One of the most anticipated smartphones for the year is Apple’s latest – the iPhone 16. Top on the list of rumoured new features is another new button, dubbed the Action Button. But it looks like this extra feature may not arrive, as it’s been mistaken for some existing iPhone tech. Or, at least, I think so.
Read more: Apple iPhone 16: what upgraded features will appear later this year?
CAD designs leaked by 91mobiles show this new Action Button. It’s on the same side of the phone as the power button, sitting flush to the frame. And now images of alleged dummy units from Twitter leaker Majin Bu shows the same placement of the button. Again, it looks flush to the side. But the placement of this button makes me think it’s actually some existing iPhone hardware being mistaken for the new button.
On US versions of the latest iPhone models, there’s an extra 5G mmWave antenna placed pretty much exactly there. It sits flush to the phone, and acts as an additional antenna to get the faster 5G signal. It’s exclusive to the US models, but might be going more mainstream, if this dummy unit is from an international model. It’s hard to compare the two like for like, since Bu’s photos compare the devices side-to-side for all features except the new button. The alleged Action Button might sit slightly higher than the current mmWave antenna, but Apple might move the tech. It also begs the question, where does this antenna go if the new Action Button arrives?
There’s been lots of talk online about the power and volume buttons using solid state tech. We’ve seen it before on older iPhone and iPad Home buttons, where haptics make you think you’ve pressed a button, but there’s no physical movement. Fewer moving parts mean a lower chance the button will go wrong, and it’s better for waterproofing. Additional haptic hardware will surely be needed; rumours suggest two additional Taptic engines would be needed, which would take up valuable space inside the phone. With extra hardware to make it happen, it wouldn’t make sense for only one button to go solid state. So, I think it’s bad news for the Action Button on the iPhone 16.
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