3D Touch in iPhone 6s is a 'Breakthrough,' Was 'Really Hard' to Make

[MacRumors]

Apple today spent about ten minutes introducing 3D Touch as one of the headline features of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but a new Bloomberg interview with company executives Jony Ive, Craig Federighi, Phil Schiller and Alan Dye reveals that Apple spent several years working on the challenging new display technology.

"Ultimately, this is our focus," says Ive, squeezing a new iPhone 6S. "This is what galvanizes our efforts right across the company." And 3D Touch, he adds with emphasis, "is something we've been working on for a long time--multi, multi, multi years."

Schiller noted that, from an engineering standpoint, creating hardware that is capable of 3D Touch's functionality was "unbelievably hard," coming at a "tremendous amount of cost and investment in manufacturing" for Apple. For that reason, the company had to ensure it got the technology right.

Accordingly, Apple set out to do just that.

Working with Corning, Apple created pliable iPhone cover glass. Swipe it, and the phone works the way it always has. But press it, and 96 sensors embedded in the backlight of the retina display measure microscopic changes in the distance between themselves and the glass. Those measurements then get combined with signals from the touch sensor to make the motion of your finger sync with the image on screen. [...]

To make what is counterintuitive feel normal, each on-screen "peek" and "pop" is accompanied by a 10-millisecond or 15-millisecond haptic tap, little vibrations that say "good job" to your fingers when an action is complete.

And, after a multi-year, tedious design process, Apple is now satisfied with 3D Touch.

Apple is feeling confident enough that it's integrated 3D Touch into everything on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus--the phone, the weather app, iTunes, messaging, and the Web. Facebook and Instagram plan on incorporating it into their iOS apps shortly after the phones arrive in stores on Sept. 25.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus also feature a faster A9 chip with an embedded M9 motion coprocessor, improved 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with 4K video recording, faster Touch ID, stronger glass and Series 7000 aluminum, Live Photos, always-on Hey Siri and more.

Bloomberg's longform How Apple Built 3D Touch article is a worthwhile read.

Article Link: 3D Touch in iPhone 6s is a 'Breakthrough,' Was 'Really Hard' to Make

 

[Vacheron]

This just looks so much better than the Apple Watch implementation.

 

[carrrrrlos]

3D touch + iOS9 + Buy thru Apple every year? Yes pleez.

 

[Traverse]

I think it may be hard for the non-techy to catch on to, but I may be wrong. I think it's a really neat idea, but I question its actual usefulness. Okay, peak into a text conversation. How hard is it to tap the conversation and then tap the back arrow?

But it has a lot of potential in third party apps.

 

[happydude]

great. i mean, i guess? right? this is the next thing we didn't know we needed until apple said we did. good work sir ive and team.

 

[skinned66]

I'm looking forward to getting it in my hands.

 

[nviz22]

Well, Apple needed a good feature to sell people on buying another iPhone. Most people I know w/ the 6 or 6+ are not moving over. I am one of the only few doing so from the 6+ to the 6S+. I look forward to it. On the fence regarding buying an Apple Watch. I think it looks cool, but not that "killer" feature I was expecting. It was a safe upgrade. Now, I want to know the RAM.

 

[steve knight]

I think it may be hard for the non-techy to catch on to, but I may be wrong. I think it's a really neat idea, but I question its actual usefulness. Okay, peak into a text conversation. How hard is it to tap the conversation and then tap the back arrow?

But it has a lot of potential in third party apps.

thats the rub right there. third party apps will they have access right away will they use it? every new thing is so slow to get going with apple. siri and touch id homekit and so forth.

 

[profets]

Working with Corning, Apple created pliable iPhone cover glass.

Crazy, I thought this (and force touch on the watch) was really just seeing the surface area of the thumb/finger print increasing that caused it to know it was a press/force touch. Also interesting how they worked with Corning when they were also investing into Sapphire production.

I think it may be hard for the non-techy to catch on to, but I may be wrong. I think it's a really neat idea, but I question its actual usefulness. Okay, peak into a text conversation. How hard is it to tap the conversation and then tap the back arrow?

But it has a lot of potential in third party apps.

It looks like there's many more interesting use cases on iOS than Mac. I find it quite exciting. Short cuts on apps from the home screen, additional gestures, pressing while swiping back to change between apps, etc. TONS of usefulness here I'd say.

 

[Jett0516]

I've been replying to android fanboys all day that this is not like a long-hold press on their samsung phone.

 

[skwirl341]

How will anyone know what they can and can't "3D Touch?" Will every app have to come with a manual that we read ahead of time? Are we supposed to 3D Touch everything we see to try to figure it out with every app?

 

[ron7624]

great. i mean, i guess? right? this is the next thing we didn't know we needed until apple said we did. good work sir ive and team.

Almost every device I have, I didn't know I needed till Apple told me I did. Now I do need them. I mean really need them. Right?

 

[nutjob]

They wasted their time.

Oh to have steve back...

 

[gugy]

As UI designer this 3D Touch tech opens huge realm of possibilities for navigation.
Just this feature alone makes the iPhone worth.
Can't wait to see it on the iPad.

 

[smallcoffee]

This is incredible. The engineering behind it. Wow.

 

[steve knight]

It looks like there's many more interesting use cases on iOS than Mac. I find it quite exciting. Short cuts on apps from the home screen, additional gestures, pressing while swiping back to change between apps, etc. TONS of usefulness here I'd say.

if it is implemented well and not locked down by apple for awhile history has shown that it could go either way.

 

[AppleHater]

3D touch is the single feature that tempts me to upgrade my, otherwise great, iPhone 6.

 

[Fondaparinux]

I don't understand why they didn't just stick with Force Touch - they already established a brand name used in Apple Watch and MacBooks, it makes no sense to change it.

 

[ShawnF]

Glad to see Apple squeezed in the optical stabilization feature into the smaller iPhone 6S. As a heavy photo and video user, that's gonna be the killer feature for me. #ByeBlurryPics

 

[vertsix]

Waiting for Samsung S Force, a blatant ripoff of 3D touch.

 

[haruhiko]

I don't understand why they didn't just stick with Force Touch - they already established a brand name used in Apple Watch and MacBooks, it makes no sense to change it.

I think Apple doesn't want to focus on the word 'force', which may motivate users to press the screen too hard.

 

[snowmoon]

Not to be a nag, but when I read about how hard it was to get right I'm almost expecting that they will have problems as well. I'm not only thinking about how the sensors will fare over the long term, but also how it will interact with a plethora of screen protectors and other aftermarket items.

 

[blackcrayon]

I don't understand why they didn't just stick with Force Touch - they already established a brand name used in Apple Watch and MacBooks, it makes no sense to change it.

Maybe because Huawei already introduced a phone with what they are calling "Force Touch"? Maybe Apple couldn't trademark Force Touch the way they wanted to but no one had "3D Touch"? Or maybe they didn't want people to "force" their thumb through the new glass

 

[twoodcc]

looks awesome, but we'll see when i see it in person

 

[4jasontv]

3D touch, especially the pop aspect, looks like it has a lot of lag in the experience. I can see people peeking, releasing, and tapping rather than waiting for the pop simply because time spent waiting is longer than time spend engaged in a behavior.