New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close
Amazon Prime Day Deals

3D Touch Again Rumored to Be Removed From All 2019 iPhones

Tuesday July 9, 2019 5:45 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
A few months ago, in a research note shared with MacRumors, a team of Barclays analysts "confirmed" that 3D Touch "will be eliminated" in all 2019 iPhones, as they predicted back in August 2018. The analysts gathered this information from Apple suppliers following a recent trip to Asia.


The Wall Street Journal floated the same rumor back in January, and now, yet another source suggests 3D Touch is on the chopping block. Namely, Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes today claimed that Apple "may" remove 3D Touch hardware from all 2019 iPhones, citing unnamed industry sources.

Apple already introduced software changes in iOS 13 and iPadOS that hint at 3D Touch not being supported on new devices.

Specifically, "Quick Actions" menus that float above app icons on the home screen and "Peek" previews of emails, links, messages, and more are now supported on any iPhone or iPad that can run iOS 13 or iPadOS. These features were previously exclusive to iPhones with pressure-sensitive 3D Touch hardware.

Both features rely on a long press, aka pressing and holding, meaning this is effectively an expansion of the Haptic Touch functionality that debuted on the iPhone XR last year, although Apple's developer documentation refers to it as the "system-defined touch and hold gesture" on other devices.

The ability to invoke Quick Actions menus and Peek previews with a long press in iOS 13 likely foreshadows the removal of 3D Touch from 2019 iPhones, as most of 3D Touch's features will be possible without needing pressure-sensitive 3D Touch hardware in 2019 iPhones, reducing production costs for Apple.

3D Touch is still functional in iOS 13 on existing iPhones that support the feature, and will likely continue to be in future software updates. This includes the iPhone 6s through iPhone XS Max, excluding the iPhone SE.

Related Roundup: 2019 iPhones
Tags: digitimes.com, 3D Touch
[ 60 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
JungleNYC
1 week ago
Gee. Am I the only one who likes 3D touch?
Rating: 39 Votes
Avatar
JessWinter
1 week ago

how does the new haptic long-press feature differentiate from the long-press wiggle mode(positioning icons)???

I'll tell you how. It's by waiting even LONGER for the icons to wiggle. It's happening right now on my iPhone X on iOS 13 Public Beta. It's so annoying. Haptic touch is not NEARLY as convenient as 3D touch, and that's coming from someone who doesn't use 3D touch except a few times a day (not much).
Rating: 19 Votes
Avatar
Jhawkfan
1 week ago

Gee. Am I the only one who likes 3D touch?

I love 3D Touch and HATE the new haptic touch on the iOS 13 beta. It doesn’t work very well on the home screen since you use the same process to make icons wiggle.
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
calaverasgrande
1 week ago
3D touch and the haptic 'phantom click' on MacBooks are impediments to a smooth user experience IMHO.
I shouldn't have to relearn how to use a device I've already been using for over 10 years for such a minor 'feature' enhancement. This is much of the problem with Apple these days. Creating useless new features to justify their job titles and compensation. Yet ignoring long standing bugs and glitches in their OSes, platforms and software.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
vnrwka
1 week ago
how does the new haptic long-press feature differentiate from the long-press wiggle mode(positioning icons)???
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
Relentless Power
1 week ago

Gee. Am I the only one who likes 3D touch?


It’s not a matter of whose who ‘like’ 3D Touch, I’d say it’s more of a matter of those who actually know how to utilize 3D Touch to fully appreciate it. That’s the difference.

3D Touch is a great feature, but there are those who don’t know how to invoke its actions and what it actually does. Apple failed to market 3D Touch properly aside from the keynote when it launched with the 6S.

For those who actually appreciate and understand 3D Touch, realize how much of a benefit it is to shortcut applications and of course use peak/pop for notifications, etc.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
twocents
1 week ago
Sad to see that they could be backtracking on another of the tentpole features of an "S" model iPhone. But while Touch ID in the iPhone 5S was replaced by Face ID, Haptic Touch definitely doesn't replace 3D Touch. It makes sense on the iPad since they'd have to jam pack it full of Taptic engines, but for iPhones...
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
JPack
1 week ago
Haptic Touch likely provides 80% of the user experience at 20% of the cost. It's a classic Tim Cook move.

At this point, the removal of 3D Touch can be counted as a certainty. Kuo has talked about this since April 2018 and there's absolutely no difference of opinion from other analysts.
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
alexandr
1 week ago

Gee. Am I the only one who likes 3D touch?


i love it. i'm holding to my xs until at least 2020 if they, in fact, remove it. i'm so used to it, i really don't want to give it up...
Rating: 4 Votes
Avatar
B4U
1 week ago

Quite the opposite! Long press, let go (and pray you timed it right), then the menu pops up. OR you can just keep holding even longer and eventually they wiggle. It's honestly one of the most confusing and ****** things Apple has done to iOS in a while...

That does not sound good to a UI experience.:(
Rating: 4 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]