iPhone 16 could feature an extra hardware button & relocated mmWave antenna

Seems like it’s all iPhone 16 on the rumor mills. If the latest speculations are to be believed, the iPhone 16 series will add a hardware button on the sides. It comes from a Weibo leakster Instant Digital according to whom, there’s a great possibility that iPhone 16 models will integrate an additional button on the sides. Apple is likely to move the mmWave antenna to the left to accommodate it as well.

iPhone 16 is getting an additional button

Instant Digital says that the new button could be called ‘Capture Button’, however, there’s no update on what function the button is supposed to perform. It will be capacitive and will sit on the right side of the frame under the power button. Being capacitive means it will function like a button and respond but without any mechanical tactile feel to it.

Nevertheless, this additional button is expected to arrive across the entire iPhone 16 line-up meaning the 16 and 16 Plus users won’t have to feel different at least when it comes to an additional button (many other specs will remain distinct between the Pro and non-Pro models).

The speculations suggest the mmWave antenna that iPhones use in the US for 5G, will move from the right to the left. The antenna will now be located just under the volume buttons. The folks at PhoneArena broke a pun about the Antennagate issue that iPhone 4 (2010) went through after it was launched with antennas on the left.

Another update is with the Action button that the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max arrived with. With next year’s iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max/Ultra, the Action Button is likely to sit flush with the frame and will upgrade to solid-state buttons instead of mechanical ones. For the unversed, speculations of Apple upgrading to solid-state buttons have been doing the rounds for ages, and seems like it will finally come to an end with the iPhone 16 Pro series becoming a reality.

iPhone 16 Series Release Date

There’s no surprise here. Apple usually releases its iPhones every year in September or October. iPhone 15 series debuted on September 12 while the iPhone 14 series launched on September 07. Likewise, the iPhone 16 series is highly likely to arrive with a tetraprism periscope lens in September 2024 or October 2024 considering the challenges of the supply chain and delays it could introduce.

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