AppleInsider Staff
For the second time in as many days, a report from Asia claims that Apple plans to bring the "Force Touch" technology from the Apple Watch to the next-generation iPhone and double the forthcoming handset's built-in RAM to 2 gigabytes.
In addition to the extra gigabyte of RAM, Apple will likely move to new LPDDR4 chips, according to TechNews Taiwan. LPDDR4 is rated for twice the bandwidth of LPDDR3 — Â found in the iPhone 6 series — Â while keeping power consumption the same.
Samsung, Hynix, and Micron-Elpida are expected to split the RAM orders for the so-called "iPhone 6S."
Apple calls Force Touch its "most significant new sensing capability since Multi‑Touch," lending some amount of credence to the idea that it could expand beyond the Apple Watch. Such a move would also require a corresponding switch to a flexible display material, however — Â electrodes surrounding the Apple Watch's OLED display detect the level of deformation caused by the user's press, a measurement not possible with rigid displays.
It also remains unclear exactly how Apple would make use of Force Touch if it does makes its way to the iPhone. A report from earlier this week suggested that Apple may employ it to enable more accurate sensing of users' pulse and blood pressure, though that seems unlikely.
Wesley Hilliard
Charles Martin
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
47 Comments
It was kind of stingy of Apple not to add 2GB RAM to iPhone 6. If Apple's goal is to make the best products in the world the 6 should have gotten 2GB RAM.
'Yes, but Apple needed a way to get as many people as possible to want to upgrade to the 6s'.
If that is the case what's Apple's goal then?
On the feature of Force Touch I don't get why a smartphone would need that feature. A smartwatch or a tablet would have reasons, but a phone, not so much.
[quote name="Ireland" url="/t/184334/apples-iphone-6s-again-rumored-to-feature-force-touch-2gb-ram#post_2661659"]It was kind of stingy of Apple not to add 2GB RAM to iPhone 6. If Apple's goal is to make the best products in the world the 6 should have gotten 2GB RAM. 'Yes, but Apple needed a way to get as many people as possibly to want to upgrade to the 6s'. If that is the case what's Apple's goal then? On the feature of Force Touch I don't get why a smartphone would need that feature. A smartwatch or a table would have reasons for this, but a phone? Not so much. [/quote] It is my understanding RAM (as opposed to storage) is more about what is optimal for the OS and hardware. Apple controlling everything can get that exactly right whereas a company cobbling together bits from here and there can't. I am sure the tech gurus on AI will correct me here if this is incorrect but I suspect Apple use the exact amount of RAM in iDevices to maximize everything ... be that heat, performance or batter life. I await the experts' thoughts on this.
It was kind of stingy of Apple not to add 2GB RAM to iPhone 6. If Apple's goal is to make the best products in the world the 6 should have gotten 2GB RAM.
There isn't enough DRAM in the world for that right now. Apple's probably hoping that enough plants are brought online to meet the demand for the 6S.
The endless number of times my iPad Air's Safari gives "an error occured, this page will be reloaded" and the visible impact you
get from keeping the number of page tabs as low as possible, gives me all reasons to believe with iOS8 1GB and a retina HD screen memory is very very tight.
Given the already high margin they have on e.g. an iPad, makes me again and again wonder why they couldn't miss the 3-5 USD for 1 GB RAM.
I'm already looking forward (not !!) when the more bloated (I'm very sure) iOS9 comes...
How would you know? Have you ever used a "force touch" display before? I haven't. Before the iPhone and iPad, most people had never even used a multi-touch display before.
I think that certain apps and games could certainly make use of such a feature. Pressing a button or box in an app could make it act differently, depending on if somebody presses it, or if they merely tap it.