Biggest design overhaul? iPhone 17 may feature just 3 buttons
Apple is apparently gearing up for a major redesign with its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and guess what? They're cutting down the number of physical buttons to just three! This is a big shift from their recent trend of adding more buttons. Remember the iPhone 15 series? It introduced the Action Button, which took over the traditional mute switch. Then, the iPhone 16 range added a new Camera Control button.
A shift in button functionality
The Action Button on the iPhone 15 series was all about launching default apps or customizing it for different functions. Now, the iPhone 16 took it a step further with the Camera Control button. This new button has a module for snapping photos and a capacitive part for zooming by sliding. So, now the iPhone 16 series has a total of five separate buttons.
Apple's innovative approach to button reduction
For the upcoming iPhone 17 series, Apple is thinking about combining the Action Button and volume keys into one. They're planning to keep the Camera Control button on one side, while moving and merging the Action Button with the volume controls on the other side. This cool move could help ease the strain of reaching for buttons that are higher up on the bigger models.
Potential benefits of the new button design
The button Apple is thinking about could act as an Action Button when pressed and adjust the volume by sliding up or down. Holding it could launch an app or even work as a mute switch. This design tweak is not just practical but also boosts durability, especially for slimmer models like the rumored iPhone 17 Air. With fewer button cutouts in the slim metal frame, Apple is looking to make the device sturdier and better at resisting accidental damage.
iPhone 17 series: Expected features and improvements
The iPhone 17 series might come with ProMotion technology, which means you'll get a smoother scrolling and video-watching experience on non-Pro models too. There are also whispers that the iPhone 17 Pro models will pack an A19 Pro chipset made on TSMC's 2nm process, which could amp up smartphone performance by as much as 15%. Plus, Apple might bump up the RAM to 12GB for these models, instead of the 8GB RAM we see in the iPhone 16 Pro models.
