The iPhone 17 Pro could have yet another new button – this time in place of the Action and volume keys

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One button, many functions

Apple iPhone 16 Pro REVIEW
The iPhone 16 Pro (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

Apple has been going button mad lately, adding an Action button last year and a Camera Control button to the iPhone 16 line, and it seems the company isn’t done yet, as the iPhone 17 Pro could have yet another new button – but this one might be instead of existing buttons.

According to leaker Majin Bu (via BGR), Apple is testing an iPhone 17 Pro that has a combined Action button and volume buttons.

They seem a bit unclear on exactly how this button will work, but it’s likely that it would function similarly to the Camera Control key – perhaps letting you adjust the volume with a swipe, and activate customizable shortcuts with a press.

One is better than three

You may even be able to trigger different shortcuts depending on whether you press it lightly or hard. In which case, this one button would do more than the three buttons it might replace.

So there would be some logic to making this change, and as BGR notes, this could benefit the rumored iPhone 17 Air, since having fewer button cut-outs in the frame would aid durability – something which the iPhone 17 Air might lack a little of since it’s expected to be extremely slim.

On the other hand, there could be a learning curve in using this new rumored button, and even once you get used to it, changing volume with a swipe – if that’s how it functions – might not be quite as easy as pressing the current button.

We’d take this leak with a pinch of salt anyway. Majin Bu has a mixed track record, with some accurate leaks and others that have proven inaccurate. Plus, this is early for iPhone 17 leaks, so even if they’re right that Apple is testing this design, there’s no guarantee that it will ultimately be used.

If it is used, we’re also uncertain whether every iPhone 17 model would see this change or just the Pro handsets. But hopefully we’ll hear more about this intriguing rumored button as more leaks emerge.

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James Rogerson
James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.