Key Takeaways
- Apple’s new patent hints at future iPhones with user-configurable volume buttons.
- Apple first introduced the Action Button with the iPhone 15 Pro.
- It’s unclear if this patent will become reality. However, it was recently filed by Apple and published by the U.S. Patent Office.
Last year, Apple debuted the Action Button on the iPhone 15 Pro. It’s a little button on the phone’s left side that you can program to do virtually anything you want, like turning on your flashlight or calling a friend. Now it seems the Cupertino-based company is looking to expand this capability to other buttons on the iPhone.
The U.S. Patent Office has published a new Apple patent that reveals a future iPhone could get even more Action Buttons, thanks to all three buttons on the left side of the phone becoming user-configurable. The patent was first spotted by Patently Apple, and while the language in the patent is pretty technical and not very concise, the drawings paint a much clearer picture.
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Who needs up and down volume anyway?
Patent pictures show configurable volume buttons
Apple / U.S. Patent Office
As you can see above, the patent photos show the already existing Action Button as user-configurable and the volume up and down buttons. If this patent applies to a future iPhone and you no longer want the volume buttons, you could reprogram them to do something else, like ordering a Starbucks coffee, toggling silent mode on and off, or starting a voice memo. While this is cool, and having more options is great, I’d miss the regular volume buttons rather quickly.
This is just a patent, so it’s not guaranteed to happen. Apple may choose to continue leaving the volume buttons as they are. However, the patent was filed in May this year and released this past week, so the idea is fresh in Apple’s mind. Interestingly, the patent also applies to the iPad and the Mac, so perhaps those devices could get an Action Button in the future.
Apple introduced the Action Button with the iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max. This year, Apple added the Action Button to the entire iPhone 16 lineup and a new camera control button. With Apple adding new buttons on the past two iPhone releases, perhaps the iPhone 17 will have this feature available when it launches in September 2025.
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