DigiTimes is claiming that Apple is removing 3D Touch from iPhones for good

The hit-and-miss Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes is reporting today that none of the upcoming iPhone models that will probably get announced in September will feature 3D Touch.

3D Touch on the way out

“Touch module makers TPK Holding and General Interface Solution (GIS) may see sales grow in the second half of 2019 though Apple may remove 3D Touch sensors from all 2019 iPhone devices,” reads the supply chain report attributed to industry sources.

Other sources have acknowledged as much.

For example, Barclays in May released an analyst report saying that the 2019 iPhone lineup would drop the feature altogether. Earlier in January 2019, The Wall Street Journal said that all 2019 iPhones might ship without 3D Touch hardware in order to reduce components costs.

And finally, with the launch of iOS 12.1.1 last November, Apple expanded support for Haptic Touch in the iPhone XR, allowing users to long-press on a notification to get more information.

Say hello to Haptic Touch

Apple’s already laid the groundwork for a 3D Touch replacement with the iPhone XR release.

To make the handset cheaper to produce, the company removed a pressure-sensing layer required for 3D Touch to work. Instead of 3D Touch, iPhone XR owners were introduced to Haptic Touch, which is just a marketing name for the long-press + haptic feedback combo.

I’d also point readers to Apple’s iOS 13 overview webpage—specifically, to the section which provides an exhaustive list of all the new features, improvements and changes.

These entries:

Peek: Preview email messages, web links and more simply by pressing and holding to see a hint of the content.
Quick actions: Press and hold an app icon to quickly perform actions specific to the app.

Now you know why iOS 13 doubles down on 3D Touch replacement gestures.

A change for the better

By replacing the 3D Touch Peek gesture—which wasn’t very useful to begin with even though Apple’s marketing focused on Peek and Pop—with tapping and holding, and bringing new touch gestures for text selections, there are no more viable reasons to keep using this technology on iPhones because 3D Touch hardware doesn’t come cheap and very few iPhone owners are even aware that their smartphone has a pressure-sensing display in the first place.

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Is Force Touch next?

With that in mind, I wonder what’s next on the chopping block.

Force Touch on Apple Watch, perhaps?

Share. your thoughts in the comments down below.