Apple considered additional button modifications
For years, the iPhone had the same set of physical buttons. We had the Mute switch, the Volume keys, and the power button that Apple now ambiguously calls the “Side button.” Rumors have also said that Apple is working on creating an iPhone with no buttons or ports of any kind. With that in mind, many Apple fans were likely expecting the company to start removing buttons from the iPhone, not start adding more… but that’s exactly what’s happening. The iPhone 16 is the first iPhone lineup where all four models feature the same button changes. You get an Action button instead of the Mute switch on the left and a Camera Control button on the right, in the spot where some phones had a 5G antenna.
It turns out that Apple was planning other button changes for the iPhone 16 series during development, but it abandoned those changes during the prototyping phase. The Camera Control is the only new button that survived. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus also get the Action button Apple only used for the iPhone 15 Pro models last year.
According to information Apple Insider obtained, Apple worked on various button ideas while developing the iPhone 16 series. Project Atlas referred to a different Action button for the iPhone 16 models. The button would have been larger than the current version, about as big as the volume keys. Its functionality would have resembled the Camera Control. It would have had a sapphire crystal at the top, a capacitive sensor, and a force sensor. Apple could have added various functions to the Action button that would trigger depending on how you press it. The Camera Control lets you press, swipe, press-and-hold, and double-tap to trigger various actions. A complex Action button would have added multiple ways to customize the experience, but it could also complicate things too much for users.
Like the Capture Control, the Action button would have been flush with the frame. Maybe that’s how Apple will make an iPhone “without buttons” in the future. They’ll just sit flush with the frame while offering mechanical and capacitive functionality. Project Bongo is another codename for Apple’s now-canceled iPhone 16 button plans. Apple supposedly wanted to unify the Volume Up and Volume Down keys into a single button separated by a “notch” to help you tell which is which. Project Bongo supposedly dates back to iPhone 15 prototyping, but Apple wanted the new volume key design for the iPhone 16 series.
Apple ultimately abandoned both Atlas and Bongo. The only one that survived was Project Nova, which was the code name for the Camera Control button. On that note, here’s how Camera Control works on the iPhone 16.
Finally, the same report mentions another Apple idea that didn’t survive the prototyping phase. The iPhone 16 and 16 Plus feature a vertical camera alignment that mirrors the iPhone X through the iPhone 12 design. However, the camera flash sits outside of the camera module. Early designs had the iPhone 16/Plus camera mimic the iPhone 12 design, where the module had a built-in camera flash. This is a minor detail, but the new camera module is an identifying factor for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus in a world where most iPhones look the same.