3D Touch - is it like the macbook trackpad?

[rasputin1969]

One thing I haven't seen addressed by any of the early hands on videos is how the taptic feedback feels.

Is it like the macbook trackpad and does your brain get fooled into thinking you've actually clicked a real physical button, or is it like the Apple watch and various crappy android phones in that you just get a buzz that feels nothing like a click? Hopefully it is the former.

 

[flur]

I'm betting it's more like the AW. I have both, and on the MBP the trackpad section is an actual separate piece, and you can see the pad depress slightly when you press along the edge, which is part of the reason the force touch feels real - because it IS in part real. With the watch and the phone, you're pressing on a sealed-in-place surface, so the feel is going to be different.

 

[rasputin1969]

I'm betting it's more like the AW. I have both, and on the MBP the trackpad section is an actual separate piece, and you can see the pad depress slightly when you press along the edge, which is part of the reason the force touch feels real - because it IS in part real. With the watch and the phone, you're pressing on a sealed-in-place surface, so the feel is going to be different.

I don't thinks that's quite right regarding the macbook. Try clicking the macbook trackpad while the machine is switched off and you'll find that nothing moves. Sure there's a very slight flex but that seems to be because of the larger surface area of the trackpad over the watch.

I guess you may well be right though, I can't believe the early hands on videos haven't addressed this. In my opinion if they can make it like the macbook it would be incredible, if it's like the watch - yuk!

 

[flur]

I don't thinks that's quite right regarding the macbook. Try clicking the macbook trackpad while the machine is switched off and you'll find that nothing moves. Sure there's a very slight flex but that seems to be because of the larger surface area of the trackpad over the watch.

I guess you may well be right though, I can't believe the early hands on videos haven't addressed this. In my opinion if they can make it like the macbook it would be incredible, if it's like the watch - yuk!

My point was that it does move when pressed, and you can feel (and see) it move, so the "click" feels like a real thing. With the watch, you can't so it feels more fake.

 

[Cergman]

My point was that it does move when pressed, and you can feel (and see) it move, so the "click" feels like a real thing. With the watch, you can't so it feels more fake.

Who in the world uses their Macbook while staring at the trackpad and verifying it moves every single time they click? I have the force touch trackpad and it is insane how realistic it feels. I don't think that feeling is at all contributed by the fact that it flexes a bit since when the machine is off, it feels like I'm just pressing the palm rests or another solid piece of aluminum/glass.

 

[rasputin1969]

My point was that it does move when pressed, and you can feel (and see) it move, so the "click" feels like a real thing. With the watch, you can't so it feels more fake.

The thing is without the tapic feedback issued when the macbook is switched on it doesnt feel like a click, at all. Even if you're correct then lets hope the greater surface area of the phone will allow some flex.

I have just tried doing a heavy click on my iPhone 5s and while there is some flex it also messes up the lcd display so obviously the "clicking" of the 6s must not be heavy enough to distort the lcd.

 

[rasputin1969]

There is hope!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2015/09/12/3d-touch-iphone-6s/2/

Professor Hong Tan, an on haptic technology, is impressed by the feeling of a MacBook’s fake click. She expects that the combination of 3D Touch and short taps in iPhones will also fool your senses. “The force sensors will do the sensing, and then the Taptic Engine will give you the proper feedback,” says Tan. “When you add the two together, you can create a very convincing button-clicking experience without moving parts.”

 

[rasputin1969]

OK - confirmed by cnet that it is just a typical haptic buzz, and not a macbook trackpad type click :-(

http://www.cnet.com/products/apple-iphone-6s/

"But the way it feels ends up coming across as pretty subtle. Menus gently pop up, photos slowly come alive. Like on the Apple Watch, the Taptic Engine haptics, which control the phone's buzzes and vibrations, emits more of a gentle pulse than a jarring vibration. Pressing in didn't cause a realistic, hard mechanical "click" in the same way that the new MacBook trackpads do. Instead, the implementation seems designed to feel invisible and comfortable, not weirdly magical."

 

[sml2612]

I don't thinks that's quite right regarding the macbook. Try clicking the macbook trackpad while the machine is switched off and you'll find that nothing moves. Sure there's a very slight flex but that seems to be because of the larger surface area of the trackpad over the watch.

I guess you may well be right though, I can't believe the early hands on videos haven't addressed this. In my opinion if they can make it like the macbook it would be incredible, if it's like the watch - yuk!

Agreed, the trackpad definitely doesn't move when powered off. The click effect is honestly one of the coolest tech features I've ever seen. It really is like magic. I've fooled so many friends with it. Hoping the phone haptic feedback is similar!

 

[flur]

Agreed, the trackpad definitely doesn't move when powered off. The click effect is honestly one of the coolest tech features I've ever seen. It really is like magic. I've fooled so many friends with it. Hoping the phone haptic feedback is similar!

It does move, its just very subtle. If you press along the edge you can see it. It does the same whether it's off or on, a very slight move. That's a small part of the reason it feels real. The main part is that the haptic effectively taps you back. Neither of these things are possible on the watch or the phone.