According to leaker Unknownz21, the rumored Capture button for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro is "still in the Proto2 phase of development," raising the possibility that we will see this interesting design change on next year's iPhones.

This Capture button will apparently be a capacitive key (unlike the physical Action button introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro) and will be located on the right side of the iPhone 16, below the power button According to the original MacRumors article, the antenna consequently moved to the opposite side under the volume keys.

As one might guess from the name and its location, the Capture button will function as a more physical shutter button for the iPhone 16's camera. We wonder if this button could have a different function when the iPhone is outside of the camera app, or if it could function as a dedicated camera shortcut.

Dedicated camera buttons are not common and have not been found on previous iPhones, but they have appeared on smartphones before. The most notable recent example comes from Sony's Xperia phones, such as the Xperia 1 V.

The Xperia 1 V is a smartphone with a dedicated camera button.

Assuming we don't see the iPhone 16 launch until next September, Apple still has a few months to decide if it wants to rework the design before locking down its selection before mass production begins. We will have to keep listening to the rumors to see if this change is coming or if Apple will withdraw it and move forward with the Capture button-less design that MacRumors has said it is working on in parallel as a backup.

Other rumored changes to the iPhone 16 series include the Action button being replaced with a capacitive button, a larger display size for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, and both Pro Max rather than only Pro Pro Max, a 5x periscope zoom on both Pro models, and a new A18 chipset that will power everything.