The iPhone has a new button for the first time in 16 years and it's getting rid of the switch it's had since day 1

• Apple is doing away with a switch every iPhone device has had since the first and introducing a new button on the Pro models.
• The iPhone 15 Pro has a customizable "action button" in place of the usual ring/silent switch on the side.

Say goodbye to the ring/silent switch in iPhone 15 Pro — here comes a new button in its place that can do so much more.

With the iPhone 15 Pro, Apple's replacing the slider that toggles an iPhone's ringer on and off, replacing it with what it calls a "customizable action button," the company announced at its annual fall iPhone event Tuesday.

Apple has had a ring/silent switch on the side of its phones dating all the way back to the launch of the first-generation iPhone in 2007.

The new action button will still turn your ringer on or off by default — press and hold down the button to do so. But the button can also open other applications: You can start recording a voice memo, open your camera to take a picture, and access your shortcuts.

The customizable action button was first introduced to Apple devices in 2022 as a feature of the high-end Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple first revamped the original mute switch over 10 years ago in 2011 when it moved it to the side of the iPhone 5. The iPhone 15 Pro's action button will be in the same location above the phone's volume controls.