the next iPhones are almost here. Rumors are swirling on the big changes coming, and it's a button. It looks like we're getting a camera button on the side next to the power. Okay, well, there is more than just a button. Rumors say the Pro Models might even have a better camera inside of them. Yeah, big surprise, right? We have been doing this dance for 17 years. 17 years of iPhone updates, and we have the same story every year where we list these incremental improvements, and then we ask, Oh, but is it worth upgrading this year? And the reviewers say, Well, it's nice if you want to get it, but you can wait a year. It's not that big of a change. Except for this year, the story is different this time around. And not because of a little camera button, because of AI, Apple intelligence. If you want to be in the club of AI where you can send silly images and you want to try out the new Siri, well, Apple is making it so you'll need one of the newest iPhones. And that means this year.

there will be a huge wave of customers looking to upgrade, much more so than usual, so while we wait for the inevitable hunger for the new iPhone software, let's spend our one more thing this week getting hyped about the possible new hardware, and we'll go over what we expect to be changing in the design of the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Models. I'm Brid Cary, and this is one more thing. The iPhone 15 Pro Models were the first to have a programmable action button, button that replaced the volume mute switch, and you can set that button to silence calls or turn on Focus mode, turn on the camera, among other features. Now it seems other phones are going to be getting this action button, and a whole new camera button is being added to the side with the power button. There's been a few reports, but most clearly you can see this in a short video of a leaked phone case template posted on X by the handle Universe ice. Now if this is legit, 'cause we don't know for sure yet, it could be what to expect.

for the iPhone 16 or 16 Plus, there is an action button by the volume buttons, and you also see a cutout for this rumored capture button. Now, nothing's official, but it does line up with what we've been hearing from a few other leaks. For a while now, back in December, Mac Rumors shared some mock-ups that included talk of a new capture button on the iPhone 16, and in March, Apple Insider posted some 3D printed models from AER suggesting the capture button would be on both the iPhone 16 and the 16 Pro Models. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said this capture button could record video, and a report from The Information says the capture button could let you zoom in and out by swiping left and right on the button, and you can get your subject in focus if you press lightly before you press down to shoot. Now, what else do you notice from these case designs? The iPhone 16 camera placement changed. The current iPhone 15 has the two cameras on the back placed diagonally, but these

iPhone 16 mockups have the two lenses vertically aligned. Why would they do that? Well, if you are taking spatial video for The Vision Pro, you're going to need those cameras to be aligned side by side for your 3D home movies. Apple, I am sure, wants more people to make Vision Pro 3D video content on way more phones, not just for those with the top-of-the-line Pro and Pro Max models. And let's get into that camera right now. The best camera is on the iPhone 15 Pro Max because it has a five times telephoto lens, but that extra Zoom might make its way to both Pro Models next year, instead of just the larger Max. That's according to Apple analyst Mingi Quo. Apple may also have some new feature to help with lens flare. A rumor out of Korea, discovered by Mac Rumors back in April, suggests that Apple could add some sort of anti-reflective coating to the camera to reduce lens flare and ghosting. This could be something for the Pro Models, but sometimes it's hard to tell.

with these rumors if the thing being tested is going to be for the iPhone 16 Pro now or if it's for next year's iPhone 17 Pro. What about the processors? Well, we have an A7 chip in the latest iPhone Pro Models, but the word out now is that the iPhone 16 Pros are going to get the next generation of chips, likely called A18. But I wouldn't be surprised if the lower-end models got the A17 and the Pros got the A18. The reason everything needs some kind of boost is to be able to run Apple intelligence. Right now, you need an A7 chip to run Apple's generative AI, and that means only the current 15 Pro Models can do it. And probably all the new iPhones with better chips will also be able to use Apple's AI. That's why all the talk is about more people upgrading this year. Investment firm Wedbush is saying we are about to enter an iPhone 16 upgrade super cycle. Apple Insider shed light on this report, saying that about 270 million iPhone

users have not upgraded in over 4 years. That means you got a lot of folks thinking this could be the year to buy something new, whether that's a pro model or not, a pro model, just as long as no customer feels left out from playing in the new AI sandbox. I am one of those people who gets a little too excited about iPhone colors, even though I will always put a case on my iPhone. And that said, it has been wild to me that Apple has not made its top-of-the-line Pro Models in any sort of lively or fun colors. The normal iPhones get all the pop and pizzazz, but the professional iPhones must stay dark and dreary and oh so serious. That could be changing. Back in May, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo posted his prediction to X. He says that the blue color of the iPhone 15 Pro would go away and be replaced with a rose color model. Could Pro Models finally get a pink color? Yes, Apple, please let this be true. I have long said you can be a professional and still be

pink. I just hope it's real pink and not something muted. On the topic of new iPhone buttons, there is one more, one more thing. There's a rumor that all the new iPhone 16 models will be getting the action button to replace the mute switch. Now, I've had the iPhone 15 Pro Max, so I've already been living with the action button and it's there. I mean, sometimes I use it to silence, no big whoop, but my colleague Lisa Ed AO thinks this is great and that it belongs on all the new iPhones because of how you can program it to do almost any shortcut you want. And get this, she uses it to buy coffee instead of going to her Duncan app and tapping around to order a coffee. Her shortcut is set to pull up an order with her store and her payment info pre-saved. So clearly I'm missing out and I started poking into the Shortcuts app. I learned you can get creative with programming and you can set it to do different things depending on the time of date.

your location, like maybe when you're home at night, it can turn off all your lights. Or it can be simple and just be a shortcut to open one thing, like your favorite Apple Music station. So help me out, jump into the comments and share some of your ideas on what to do with this button besides mute. Apple intelligence will be the big driver for a lot of sales of new iPhones, but we will have to wait to play around with it. Folks are suggesting that maybe we're going to see more in the fall, but let me know what rumored upgrades to the hardware where have you most interested in the iPhone 16 or the 16 Pro. Or maybe it's something I didn't mention. There has been talk that maybe some of the screens are going to be a little larger or the bezels a little thinner. How much does size matter? Maybe that's a topic for another episode. I'll catch you next time for one more thing. Thanks for watching.

iPhone 16’s Big New Button and Why You’ll Upgrade

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