As long as it has those 2 things, I don’t see an issue with this.

 

[sw1tcher]

I see where this is going. If the Action Button catches on and becomes a liked/popluar feature, Apple will make the entire side of a future iPhone (and exclusive to only the Pro and Pro Max/Ultra line) an Action Button and call it the Touch Bar Side. You'll have quick and easy access to adjust the screen brightness, volume, mute, Siri, etc.

 

[sdf]

Agreed! All also needs to consider bringing back 3D Touch. It was high-end, exclusive, and overall premium.

3D Touch on the iPhone was mostly useless, but I sure miss it on the Apple Watch.

 

[CapitalIdea]

I pretty much never take my phone off mute so having the option to change the function is a nice addition. For all the complainers, just leave it as a mute/unmute and stop crying over nothing.

 

[klasma]

The always on display could allow for seeing if it is muted or not. If could have a certain ’feel’/vibration pattern so you know it is muted/not muted you can adjust it in your pocket. As long as it has those 2 things, I don’t see an issue with this.

That’s stiil more complex. My parents understand the mute switch. They won’t understand a vibration pattern and won’t remember what symbol means what on the display.

 

[Apple_Robert]

To be fair, they leaked accurate details about the Island, but not the Dynamic Island.

And that leaker should be voted off the island. lol

 

[verniesgarden]

it's not like the mute switch gets much use anyway. I imagine most users flip it to mute and never flip it again until they take off their case and it accidentally flips.

I'd love a button that could be a dedicated camera button.