Apple’s new Action Button is causing a lot of havoc for third-party case makers.

Between Apple no longer making leather products and the utter disappointment of the new FineWoven case, there’s more opportunity this year for third-party iPhone case makers than perhaps ever before. But for a lot of manufacturers, the new Action Button in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max is throwing a big old wrench into their plans.

Over the past week, I’ve received case samples from a number of companies, and it’s clear which ones bet correctly on the Action Button’s existence and which ones hedged their bets a little too hard on Apple sticking with the traditional ringer switch. Some brands, such as Nomad and MOFT, bet that Apple would replace the ringer switch with a button this year and designed their cases accordingly: there’s a metal button in the case that allows you to easily activate the Action Button whenever you want.

But other popular brands such as Peak Design and Bellroy have shipped iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max cases with a cutout above the volume buttons to expose the ringer switch, instead of a hard button to press the Action Button. The result is the Action Button is recessed below the lip of the case, making it nearly impossible to use unless you contort the tip of your finger to reach it. It makes it very difficult to use the best new feature of the Pro line this year.

The root of the problem is that the typical third-party case maker doesn’t actually know what the new iPhone will look like (or even be called) until it’s announced onstage during Apple’s event. In order to catch the lucrative wave of customers who buy the new phones on release day and want a case, the case maker has to rely on rumors and reporting to determine the dimensions and features of the new phone and then manufacture its cases before the iPhone is even announced. Most years, when Apple makes minor changes to the iPhone’s dimensions, that works out in their favor. But when a big hardware change comes along, it makes things much more difficult to predict. combien coute le gabapentine

Peak Design explained the situation in a Reddit post: “We actually do not have the literal 3D details from Apple and so we are reliant on industry rumors to inform the design. In the case of the new “Action Button,” there were rumors in both the switch and the button direction and we also did not have much information on how a potential button would be used. Because of these conflicting rumors, we opted for the safer route and designed a cutout that would give good access to the button feature or a switch depending on which rumor ended up being the actual truth.”