iPhone 18 Could Drop Camera Control Button, Claims Dubious Rumor

[Marty80]

in my time with Apple i can say there was three flops:

1) Macbook pro touch bar - little software utilisation sealed its faith.

2) Dynamic island - as it stands it too has little app utilisation.

3) Camera control button - it too serves little purpose, and it could have had more features in ios 26.

I guess Cook likes to experiment with concepts the average consumer has no need for.

 

[ingik]

Remove it and give us back 3D Touch

 

[citysnaps]

True, it can be disabled. With that in mind, Apple realised what a questionable design and location the button is, knowing that those of us who buy a phone to use as a phone would be unhappy. That reason alone should have been enough reason for Apple not to implement the button where it is.

I'm not sure what would be a better location for the button. I hold my phone in my left hand, 99 percent of the time. I use the camera for photos about 1 percent of the time. I have taken maybe two intentional videos with my phone.

The camera button is in an ideal place for me and no doubt millions of other photographers who are predominantly right handed. It's just lightly less convenient for left handed use (needing to use one's left thumb rather than right forefinger).

I've never had a problem using it. It's in the right place for making photos, especially in landscape mode (the majority of my photographs). And similarly makes sense for vertical photos.

As it takes a deliberate press on the button to bring up the camera, simply don't press the button deliberately when using iPhone as a phone. After having my 16PM for around a year (using it > 5,000 times), that's *never happened to me.*

I'm convinced those complaining about inadvertent camera button presses are simply trying hard to find something, anything, to rag on Apple about - similar to almost every other post here everyday.

 

[citysnaps]

3) Camera control button - it too serves little purpose, and it could have had more features in ios 26.

It's extremely useful for photographers - its a slick way to adjust what's in the frame. Simply disable it if for some reason you're not able to stop pressing it deliberately.

 

[SactoGuy18]

I wouldn't be surprised that iOS 26 will add additional functionality to the Camera Control button.

 

[thebeans]

point being the volume up button has functioned as the shutter button for years now.

If you are looking for a convenient button on the side of the phone then you've had that option for a long time.

Indeed. But the volume button is farther up on the side than the camera button. Not nearly as easy to get to as the camera button when poking the camera behind some things.

 

[citysnaps]

If you are looking for a convenient button on the side of the phone then you've had that option for a long time.

The camera button does more than just releasing the shutter.

 

[stocklen]

The camera button does more than just releasing the shutter.

im aware of that but the use case I was responding to was someone needing a side mounted button on the iPhone to release the shutter...

... and its been there for years.

 

[turbineseaplane]

in my time with Apple i can say where three flops:

1) Macbook pro touch bar - little software utilisation sealed its faith.

2) Dynamic island - as it stands it too has little app utilisation.

3) Camera control button - it too serves little purpose, and it could have had more features in ios 26.

I guess Cook likes to experiment with concepts the average consumer has no need for.

Vision Pro makes my list of flops, especially given the hype & press coverage of it around launch (Tim doing the feature with Vanity Fair, etc) and subsequent rewriting of the narratives around it.

"It was actually just a preview of the future" .. yah, right ... nice retcon effort.

Perhaps the story will change eventually, but at this moment in time, it's unquestionably a commercial flop.

 

[stocklen]

in my time with Apple i can say where three flops:

1) Macbook pro touch bar - little software utilisation sealed its faith.

2) Dynamic island - as it stands it too has little app utilisation.

3) Camera control button - it too serves little purpose, and it could have had more features in ios 26.

I guess Cook likes to experiment with concepts the average consumer has no need for.

4) force touch screens on both the iPhone and Apple Watch.

 

[macduke]

As a photographer, I don't really use it. The ergonomics are awkward to have to curl my finger over towards the top center of a thin device I'm also trying to keep from dropping. It would be more useful if it were more towards the side, but that could also cause issues for holding normally in portrait. I also think it should be larger, as it currently requires too much swiping to do anything.

You have to be kinda precise with your double half-clicking to get it to switch modes, and then you have to swipe on it again and click in to change the mode. I'd rather be able to configure it for only two things: Switching cameras and changing exposure. The double half-click could just toggle between those two modes and I'd be good. I don't fuss with any of that other crap. Zoom is just cropping to interpolate between cameras. The depth of field is fake anyway and can be changed in post, as can the other styles and tones which are just photo edits. I prefer to edit my photos after taking them, not before, which is why I shoot RAW.

And don't even get me started on using it for Apple's crappy intelligence features. I'm over it. They're so far behind. I would switch to Google if they weren't evil when it comes to privacy and bad when it comes to security.

Honestly Apple could just add another Action Button above the lock button and I'd be fine with that. Bonus points if they add two levels of pressure for the Action button, or simply allow us to add actions for double click without janky Shortcuts solutions that don't work consistently in my experience.