Roger Fingas
Apple touch panel suppliers are reportedly ramping up shipments of Force Touch modules in preparation for the launch of a next-generation iPhone, according to a new rumor.
Companies first began shipping the new Force Touch modules in June, and scaled up production in July, supply chain sources told DigiTimes. As many as 36 to 40 million next-gen iPhones could be built during the September quarter, followed by 50 million in the December quarter, the sources added.
One supplier, TPK, allegedly announced in recent times that it would be entering mass production of Force Touch parts in July, but without specifying the customer. Only Apple makes products branded with the Force Touch name, however.
It should be noted that DigiTimes and its supply chain sources have an unreliable track record in predicting Apple's future product plans. However, Apple is widely expected to feature Force Touch in this year's iPhone upgrade, and AppleInsider's own sources affirmed as much in February of this year.
Reports have pointed toward Apple shipping two new iPhones in the fall, commonly referred to as the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. While the devices should be similar in design to current iPhoens, they're expected to get not just Force Touch but faster A9 processors, 2 gigabytes of RAM, and 12-megapixel rear cameras paired with 5-megapixel front units.
They may also get sturdier 7000-series aluminum and a rose gold color option. Those traits, like Force Touch, would be carry-overs from the Apple Watch lineup.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
19 Comments
How about haptic feedback?
EDIT: Oh huddler...
I'll bet digital touch comes to iPhone. And I wonder too if Apple releases a pen that goes with an iPad Pro will it also work with iPhone so the 6 Plus is similar to Galaxy Note only better?
Why is needed for Force Touch? I'm having a hard time imagining that the beveled, sapphire on the Watch will deform at all when touched a little more firmly by a phalange, or, if it does literally press down, there is a force-sensitive layer that can register such a minute change. I'd think it's more likely done mostly with an algorithm that uses the multipoint touch to gauge how the press "footprint" changes in order to guess when a press is completed. In terms of HW, that may still be necessary for my above algorithm hypothesis if a more sensitive touch matrix or additional points to be registered are needed. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? [quote name="Suddenly Newton" url="/t/187440/suppliers-ramping-up-force-touch-module-shipments-for-next-gen-iphone-rumor-claims/0_10#post_2755008"]How about haptic feedback?[/quote] My guess is the display is too large for that to be a reality. Is it reasonable to eventually expect some sort of flat layer under the display that can be made to vibrate when two axes are stimulated, which could then mean a line segment on each axis thus resulting in a wider and longer vibration. [quote name="Rogifan" url="/t/187440/suppliers-ramping-up-force-touch-module-shipments-for-iphone-6s-rumor-claims/0_10#post_2755025"]And I wonder too if Apple releases a pen that goes with an iPad Pro will it also work with iPhone so the 6 Plus is similar to Galaxy Note only better?[/quote] I sure hope so, and I have to imagine Apple has tested digitizers, and created frameworks and APIs starting many years ago, but the cost for the digitizer has been too great for a HW component that will have to go in all devices and yet be used by all. PS: When (not if) they do include a digitizer (and a pen or digi-pen template) the asshats will come out of the woodwork miaattributing quotes from Jobs and claiming that yada yada did it first even though Apple will be he first to do it right. I would guess they will likely get a few 3rd-parties to secretly update certain apps to take advantage of this new feature, and possibly have them demo it on stage. That's markedly different than an OEM including the HW, or Google creating a few APIs and then assuming that everything else will just fall into place.
Will Ai stop with the 'ramping up' phase.
You use it EVERY year to try and add drama to a headline.