3D Touch Likely Dropped in 2019 iPhones as Haptic Touch Expanded Across iPhones and iPads

2019-06-05 09:43:54

Earlier this month, it was reported that 3D Touch will not be supported by 2019 iPhones. This rumor was surfaced by a team of Barclays analysts after...

Earlier this month, it was reported that 3D Touch will not be supported by 2019 iPhones. This rumor was surfaced by a team of Barclays analysts after they traveled to Asia and spoke with multiple Apple suppliers, likely meaning that there is evidence of 3D Touch being removed at the hardware level.

Now, on the software side, there are changes that suggest the rumor is accurate. It really looks like pressure-sensitive

3D Touch

is going away.

Apple has confirmed that both "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

3D Touch

Apple's feature list for iOS 13 and iPadOS

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. Haptic Touch is simply a marketing term for a long press combined with haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine.

Notably, this means Quick Actions menus and Peek previews are now supported on the iPhone XR and the

iPad

Air 2 or newer for the first time ever.

Quick Actions on an iPad and iPhone XR for first time ever

The ability to invoke Quick Actions menus and Peek previews with a long press in

iOS 13

is even supported on iPhones with

3D Touch

, including the iPhone XS models, likely foreshadowing the removal of

3D Touch

from 2019 iPhones.

3D Touch

can still be used in

iOS 13

on iPhones that support the feature, resulting in two ways to invoke Quick Actions menus. This includes the iPhone 6s through

iPhone XS

Max, excluding the iPhone SE. However, some users are unable to access

3D Touch

settings in the first

iOS 13

beta, which is likely a bug.

The transition from

3D Touch

to Haptic Touch for Peek previews was hinted at a few weeks ago. As noted by developer Radek Pietruszewski, open source WebKit commits revealed that the APIs for the feature, previously known as Peek and Pop, would be deprecated in a future iOS version.

All in all, there is a strong possibility that

2019 iPhones

will feature Haptic Touch instead of

3D Touch

when they are released later this year.

(Screenshots: RayFirefist, BitVoiceFM)