iPhone 15 Pro — Apple’s upcoming flagship smartphone — will feature an Action button instead of a mute switch, according to an image that has surfaced online hours before the handset is expected to debut alongside the iPhone 15 Pro Max at Apple’s ‘Wonderlust’ launch event. A well-known smartphone case maker has posted an image of a case for the purported iPhone 15 Pro that shows a third button above the volume rocker, in place of the company’s ubiquitous iPhone mute switch.
Apple’s ‘Wonderlust’ launch event is set to begin at 10:30pm IST tonight, and the company is expected to launch four models — the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. According to previous reports, the Pro models will be equipped with an Action button, similar to the Apple Watch Ultra that was launched last year. Ahead of this year’s launch event that starts tonight, case maker Spigen has all but confirmed the existence of the button on Apple’s upcoming handsets.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) captioned “something’s different”, Spigen shared an image of the left side of a smartphone case that shows the two volume rocker buttons under a smaller one, located where Apple would be expected to include its mute switch that allows users to quickly toggle between normal and vibrate (silent) modes for calls and notifications.
This is the first image of a case for the upcoming iPhone model with the Action button from a well-known case maker, but the hardware feature was previously leaked via images of smartphone covers on Weibo in June. At the time, a tipster posted images of protective cases for the purported iPhone 15 Pro next to one for the iPhone 14 Pro. While the latter had a cutout for the mute switch, the former was shown to have a third button above the volume keys.
While Apple does not typically share details of new hardware features coming to its smartphones, earlier reports claim that the new Action button will actually be programmable — which suggests it will be able to do much more than toggle between normal and silent modes on a smartphone.
Code spotted in iOS 17 suggests that the new button could allow users to perform at least nine tasks, including toggle Focus modes, accessibility features, the flashlight — or launch the camera to take photos and videos. We will learn more about the purported Action button when the ‘Wonderlust’ launch event begins at 10:30pm tonight. You can find out more about what to expect, how to watch the livestream of the event, and keep track of all the announcements via Gadgets 360.
