If you've been following Apple news for a while then you maybe already know so much about the next-generation iPhones. The iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Max, and iPhone 11R (that is, if Apple doesn't change its name), are gradually becoming the "S" upgrades to last year's "S" upgrade. The new line of smartphones is reported to have a lot of added power and new frosted glass backs, but other than that, they still sport the same design as the previous two generations of iPhones.
Now for the fun part: rumors. Apple never runs out of them, and neither the 2019 or 2020 rumors are exempt from this trend so far. MacRumors reports that a team of Barclays analysts claims that the new iPhone models will no longer have the 3D Touch feature and that the company will replace the technology with the cheaper Haptic Touch technology it introduced with last year's iPhone XR.
This adds credence to previous reports from the Wall Street Journal back in January, which said Apple was looking at removing the feature in an attempt to cut cost.
3D Touch was first introduced four years ago with the iPhone 6. The pressure-sensitive sensors allowed users to access programs and apps by detecting how hard you pressed on them. Haptic Touch, meanwhile, works like Android's long-press. Pressing harder will no longer open additional menus and previews. Instead, you will have to long-press on app icons or links to achieve the same result.
However, the tech doesn't work in all places. On the iPhone XR, it cannot be used to access Quick Actions app menus or for previewing content. It remains to be seen if Apple plans to port all the existing 3D Touch features to be Haptic Touch-capable.
But you have to admit that 3D Touch had a lot of potential. Sadly, the feature never really caught up with many app developers. A lot of people also didn't know this feature even existed, or which buttons offered 3D Touch.
And let's say you knew the feature existed - you'd still go with a trial and error method in order to know if something happens whenever you press on them long enough.
We may hear more of the 3D Touch in Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week. We'll probably hear about the next version of iOS at the event. For now, all we can do is wait for these rumors to be finally confirmed.
