In the iOS 4.2 Beta released today, the iPad’s orientation lock switch became a mute switch. In iOS 3.2, you could mute the device or lock the orientation quickly, with a single button press.

In the new beta, you can mute the device quickly, but you can only lock the orientation with a 4-step process: double-tap, swipe, tap, tap.

Why would Apple make this change? It isn’t out of practicality, that’s for sure. I often want to lock the iPad’s orientation, but I often want it unlocked too. A hardware switch lets me fix unwanted rotation before it gets frustrating. A software toggle makes every unwanted rotation frustrating.

There are three possible reasons Apple made this change:

1. Consistency with the iPhone. It would make sense to rationalize the hardware switch being a mute button if it was never a rotation lock in the first place, but switching it in the middle of the product cycle is unexpected. I don’t think Apple would make this change solely to unify the iPad and iPhone’s behavior.

2. Consistency with a future FaceTime-enabled iPad. The iPhone needs a lock switch because it may spuriously ring. The iPad doesn’t spuriously ring — not yet. But a FaceTime-enabled iPad could ring unexpectedly; that would justify a mute switch taking over a hardware button. If Apple plans to release a FaceTime iPad and they want to use the switch for muting, they have two choices: Let the two iPad models have a hardware button that works differently between revisions, or change to a mute switch now to maintain consistency in the future.

3. Someone at Apple thought the iPad needed a mute switch instead. Apple tries to maintain a consistent product vision, but I would be surprised if they chose to change the switch now just to maintain consistency with the iPhone or a future iPad. I would expect them to wait for a future hardware revision to do that. Barring those two decent reasons, only one remains: Someone at Apple thought the iPad needed a mute switch more than it needed a hardware orientation lock.

The new behavior is demonstrably worse, and I hope Apple reverts it in the next beta. A configurable setting would solve the problem too, but Apple tends to keep customization to a minimum.

If you’re a developer and feel this way too, submit a bug report. That’s the best way to make your voice heard.

Update: Apple introduced the option to select your preference in iOS 4.3.