The price of the new iPad Pro may be shocking, and the iPhone 16 Pro button design changes.
The price of the new iPad Pro has increased.
Apple plans to launch a new generation of iPad Pro as soon as March this year, and recent rumors suggest that its starting price may increase significantly to $1,500.
The news comes from the extranet whistleblower yeux1122, and back in March last year, a report by The Elec also estimated that the 11-inch and 13-inch models would start at $1,500 and $1,800, respectively. If the revelations come true, the new 11-inch iPad Pro will be more than 80% more expensive than the current model (from $799). The new 13-inch model, if it starts at $1,800, will be about 60 percent more than the current 12.9-inch (from $1,099).
The new iPad Pro will use OLED screens for the first time, with better color display, thinness, and lightness, and the increase in material costs may be one of the main factors in the price increase. In addition, the new model may also come with MagSafe charging as well as new Magic Keyboard accessories.
iPhone 16 Pro Action Buttons
According to foreign media outlet MacRumors, a recently seen iPhone 16 Pro prototype shows that Apple has adjusted the “action button” again, and the current design looks similar to the iPhone 15 Pro’s operation button.
Specifically, at different stages of development for the iPhone 16 Pro, Apple has tested four button configurations and two sizes of action buttons.
- Unified volume buttons, small-size operation buttons
- Unified volume buttons with large operation buttons and a new shooting button
- Separate volume buttons with large operation buttons and shooting buttons flush with the bezel
- Separate volume buttons with small-size operation buttons and shoot buttons flush with the bezel
The unified volume button means that the + and - buttons are a single unit, which I mentioned in the early leaks of the iPhone 15 Pro last year (below). The unified volume buttons were developed as part of Apple’s internal Bongo project and designed to replace traditional buttons with capacitive ones. The project didn’t see the light due to unsatisfactory test results and a high hardware failure rate. It seems that Apple continued to push the design forward in the early development stages of the iPhone 16 Pro, but it may still not be available.
Later prototypes (pictured above) continued to feature separate volume buttons. However, with large action buttons and the addition of a frame-level shooting button, they may use a capacitive design and a force sensor to simulate compression. However, in the latest “Proto2” design, Apple has changed the design of the action button again, reducing the size to look similar to the action button on the iPhone 15 Pro. This design change indicates that the capacitive action button has been canceled again or postponed until a future iPhone iteration.
The iPhone 16 Pro is still under development, and new changes may emerge in the next few months. However, at the moment, the most striking change in the shape of the iPhone 16 Pro compared to the previous generation is not the buttons. But the body size and the screen are believed to increase from 6.1/6.7 inches to 6.3/6.9 inches.
Follow me to stay updated on iPhone and Apple news daily, and check out my previous articles related to the iPhone 16.