- IPhone 17 series could be the last phones with a camera control button
- This is apparently because Apple has found that people don’t use it much
- But the source doesn’t have much of a track record and there are other reasons to doubt this claim too
It is fair to say that answers to the camera control button on the iPhone 16 series have been mixed. While some users are convinced of this addition to the iPhone, others have found a lot to love by the camera control button. But if you are in the latter camp, you will be disappointed to hear that its days may be numbered.
According to Weibo poster ovo baby sauce ovo (via Gsmarena), the iPhone 17 series may be the last phones with this button, as Apple has apparently told its suppliers that it will no longer order camera control button.
This is apparently due to the fact that Apple has found that iPhone owners do not use the button much and that the company can reduce this key – which can be particularly beneficial in this new age.
Still I am convinced. It’s hard to get a sense of how many people actually use the camera control button a lot, with social media, suggesting it is a real mix of lovers and haters, but even though not many people use it, we doubt Apple would give it up so quickly.
Even the very malignant MacBook Touch Bar lasted five years before Apple ditched it, and it is clear that some people like camera control.
More than just camera controls
Plus, the camera control button does more than that name suggests – it is also the gateway to visual intelligence, which is one of Apple’s heading AI features. Now there are other ways to access this, but they are less immediate or require you to switch it to the action button, which means you can’t use it for anything else.
Right now, Visual Intelligence itself may not seem a big thing for most people, but that’s pretty much because Apple Intelligence is behind Rival AI services. If and when it starts to catch up, visual intelligence can be something you would often reach as it allows you to use AI to learn about or translate what you are looking at.
So it seems unlikely that Apple would make such a great feature less easily accessible – it would be like admitting not only that these camera controllers are not so useful, but that visual intelligence is not either.
I don’t see Apple doing it, and it’s worth noting that the source that makes this claim also doesn’t have much of a track record. So until the same claim is made by someone like Mark Gurman – who has a story of accurate leaking Apple information – you should probably submit this under unlikely.
