Benjamin Mayo for 9to5Mac(c/o Digitimes):
“The death of 3D Touch has been long in the making. We have heard murmurs from several analysts over the last year that Apple would no longer be producing pressure-sensitive screens for its devices. 3D Touch was also not present in the iPhone XR, although that could be partly excused because of the lower price point.
“Now, we are approaching an iPhone cycle where every model will likely not feature a pressure-sensitive display and the unique 3D Touch experiences will not be available. Apple has started laying the groundwork for this transition with UI changes in iOS 13.
“The Digitimes report quotes industry sources for touch module manufacturers TPK and GIS, key Apple suppliers. These manufacturers will ultimately make less money per unit as the touch modules for the new iPhones will be simpler to make, and carry a lower component cost.”
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been hearing rumors to this effect for several months.
It’s a shame as we use 3D Touch to open the Camera and other tasks – development took a lot of effort and we think lots of pro users make use of the feature. Hopefully Apples Haptic Touch will rise to the challenge.
Do you use 3D Touch? How do you use it?
Long hold would work for me (currently using an iPhone X). I won’t miss it if it means lower prices or bigger batteries, or cameras behind the screen…
I use 3D Touch a lot but sometimes it’s a bit hit or miss because it relies on you pressing with just right amount of pressure.
I’m perfectly happy standardising on Haptic Touch across all iPhone and iPad devices. Apple just needs to expand it’s functionality a bit more if its really going to replace 3D Touch.
This should make the whole panel assembly simpler and slimmer as Apple won’t have that extra 3D Touch layer behind the display.
It may even mean we get ApplePencil support because of 3D Touches removal. (Although I would prefer Apple focuses on creating an OLED panel with a Pro Motion like 120Hz variable refresh rate.)
3D Touch was always mainly a gimmick. The next big pull will be Face ID once Apple finally gets thumb print recognition within the display. Touch ID is way way better UI for payments and passwords.