OK, we can relax. The iPhone ‘hang up’ button might not be moving much after all

The new iPhone 14 smartphones at an Apple Store in Los Angeles. Almost a week after the Apple faithful collectively gasped at the first evidence that the iPhone’s red ‘end call’ button might soon be vacating its center position to take up residence one column to the right, it looks like it might have been mostly a false alarm. — AP

SAN FRANCISCO: Almost a week after the Apple faithful collectively gasped at the first evidence that the iPhone’s red “end call” button might soon be vacating its centre position to take up residence one column to the right, it looks like it might have been mostly a false alarm.

The initial shock followed the release of last week’s test, or beta, version of iOS 17, the next major update of the iPhone’s operating software. That's where users first saw the end-call button, which has traditionally lived in splendid isolation centered well below function buttons such as “mute”, “keypad” and “speaker”, instead joining its peers and taking a more assimilated position in the lower right-hand corner of a six-button block.