The Apple Beat: The iPhone ‘S’ Cycle in focus

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla 

While it makes for a cool feature to demo, 3D Touch is actually the one feature that could rewrite the way we use our iPhones and in a dramatic way that changes what we can accomplish simply by tapping, pressing, and press-holding on icons and menus.

Every other year, Apple launches a ‘new and improved,’ variant of the iPhone from the previous year. Some think of the ‘S’ iPhones as the tock of the tick-tock cycle and usually wait to upgrade to the next magical and revolutionary device to ship a year later. For others, the ‘S’ devices are actually the best version of that generation’s iPhone and the device to get. 

By comparison, other smartphone manufacturers tend to dramatically overhaul their flagship models on a yearly basis. Not just in look and feel, but also in functionality and even user interface. I guess with the exception of HTC, which has pushed out similar looking flagship phones for the past three years now, the objective for the likes of Samsung, LG and countless others, is to offer something almost completely new each succeeding year. 

Not so with Apple, while the iPhone is clearly the company’s most important product, and one it can’t afford to sleep on, it does update this device in a very formulaic manner. 

The ‘S’ formula is iterative 

Each iPhone ‘S’ update, save for the iPhone 3GS, has had at least one key feature that merited notice and which was designed to entice current iPhone users to upgrade or competing users to switch. This is aside from the expected and rudimentary increases in speed, performance, camera capabilities and overall user experience.

iPhone 4S introduced Siri as a voice assistant, iPhone 5S brought in Touch ID and, while the iPhone 6S seems to have a notable list of updates, 3D Touch is definitely the most defining feature of this latest iPhone. 

Siri was widely copied as a personal voice assistant and each major smartphone platform has some sort of Siri clone. Android has Google Now, Microsoft has Cortana, BlackBerry has BlackBerry Assistant. 

Touch ID, similarly, has copied by the likes of Samsung for their own Samsung Finger Scanner. Will the same happen to 3D touch? That’s hard to say. 

3D Touch

Emulating the effect of a right-click of a mouse on a touch device isn’t anything new. You can use any Windows device right now and press on the screen long enough to see another menu and options pop up.

What 3D touch offers is numerous levels of tactile feedback and an almost organic and intuitive list of options pertaining to that particular app.

3D Touching on the Facebook icon will ‘Peek’ a menu of most used Facebook tasks (i.e. status update, post a picture or search). Pressing deeper into one of these options will ‘Pop’ that particular page and allow you to complete the task.

You don’t just see this happen with the iPhone 6S, you feel it as well, and with different tactile cues right from the 3D Touch display.

While it makes for a cool feature to demo, 3D Touch is actually the one feature that could rewrite the way we use our iPhones and in a dramatic way that changes what we can accomplish simply by tapping, pressing and press-holding on icons and menus.

3D Touch is a study in simplification by complexity. By adding new levels of control (designed to interact intimately with our sense of touch, sight and our brains) Apple has opened up new possibilities for what can be done on small multi-touch screens with one finger or thumb.

Small but powerful: The Taptic Engine powers the feedback and force behind 3D Touch on the iPhone 6

Is 3D Touch something that can be copied or stolen? Will we see a Samsung STouch feature on the next generation Galaxy somethingsomething? Its unlikely.

Even while Samsung or LG make the display components for many of Apple’s products, 3D Touch works well because it is baked right into the core of the OS on supporting devices. Apple already flipped the switch and developers will be foolish not to integrate some 3D Touch functionality into their iOS apps. Google doesn't have the predisposition to, pardon the pun, force this feature on its countless OEMs and developers.

You know what else? 3D Touch is the sort of feature that will transcend beyond iPhone and will likely have a place in the iPad space (although the cost of 3D touch panels for 7.9, 9.7 and 12.9-inch displays is probably insane at this point).

Zig while others Zag

 

Apple has really flipped the script with the iPhone 6S. 2015 was a particularly strong year for smartphone releases, many notable flagship devices and even mid-range devices are powerful, have great cameras and look great.

The iPhone isn’t the only outstanding flagship in terms of design and materials anymore, competitors aiming for the high end of the market have also employed slick designs and premium build materials.

Apple, in turn, maintains the same design as the iPhone 6, reinforces build and materials significantly and improves on the one key factor where it can really differentiate itself, the operating system and functionality. It just raised its famous ease of use another notch and significantly so.

Best of all, Apple’s job with the iPhone 6S is pretty much done. The hardware is finished and now they’ve handed all the tools to developers who should be thrilled and excited to create 3D Touch functionality in their apps. It seems that the best is yet to come.