Apple iPhone 16 series: 6.9" Pro Max display size and new capacitive Capture button
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Big changes may be in store for Apple's iPhone 16 series design, after it introduced the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro line and USB-C ports across its 2023 handsets. After experimenting with capacitive keys for the iPhone 15 series, Apple reportedly postponed the buttonless iPhone project as it produced unsatisfactory results.
It hasn't given up on introducing buttons that are flush with the side frame, though, as a new leak from MacRumors' sources suggests that Apple may scale down its capacitive button ambitions and equip all iPhone 16 models with new Capture Button at the place where the power key currently resides. In addition, it could enlarge the iPhone 16 Pro line display sizes.
New iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro design features to expect
- Larger, 6.9" iPhone 16 Pro Max display diagonal
- Larger, 6.3" iPhone 16 Pro display diagonal
- Vertical camera arrangement on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus
- Capacitive Action Button on the iPhone 16 Pro line
- Capacitive Capture Button on all iPhone 16 series models
From Action Button to Capture Button: Apple's buttonless design takes shape in iPhone 16
The 2024 Pro series will keep its Action Button feature, but Apple will reportedly try to make this one capacitive and flush with the side frame surface as well as part of a project called "Atlas." This could be a step towards the design of the rumored button-less, port-less iPhone, or simply a standout feature that Apple will set the iPhone 16 apart from the competition or its predecessor with.
The insiders warn that these developments are still in the prototype stage and Apple has a plan B to fall back to if the hardware of the new capacitive Capture and Action keys doesn't perform up to its desired specs and ergonomics yet again.
The "Bongo" capacitive key project that Apple allegedly gave up on for the iPhone 15 would've introduced capacitive volume and power keys, but Apple apparently decided that the volume buttons should stay as they are. The flush Action and Capture buttons on the iPhone 16 series will reportedly be pressure-sensitive and react according to the force applied to them, returning haptic feedback.
Larger iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max displays
As Apple's Tetraprism 5x optical zoom camera kit is rumored to land in the iPhone 16 Pro next year, Apple will need more space inside the 6.1-incher to fit the bigger module. It has reportedly solved this conundrum in a simple way, increasing the iPhone 16 Pro's screen diagonal to 6.3 inches from the current 6.1-inch panel.
This, however, would've left a smaller display size difference between the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max and its most expensive iPhone wouldn't have the optical zoom exclusivity its predecessor enjoys now to boot. How may Apple solve this challenge? Why, increase the iPhone 16 Pro Max display to 6.9 inches, of course, and keep the size difference intact.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, on the other hand, are said to keep their 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screen sizes, so if these rumors make it from the planning to the production stage, Apple will introduce a deeper fragmentation between its iPhone models. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus are tipped to come with the vertical camera arrangement that Apple last used for its cheaper models on the iPhone 12, instead of the diagonal one on the back of the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus.
Even if only a few of these iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro rumors materialize, we will be in for quite the drastic iPhone design change, after all the novelties like titanium frame, Action Button, or USB-C ports Apple introduced in the iPhone 15 series.
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