New iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Models Ditch 3D Touch in Favor of Haptic Touch

[MacRumors]

When introducing the new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro models on stage this morning during the "By Innovation Only" keynote, Apple execs mentioned "Haptic Touch" as one of the new features on the devices.

Haptic Touch is also listed as one of the features on the technical specifications page for each device, which means the rumors were true - Apple has officially nixed 3D Touch in its newest iPhones.

Last year, the iPhone XR was introduced with a Haptic Touch feature that replaces 3D Touch, which has now expanded to the entire iPhone lineup.

Haptic Touch does many of the same things that 3D Touch does so new iPhone users will not be missing out on much functionality, but it's not quite the same as the 3D Touch feature.

Rather than a pressure sensitive pop, Haptic Touch is a long press that's similar to the long press on other devices like the iPad but paired with haptic feedback so you get a little electric response when you press.

3D Touch had multiple levels of responsiveness due to the pressure sensitivity, which is not available with Haptic Touch. This allowed for "peek" and "pop" gestures that did different things depending on the force of the touch.

Apple first introduced 3D Touch in the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus, and it was used in the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X and iPhone XS models before being discontinued.

Article Link: New iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Models Ditch 3D Touch in Favor of Haptic Touch

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

In other words; Haptic Touch is all software based, 3D Touch was hardware. Makes sense they would do this as the pressure sensitivity never offered any tangible benefits.

 

[EugW]

Good riddance

 

[JPack]

Remember when Ming-Chi Kuo said this more than a year ago? Then some people vehemently denied it.

To be fair, removing the 3D Touch layer (0.5mm) allows for a much thicker battery.

 

[C DM]

It's too bad Haptic Touch is not as good as 3D Touch.

 

[Pakaku]

For a "Pro" phone, it seems like such a step backwards to ditch 3D Touch hardware for a longer, time-consuming, inferior option

 

[840quadra]

Sad day. Loss of the the truly unique input method only Apple had, yet famously didn't properly support or educate customers how to use.

Used to be able to 3D Touch and instantly get contextual menus, and do other functions in the system. Now we have long press which (as the name states) takes longer, now rebranded as something new.

 

[Hustler1337]

3D touch was a gimmick - a hardware-level feature that Apple touted as something unique but when you undress it, it was essentially a long-press.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

I've been using iOS 13 for awhile and have found basically zero instances where the "peek" and "pop" features even still exist.

3D touch was a gimmick - a feature that Apple touted as something unique but when you undress it, it was essentially a long-press.

it wasn't "essentially" a long press at all. it was a pressure sensitive press.

 

[GadgetBen]

They also have the Ultra Wideband chip as predicted, this must mean the tracking devices are also coming soon.

 

[WilliamG]

In other words; Haptic Touch is all software based, 3D Touch was hardware. Makes sense they would do this as the pressure sensitivity never offered any tangible benefits.

I use it all the time for selecting text.

 

[Onelifenofear]

3D touch was a gimmick - a hardware-level feature that Apple touted as something unique but when you undress it, it was essentially a long-press.

Except it isn’t I use it all the time on emails and photos. Soft press to preview then click though to open it.

 

[ant the ninja]

I've been using iOS 13 for awhile and have found basically zero instances where the "peek" and "pop" features even still exist.



it wasn't "essentially" a long press at all. it was a pressure sensitive press.

I said for so long how I refused to upgrade if they removed force touch but I find myself tempted to give the 11 Pro a try.

What happens if you long press on a link in safari? Or long press on a text in messages? Does this no longer bring up the “peek” function?

 

[jezbd1997]

They also have the Ultra Wideband chip as predicted, this must mean the tracking devices are also coming soon.

View attachment 857092

There’s already been posts on this.. we know

 

[cppguy]

I can't believe game developers didn't take advantage of 3D touch at all. Lost opportunity gone forever. Game developers don't care about anything but ads and selling stupid loot boxes with 0.0001% chance of getting anything good.

 

[Return Zero]

People will complain until they find out it contributes to the increased battery life.

Then they will still complain.

 

[techfreak23]

Haptic Touch is a poor substitute. 3D Touch was unique to iPhones and was a pleasure to use (where available). Apple really should have done more with it. Now we have to suffer the long press of Haptic Touch... it’s garbage in Safari especially. I hate that the contextual pop up comes up all the time and that the website previews are all or nothing.

 

[Yojimbo007]

Almost never used 3d touch..haptic will offer the same functionality plus cheaper for apple and less complicated.. from an investors point of view .. that is good !

 

[justperry]

Remember when Ming-Chi Kuo said this more than a year ago? Then some people vehemently denied it.

To be fair, removing the 3D Touch layer (0.5mm) allows for a much thicker battery.

0.5 mm does not seem like much, only until you compare it to the thickness of the battery, I do not know how thick the battery is on an iPhone XS but lets say 5 mm, this means the capacity could be raised by close to 10%, or an extra fe hours.

 

[840quadra]

I've been using iOS 13 for awhile and have found basically zero instances where the "peek" and "pop" features even still exist.



it wasn't "essentially" a long press at all. it was a pressure sensitive press.

Yep can't peek at URL in messages anymore, nor can you 3D Press and slide up to bring an image to full screen and save it.

They really took away some of the deep functions in iOS. Dare I say, "Pro" features.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Sad day. Loss of the the truly unique input method only Apple had, yet famously didn't properly support or educate customers how to use.

Used to be able to 3D Touch and instantly get contextual menus, and do other functions in the system. Now we have long press which (as the name states) takes longer, now rebranded as something new.

Haptic Feedback is a substitute, but that, just a substitute. 3D Touch is vastly superior.

 

[Xombie11]

I use it all the time for selecting text.

Does this mean no more moving the cursor with the spacebar?? That's my all time favorite feature on iOS!!

 

[Khedron]

Just a fancy name for "long press + vibration"?

 

[adrianlondon]

So, instead of having standard press, long press, slightly hard press, hard press (i.e. four different ways to interact with stuff) we now have two.

Pity. Although to be fair it was hard to remember all the different ways of doing stuff, such as clicking a URL.

 

[jezbd1997]

Does this mean no more moving the cursor with the spacebar?? That's my all time favorite feature on iOS!!

No it's been present on like all devices for a couple of years now I think, you just hold on the space bar if 3d touch is disabled, or a device without the hardware.