William Gallagher
A new rumor claims that Apple is adapting a super-low energy mode so that whether a battery is dead, or the phone is turned off, its new buttons can react to touch.
Apple's A16 Bionic, and other A-series chips, already feature an energy-saving mode. It's specifically designed so functions such as Find My and Apple Pay can work when a battery is so depleted that the phone has turned off.
The new rumor says that for the iPhone 15 Pro, this functionality will be extended to include being able to sense touch on the buttons.
"The new micro-processor that will ship in the 15 Pro models will not only manage those tasks," claims leaker Anonymous A.S., "but will also be able to immediately sense capacitive button presses, holds, and even detect their own version of 3D Touch with the new volume up/down button, action (currently ringer switch) button, and power button, while the phone is dead or powered down."
This leak came on the MacRumors forum, and the publication notes that the same leaker was previously accurate about the then-forthcoming Dynamic Island.
According to this leaker, while the low power mode and button sensing is set, Apple is still testing whether or not to add Haptic feedback to the controls.
The leaker also says that those controls include an "Action" button, which replaces the Mute switch. Apple previously launched an Action button on the Apple Watch Ultra.
Amber Neely
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
12 Comments
Better solution: keep actual buttons.
Without power to the device, what's the point of the buttons working? That shouldn't be left for the reader to determine.