Before launching the series iPhone 15 Last September, there were several rumors suggesting that the American tech giant was exploring the possibility of replacing the mechanical buttons on iPhones with capacitive buttons, including the volume buttons and the power button.
The capacitive buttons rely on force-activated sensors that we've seen before on older iPhones that had a Home ID button.
However, it is said that the company was not satisfied with the final results reached by the engineering team responsible for the buttons project, and gave them an additional period of time to work on it in order to redesign it from the beginning and reach satisfactory results to be ready in conjunction with the launch date of the iPhone 16 series.
Modifying the design of the action button on iPhone 16 phones
The iPhone 15 Pro series has been launched with a new button called Action Button, which is also known as the customizable action button, which replaced the traditional mute button.
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Unlike the mute button which can only perform one function on the phone, the action button can perform many tasks related to default apps and basic services on the phone.
Through the action button, the flashlight can be turned on or off, it is possible to quickly translate between two languages without having to open the translation application, different modes of the camera application can be launched, audio modes can be switched, quick voice notes can be recorded and many other functions.
The important thing about all of this is that it is easy to add new tasks to this button in the future, which makes it a promising option from Apple to give iPhone users a more comfortable and flexible user experience.
The Action Button is still a mechanical button, though, and Apple wants to move to capacitive buttons on all iPhone 16 phones next year. According to the latest leaks, it is possible that the action button will be redesigned to also be a capacitive button, with more tasks that can be performed with it added through future iOS updates.
Unlike mechanical buttons, which are usually easily damaged by constant clicking, capacitive buttons ensure a better experience in the way of feedback while clicking them, and are better in terms of durability and user experience as well.
All iPhone 16 models arrive with a redesigned action button
If the rumors circulating on the lips of trusted analysts here and there are true and accurate, Apple will move from the mechanical design of the buttons to the capacitive design on all upcoming iPhone 16 phones.
This means that capacitive buttons will not be limited to the iPhone 16 Pro models, but will also make their way to the cheaper basic models of the series.
What's more, the company's plans include providing the redesigned action button on the basic iPhone 16 models as well, including the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.
The number of functions that the action button can currently follow is sure to increase in the future with major iOS updates.
Apple's iOS updates over the past few years have been very marginal, and haven't come up with anything impressive that has caught on with users and reviewers alike.
Therefore, the idea of moving to capacitive buttons and including more real and useful features, theoretically and practically, on the iPhone 16 phones will be a logical and completely expected step from Apple in the upcoming iOS 18 system in September 2024.
We cannot confirm this information definitively, since they are just rumors, and it is possible that Apple will eventually withdraw from the idea of using capacitive buttons or even change the mechanical action button to a capacitive button, especially if the company is not satisfied with the performance and results achieved by the capacitive buttons. .
Read also: 5 features we hope to see in the iPhone 16 next year (2024)
To be more precise, according to a MacRumors report, work on capacitive buttons is currently being carried out under the name “Atlas” project, which aims to replace all mechanical buttons with capacitive buttons.
If the company's engineers are unable to reach the results that Apple is looking for, Apple will withdraw from this idea, either permanently or perhaps for an additional year. But inevitably there must be capacitive buttons in the future, and it is necessary for Apple to be the first to use them, especially since this is not its first time developing this type of button.
Ultimately, if the iPhone 16 series doesn't arrive with capacitive buttons, at least we'll get an action button on all subsequent series models, with more customizable actions and additional functionality.
