UPDATED: Steve Jobs: During FaceTime, mute is the new hold

How do you place a call on hold when you're both on iPhone 4 and Wi-Fi, and the FaceTime button has replaced the Hold button, but you're not using FaceTime?

Jonathan Cowperthwait emailed Apple's CEO to find out:

During many voice calls on my new iPhone 4, the "hold" icon has been replaced with a FaceTime icon, even when I'm not talking to a fellow iPhone 4 user. During such calls, how do I put someone on hold? Yes, there's still a mute button, but these functions are discrete (which is why iOS ≤ 3 had both buttons...).

Steve Jobs' answer:

Hold doesn't do anything more than Mute.

Apple tech support also told him he could disable FaceTime in settings so the button wouldn't show up, but that seems inconvenient if you do want to use FaceTime as well.

Acceptable answer? Do you miss the Hold button, or are you too busy FaceTime'ing people to have noticed its absence?

UPDATE: Per comments below, Mute on iPhone 4 does indeed seem to put the call on Hold. So, um, then where's the Mute button?

[Cowperthwait via TechCrunch]

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.