Ding, dong, the iPhone camera control has gone… perhaps

A widely-circulated rumor suggests that Apple might already be ditching the iPhone Camera Control button, which debuted with the iPhone 16. This would come as a bit of a surprise, especially given how long the company persevered with the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro.

The source, "OvO Baby Sauce OvO," on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, doesn't have a 100% track record, and history suggests that Apple sticks with features a little longer (or a lot longer) to see if there is any take-up – again, see the Touch Bar – in fact here the two are next to each other:

So, with an imperfect source and a very early potential retirement, why is the story being so widely circulated? Three reasons spring to mind.

Firstly, the button hasn't had a lot of traction. I'm a photography writer, I bought the iPhone 16 Pro Max and I barely use it the new control. I think it comes down to the fact that the camera control is distinctly software-based, not mechanical, and so it feels a bit too unnatural for me. That's personal, of course, and many will have a different experience, but I still find myself reaching for the control on the touch screen. Perhaps it is also difficult to unlearn nearly 20 years of experience!

Secondly, Apple has shown some interest in using the button – which is a little like a tiny track-pad – to control its AI features, and AI features (and Apple's failings in the area) are big news in the tech world, so any sign of weakness there is worth reporting for tech writers.

Thirdly, of course, we tend to expect new iPhones to be announced at some point in September and that's just next month, so any news about possible changes carries more weight than usual.

I will share a personal gripe about the camera control button while I'm writing though. My iPhone case has a very, very thin strip of plastic around the top of the button, and it has bent over the course of the year so that it curves over the on-screen keyboard (when it's there) and makes it hard to press the 'P'. It's caused me a lot of typos – rather more than it has saved me moments in photography!

On the flip side, we have also seen other rumors suggesting that Apple might be bringing more camera controls to the outside of the iPhone 17 and later, so another possibility is that this rumor is correct, but for a different reason. It is possible that Apple has chosen to end its order of this particular part, but not because it is withdrawing external camera controls, but simply changing them and using a different component from a different supplier.

Either way, we will know soon and will share that news here.

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