Apple fans pumped over rumored ‘action button’ feature on new iPhone 15

Apple fanatics are eagerly awaiting the company’s Sept. 12 unveiling of the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max because of a rumored new feature — an Action Button.

Software sleuths said that Apple’s iOS beta 4 version includes code that could indicate plans for an Action button which would “allow users to quickly access various functions and settings without necessarily unlocking the device or navigating to an app,” according to Apple fan site MacRumors.

The site speculated that the new physical button could have similarities with the Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button “but with more phone-focused options.”

Apple introduced the concept of the physical “home” button on its iPhones, but it ditched the concept with the advent of iPhone X.

The functionality of the rumored Action button includes an accessibility option that lets users access features such as VoiceOver, Zoom, AssistiveTouch, and others.

The button will also offer options such as shortcuts to app, silent mode, the camera and video app, the flashlight, and the translate app, according to MacRumors.

“If the rumors are correct, the Action button could be one of the key new features that makes the ‌iPhone 15 Pro‌ stand out from its predecessors,” the site wrote.

Apple’s “Wonderlust” event on Sept. 12 will include the unveiling of the iPhone 15 as well as the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Ultra version of the watch.

The event will be hosted at the Steve Jobs Theater at its headquarters in Cupertino, California, according to invites from the company.

The new iPhone will have a USB-C standard charging port — the same charger that is used for Android devices — after the European Union imposed new rules requiring the company to offer the port on its phones, laptops, iPads, and other devices.

Apple has long resisted the change, instead preferring to stick to its proprietary Lightning charging port.

Apple posted a 2.4% decline in iPhone sales for its fiscal third quarter — a rare drop for the product that has for years powered the company’s growth.

In the three-month period that ended July 1 — Apple’s third quarter — it recorded a revenue of $81.8 billion, a 1.4% decline from Q2 and a year-over-year drop of 3%.

Shares of Apple, which was the first to cross the $3 trillion market capitalization threshold but has since retreated, were down nearly 3% in the early morning hours of trading on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The most expensive variant of the new generation iPhone will have a periscope camera that could improve zoom capacity by 5 times or more, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based tech colossus also plans to release its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset to consumers in early 2024 — more than six months after it was announced in June — and is reportedly spending more on artificial intelligence in an effort to win back sales.