Look closely and you’ll see something odd in an image Apple used to publicize the iPhone’s new digital driver’s licenses. In the upper corner of the Wallet app, where there should be a back arrow, instead there’s what looks like a fancy version of a “hamburger” menu button.
It’s possible the image was taken off a device running a prerelease version of iOS 16, and includes a change coming in the next iPhone operating system.
Or it might be only a glitch, and we’re trying too hard to see what Apple has planned.
And now it’s gone
Apple distributed the image with its press release about Arizona launching digital driver’s licenses. The image with the strange icon can be seen in the Cult of Mac article and elsewhere.
Apple has since updated the image in its press release to include the expected back arrow.
iOS 16? Or a glitch? You make the call.
Image: Apple
If the original image is a screenshot taken on a device running an iOS 16 alpha, it would mean Apple is considering replacing the back button with a hamburger menu. Which would be an … odd choice.
For one thing, Apple hates the hamburger menu.
For another, putting one where people expect a back button is hardly ideal. If Apple wanted to build in a button to open a collection of options, almost anywhere else on the page would be better.
So perhaps the hamburger menu button is only a glitch. But it’s still odd that this happened in an image that Apple itself created at a time when we know iOS 16 is being worked on.
Taking a screenshot from the Wallet app is dead easy. And no part of the process involves erasing buttons, then drawing in different ones. So how did a fancy hamburger menu button get in place of a back button? It’s a puzzle.
We reached out to Apple asking for an explanation. We will update the article with any response.
