iPhone 6s Plus Touch ID Much Quicker Than iPhone 6 Plus in New Hands-On Video

With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, one well-known hardware feature got a substantial upgrade: Touch ID. Apple improved the Touch ID sensor, allowing it to recognize fingerprints faster than it could previously. We went hands-on with the brand new iPhone 6s Plus and compared its improved Touch ID sensor to the one in the iPhone 6 Plus.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

The 6s Plus' Touch ID unlocks the phone almost instantaneously, taking a user straight to their Home Screen when they rest their finger on it. Comparatively, the speed of the 6 Plus' Touch ID makes it seem like a two-step feature, first waking up the display and then taking a user to the Home Screen.

On first impression, some users think the new Touch ID is too fast, however. Reddit user MasterofLuiz notes that it's so fast it affects how he usually uses his phone.

I can't even click the home button to check the clock without it automatically unlocking the phone. It's crazy

MacRumors forum member mykaluk has attempted to best the speed of the new Touch ID, attempting to tap the Home Button so quickly that it doesn't read his fingerprint. However, he notes that the Touch ID is able to read the fingerprint every time.

Be sure to check out the iPhone forum to join the discussion about the two new phones and their new features, or visit the iPhone accessories forum to see how the new cases look on the new devices, or whether existing cases fit the new devices. If you'd like to find out which apps take advantage of 3D Touch, make sure to check out the iOS Apps forum.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

MacFan782040 Avatar
130 months ago
Too fast? Just unlock the phone with the sleep/wake button and not the home button.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hurleyint1386 Avatar
130 months ago
With the new 3D Touch, I'd like to force touch my display to turn it on for notifications to prevent it from auto-unlocking. I noticed that it unlocks much faster and I lose my home screen notifications.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JohnApples Avatar
130 months ago
On first impression ('https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/25/iphone-6s-reader-first-impressions/'), some users think the new Touch ID is two fast, however. Reddit ('https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3md414/the_iphone_6s_plus_touch_id_speed_is_insane/') user MasterofLuiz ('https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3md414/the_iphone_6s_plus_touch_id_speed_is_insane/cveb9m8') notes that it's so fast it affects how he usually uses his phone.
"Too" fast you mean? :D

I think it's funny that some are complaining it's too fast. Lots of people saying it was too slow before with the 5S/6. Can't win can they lol.

I think it's great that it's "too fast". My dad refuses to use Touch ID because he says it's too slow (despite it taking no longer than manually "sliding to unlock"). He would definitely approve of this.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CmdrThor Avatar
130 months ago
No need to press the home button to check the clock when you have an Apple Watch :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
130 months ago
Why do we have so many "Dumb" people here? :(

Or course something can be too fast, just in the same way it can be too slow.
We seem to have people here who cannot grasp this.

If the Apple watch showed you the time and turned the screen off after 1 second, it would be too fast, and would need to be slowed down a bit.
The mouse speed in Windows and OSX has adjusters so that you can set things between slow and fast depending on your preference.

Why do we have so many numb nuts who don't understand that a feature that a human being has to interact with has to be set at a speed that's most comfortable for humans to use.
Too fast can be just as bad as too slow.

In an ideal world, a feature like TouchID would work instantly, and then you would have a small slider under settings to adjust how fast it reacted, then each user, old people and young children etc, could set a response speed that felt most comfortable to them.

It's not, as they say "Rocket Science" folks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oblivious.Robot Avatar
130 months ago
I'm hoping so! Though I'm not going to hold my breath. I may be pleasantly surprised come next year!

But... If they DID implement Touch ID into the screen.. how would you unlock your phone? Hit the sleep/wake button, then Touch ID to unlock? Or would the screen wake up just from sensing a touch? If the latter, wouldn't the screen potentially wake up from a lot of unintentional touches?
It's going to need some serious amount of work and effort when they design those devices.
That's why it'll be so much worth it!

I for one think that would sell like hot cakes, I'd probably buy two and I don't even know why. :D
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)