MacRumors shared multiple details about the iPhone 16 design, including a planned new button for the device - "Capture." While we already know the name and location of this button, the internal information we've obtained doesn't detail its purpose.
According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, the "capture button" will be able to record video. In this week's PowerOn newsletter, Gurman said iPhone 16 models will include a "new dedicated video capture button." Of course, the Capture Button's functionality is already hinted at in the name, but this is the first time we've heard its purpose confirmed.
As we said in our recent introduction to early iPhone 16 prototypes, the "capture button" will be located on the bottom right of iPhone 16. It will replace the millimeter wave antenna on US iPhone models, and the original millimeter wave antenna will be moved to the left side of the device, below the volume rocker and operation keys. Non-US models don't have millimeter-wave antennas and need to be relocated to accommodate the capture button.
The Capture key will be a capacitive key with tactile feedback rather than a mechanical one, and is expected to include a force sensor that can recognize pressure. The location of the button may make it easy to trigger, but if it's activated by pressure, holding it down will launch the camera and start recording video. Different pressure levels can also turn on the camera to take photos or videos (especially space videos), but this is just speculation at the moment.
The capture button will appear on all four iPhone 16 models, and with the addition of Space Video and the Vision Pro headset, Apple's idea of making video recording faster and more convenient is reasonable. The VisionPro headset can play 3D space videos that can be recorded with an iPhone.
Currently, iPhone15Pro and iPhone15ProMax can use wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle cameras to record spatial videos at the same time. This feature will be added in iOS17.2. The standard iPhone 16 model will adopt a vertical lens arrangement and can also shoot spatial videos, so this feature will not be limited to Pro models in the future. Spatial video can only be viewed on the VisionPro headset, which is designed to make users feel immersed in their own memories.