Leaker Says 2027 iPhone Pro Drops Action Button for Camera Control
A Weibo leaker says Apple will remove the Action button from 2027 iPhone Pro models and move its function to a long press of Camera Control.
Apple will remove the Action button from its iPhone Pro models starting in the second half of 2027, according to a post on Weibo by the leaker known as Instant Digital. The button’s job would not disappear. It would move to Camera Control, the touch-sensitive button on the side of recent iPhones.
Under the reported plan, a normal press of Camera Control would still open the camera, while a long press would run whatever the owner had set the Action button to do. MacRumors and 9to5Mac both reported the claim, and Apple has not confirmed it.
How the combined button would work
MacRumors says the leaker was explicit: the dedicated Action button goes away and the Camera Control button stays. Today the two controls already split their gestures in a way that fits this idea. The Action button needs a long press to trigger its assigned task, and a single press of Camera Control launches the camera.
There is one conflict. A long press of Camera Control currently opens Visual Intelligence, Apple’s feature for identifying what the camera sees. According to MacRumors, Visual Intelligence has since been built into the Camera app as Siri mode in iOS 27, which would free up the long press for a new job while keeping the feature reachable inside the camera.
The Action button’s short history
Apple added the Action button on the iPhone 15 Pro in 2023, replacing the Ring/Silent switch that iPhones had carried for years. Owners can assign it to Silent mode, a Focus, the flashlight, a Shortcut and other functions. The rumored change keeps a physical way to fire those actions, with one fewer button on the frame.
The iPhone Duo already ships without an Action button while keeping Camera Control. 9to5Mac notes that some users were disappointed when the Duo lost the button’s flexibility, and that its own Chance Miller said he would rather give up Camera Control than lose the Action button.
Why Camera Control is getting another look
Camera Control has had a mixed reception since it arrived on the iPhone 16. MacRumors says some reviewers questioned how useful it is, how complicated it is and how comfortable it is to press. Folding the Action button’s role into it could give the control a clearer purpose. MacRumors also suggests that dropping a button could simplify manufacturing and stop people from mistaking the Action button for the volume buttons next to it.
This is not the first Camera Control rumor from the same leaker. Instant Digital previously claimed Apple would simplify the button for the iPhone 18 lineup by removing its capacitive sensing layer, which detects touch, and relying on pressure sensing to cut costs. That change did not happen. MacRumors says it is unclear whether the earlier claim and the new one describe the same project.
What it means for iPhone buyers
If the leak is accurate, people who rely on the Action button for a flashlight, a silent switch or a custom Shortcut would still have that option on a 2027 Pro model, but they would reach it through a long press on Camera Control instead of a separate button near the volume keys. 9to5Mac expects the same merged approach could later spread to the next iPhone Duo and other models.
Current iPhone owners are not affected. The reported change applies only to new models, and Apple has said nothing about them.
The 20th anniversary redesign
The timing lines up with the iPhone’s 20th anniversary in 2027. 9to5Mac compares it to 2017, when Apple marked the 10th anniversary with the iPhone X and a new design. Next year’s Pro models are rumored to get quad-curved displays that wrap around the edges so the phone looks almost free of borders, along with larger screens.
The names are still unknown. MacRumors says the phones could be called the iPhone 19 Pro, the iPhone 20 Pro or something else, with a launch expected in the fall of 2027.
