By TL;DR
- Reputed case maker Spigen has shared a case for an upcoming iPhone that includes a button cover instead of a cutout for the mute switch.
- This button cover appears to protect the Action Button that is rumored to be present on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Apple is going to launch the iPhone 15 series in a few hours from now. The most significant talking point this year will be USB-C on the iPhone, of course. However, the iPhone is also set to lose another beloved hardware feature: the mute switch. We’ve seen numerous leaks on how Apple could be on track to replace the hardware mute switch with a programmable “Action Button.” Just hours before the final reveal, we have another leak pointing towards the imminent departure of the mute switch.
Reputed case maker Spigen has teased a new upcoming iPhone case with the original colors of the Apple Watch Ultra. The post is captioned “something’s different 🧐…#AppleEvent.”
Most noticeably, the mute switch cutout is not present in this case. Instead, we now get a protective cover over an extra button placed above the volume rocker on the left side of the iPhone.
Reputed case makers often get dummy models of upcoming phones to help create compatible cases that would be available at launch. However, even these dummy models are guarded under strict NDAs and embargoes. We wonder how Spigen can share this information before launch unless some tricks are involved.
Past leaks have suggested that this extra button is what Apple will call the “Action Button.” It is said to be similar in vision to the extra button on the Apple Watch Ultra, letting users set different actions instead of being locked to only toggling between silent and ringing states on their iPhone.
Other leaks have suggested that the Action Button could let users select from up to nine different functions:
- Accessibility
- Shortcuts
- Silent Mode
- Camera
- Flashlight
- Focus
- Magnifier
- Translate
- Voice Memos
Further, Apple could be making the switch only on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to create deeper differentiation between the two sub-lineups. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus could stick with their mute switch for now. It remains to be seen how this all pans out during today’s official unveil.
