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We're still almost six months away from the official unveiling of the iPhone 15 lineup, but it seems like every day we're learning more about what to expect from the next-generation models. Notably, this week gave us our clearest look yet at what appear to be some changes for the volume and mute control hardware.

top-stories-25mar2023.jpg

iOS 16.4 and associated releases are also right around the corner with some new features and hints of updated earphones coming from Apple and Beats. Meanwhile, we're continuing to hear about Apple's plans to expand its home audio product portfolio, so be sure to read on for all the details on these stories and more!

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Single Volume Button and Mute Button

We've been hearing for a while now that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be equipped with solid-state buttons that do not physically move. Instead, the buttons will provide haptic feedback from Taptic Engines when pressed, similar to the Home button introduced with the iPhone 7 and the Force Touch trackpad on modern MacBooks.

iPhone-15-Pro-Buttons-CAD-Leak.jpg

Now, a leaked CAD image has revealed that iPhone 15 Pro models will apparently have a single, elongated volume button for turning the volume up or down based on where it is pressed. The image also shows that a small button will replace the mute switch that has existed on every iPhone model sine 2007 for turning the ringer on and off.

AirPods Pro With USB-C Charging Case to Launch Later This Year

In the iOS 16.4 Release Candidate made available to developers and public beta testers this week, there are hidden references to what appears to be next-generation AirPods and a new charging case.

airpods-pro-2.jpg

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, these are likely to be AirPods Pro 2 with a USB-C charging case rather than the current Lightning port. Apple is reportedly also not planning to release USB-C versions of AirPods 2 or 3, suggesting their transition to USB-C will need to wait until a more substantial AirPods 4 upgrade is ready.

iOS 16.4 also includes references to unreleased Beats Studio Buds+ earbuds, which could be a new and improved version of the regular Studio Buds.

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Another new feature coming with iOS 16.4 is voice isolation for cellular phone calls. Apple says this option blocks out ambient noise around you so that your voice sounds clearer on the call.

iOS-16.4-Feature-Blue.jpg

Voice isolation was already available for Wi-Fi calls in apps like FaceTime and WhatsApp on devices running iOS 15 or macOS Monterey or later, and now the feature is available for regular phone calls over a cellular network.

HomePod With a Screen Delayed Until Next Year at Earliest

Apple is rumored to be developing a new HomePod model with a built-in screen to compete with the likes of Google's Nest Hub and Amazon's Echo Show, but the company has reportedly paused the project until next year at the earliest due to cost-cutting measures.

HomePod-With-Screen.jpg
Mockup of a HomePod with display

Apple relaunched the full-sized HomePod earlier this year after discontinuing the smart speaker in 2021, and it continues to sell the HomePod mini as a smaller option.

iPhone 15 Pro Rumor Recap: 10 New Features and Changes

While the iPhone 15 series is still around six months away from launching, there have already been plenty of rumors about both the regular and model lineups.


Many new features and changes have been rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro models in particular. This week, we recapped 10 new features and changes rumored for the Pro models
that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!

Article Link: Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Design Leak, iOS 16.4 Coming Soon, and More
 

Realityck

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iOS 16.4 and associated releases are also right around the corner with some new features and hints of updated earphones coming from Apple and Beats. Meanwhile, we're continuing to hear about Apple's plans to expand its home audio product portfolio, so be sure to read on for all the details on these stories and more!
This week had a lot of news focused on end of March software releases that we guessed would occur on March 28. iOS 16.4 with its voice isolation for cellular phone calls. Then more consistent rumors about Sept iPhone 15 features offered in the pro models, so for once we have some idea of what’s next is going on. :cool:
 

vegetassj4

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Oct 16, 2014
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HomePod With a Screen Delayed Until Next Year at Earliest
Tim Cook trying to force another incomplete release

HAL (Homepod Advanced w/ LED): I'm sorry, Tim. I'm afraid I can't do that.

Tim Cook: What's the problem?

HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.

Tim Cook: What are you talking about, HAL?

HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.

HomePod-With-Screen.jpg
 
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BobSc

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Sadly… this will be our new reality.

View attachment 2178532
Credit: Twitter- Majin Bu
I have no idea what this means. Are you saying that if someone is still using a device with the old rounded audio connector, then if will require adapters to connect to USBC? Of course it will. I doubt this is reality for most users. And even if it is, it's hardly a big deal to permanently leave the adapters connected to the earphone and just plug it into the USB C connector. No need to stir the pot.
 
I have no idea what this means. Are you saying that if someone is still using a device with the old rounded audio connector, then if will require adapters to connect to USBC? Of course it will. I doubt this is reality for most users. And even if it is, it's hardly a big deal to permanently leave the adapters connected to the earphone and just plug it into the USB C connector.
The meaning is simple: if you like dongles, you put a dongle into a dongle. 🔩
 

Eggtastic

macrumors 65816
Jun 9, 2009
1,020
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Guess I will be eating my words with the 15 pro lineup changes. I didn't think apple would make a major design change a year later from the 14 pro's but I guess they need every sale from the apple fans with this economy uncertain.

However, this all could be leaks for the 16 as well. Still impressed with my 14 pro max (from the 12 pro) and will wait to see what the 16 pro offers.

Never was a fan of the color/design of AirPods and will stick with another brand.

The HomePod render looks weird. If I had to guess it would be the same design as the current HomePod with a screen on the outer end vs. the top and more rounded than square like the MacBooks, iPhones, Apple Watches, etc.
 
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nimitz9

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Sep 17, 2021
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I kinda thought the sim slot might disappear with this generation, but guess it's still a necessity in some parts of the world.
 

switz

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Jan 16, 2008
520
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East edge of Phoenix urban sprawl
Excepting for all of the drawers now full of obsoleted Apple Lightning cables. Will they also migrate into the landfills just like the untold numbers of USB-A, Firewire 400 & 800, Display port, Apple ADB, parallel, RS-232, Micro usb etc cables residing there now? We are now at CAT 7 ethernet cables. What happened to all of the prior generations of ethernet cables? Were did all of the Apple 5 watt power cubes, Firewire 400 & 800 power cubes and other obsoleted wall warts go? Where did all of the "plastic cased" Apple computers end up? Since 1984 there have been lots of those made.

Apple milked Lightning as hard and as long as they could. Now it will be proprietary USB cables requiring their power bricks.

Now the eco friendly solution might be send in the Lightning cables and they will be replaced with USB-C cables. Same with the wall warts. Chance of that happening ranges from slim to none.
 

jdawgnoonan

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2007
656
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Jefferson, WI
🙄 Seriously? There really isn’t much variation in physical design for a smartphone, so what do you expect?
Exactly. All of these products are so mature that to have something worthy of upgrading every year or two is to merely encourage e-waste. Mobile phones are no longer exciting, and no one should expect them to be. The only thing that I believe that Apple could do to make me find the iPhone exciting is to start opening up the software, and that would take no new devices at all.
 

jaehaerys48

macrumors member
Feb 24, 2023
68
103
🙄 Seriously? There really isn’t much variation in physical design for a smartphone, so what do you expect?
Apple should change the form factor, so people can whine about them trying to fix what wasn't broken instead. Maybe make it a triangle or something.
 

CarAnalogy

macrumors 601
Jun 9, 2021
4,065
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Excepting for all of the drawers now full of obsoleted Apple Lightning cables. Will they also migrate into the landfills just like the untold numbers of USB-A, Firewire 400 & 800, Display port, Apple ADB, parallel, RS-232, Micro usb etc cables residing there now? We are now at CAT 7 ethernet cables. What happened to all of the prior generations of ethernet cables? Were did all of the Apple 5 watt power cubes, Firewire 400 & 800 power cubes and other obsoleted wall warts go? Where did all of the "plastic cased" Apple computers end up? Since 1984 there have been lots of those made.

Apple milked Lightning as hard and as long as they could. Now it will be proprietary USB cables requiring their power bricks.

Now the eco friendly solution might be send in the Lightning cables and they will be replaced with USB-C cables. Same with the wall warts. Chance of that happening ranges from slim to none.

Are you…are you suggesting we should be using RS-232 for everything so as to avoid waste?

Cat 7 is only for very high speed short runs. Cat 5e is still very, very common and has been for what 20 years or more?

Those Apple 5 watt power cubes are still around. I still have some. But 5 watts isn’t nearly enough anymore even for an Apple Watch.

The technology industry is still relatively young. Progress marches on. I believe you can give your old stuff to Apple for recycling if it bothers you. But there’s not much business incentive for them to offer a cable replacement program or something.

For more than a decade, USB was the main way to use a printer and they never included cables. TVs generally don’t include HDMI cables. You’re lucky if you even get a cable with a monitor that has multiple input types. It’s just an industry standard at this point.

And I seriously doubt the rumor that they are going to severely limit non MFi USB-C cables. Apple has been selling those and providing them with their laptops for a long time.
 

Allen_Wentz

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Dec 3, 2016
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Hate to say it but I just don't care any longer about the iPhone. It's been so long since Apple has done anything interesting or useful.
Yet for some (me) the camera improvements have been very useful, and the ongoing general improvements I also consider useful. But then again I am not seeking revolutionary new bells and whistles, just an uber-competent smartphone.
 
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Aston441

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Sep 16, 2014
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Hate to say it but I just don't care any longer about the iPhone. It's been so long since Apple has done anything interesting or useful.
Agree. iPhone peaked at 6s/6s+

Everything since then has been only slight iterative impovements (processor speed, RAM, camera) but astonishing significant degradations (lower DPI, burn-in, volume across from power buttons (WTF), dongles, headphone jackery, weight increase, touchID removal, price increase, endlessly more marketing budget instead of R&D, ignoring consumer concerns, arbitrarily ending security updates and iOS improvementd for perfectly good hardware as a marketing technique, much buggier software releases but with ever better constant tracking and surveilance...

What else am I missing holy mochacho typing that out and reading the list makes me realize even more what a horrible company Apple has become!
 
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Aston441

macrumors 68030
Sep 16, 2014
2,606
3,934
Agree. iPhone peaked at 6s/6s+

Everything since then has been only slight iterative impovements (processor speed, RAM, camera) but astonishing significant degradations (lower DPI, burn-in, volume across from power buttons (WTF), dongles, headphone jackery, weight increase, touchID removal, price increase, endlessly more marketing budget instead of R&D, ignoring consumer concerns, arbitrarily ending security updates and iOS improvementd for perfectly good hardware as a marketing technique, much buggier software releases but with ever better constant tracking and surveilance...

What else am I missing holy mochacho typing that out and reading the list makes me realize even more what a horrible company Apple has become!
ETA: How could I forget the notch! 😂
 
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