Apple's 3D Touch displays make iPhone 6s, 6s Plus almost 11% heavier than previous models
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According to Apple, 3D Touch display technology integrated into the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus accounts for the bulk of an 11 percent increase in weight over last year's models, not the use of 7000 series aluminum as some have speculated.
The findings were uncovered in Apple's environmental reports for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which break down materials used by respective component weight. The Verge was first to spot the additional tech specifications.
As seen in the charts above, the 3D Touch display comes in at 29 grams for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 40g for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus (iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus). That's more than twice as heavy as the 12g and 19g assemblies found in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.
As a whole iPhone 6s weighs in at 143g, or 14g heavier than the 129g iPhone 6, while the 192g iPhone 6s Plus is a full 20g heavier than its predecessor. Not counting glass, which is another heavy iPhone component, 3D Touch assemblies in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus account for a respective 20 percent and 21 percent of overall handset weight. Also adding weight, and directly associated with 3D Touch, is Apple's Taptic Engine, a haptic feedback mechanism that takes up substantially more internal space than vibrators used in previous iPhones.
Apple's 3D Touch technology relies on capacitive sensors integrated into iPhone's backlight to sense input pressure, enabling specialized UI gestures that add an entirely new layer to iOS 9 interaction. Dubbed "Peek and Pop," the new control scheme lets users preview content like photos and email with a light press down on the screen. A deeper press "pops" open a full version of the corresponding app.
Prior to last week's unveiling, Apple's new handsets were widely rumored to be slightly larger and heavier, though some debate as to why. Some believed the use of stronger 7000 series aluminum would add substantial heft, while others, like noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, pointed to an implementation of Force Touch technology.
34 Comments
And this is why iPhone 7 will be, nay, [i]must be[/i] thinner and lighter. It's like the time Apple made the iPad 3 thicker and heavier to achieve the worlds first retina display tablet in 2012, and people complained that it was too heavy. The iPad Air righted that wrong two years later.
And this is why iPhone 7 will be, nay, must be thinner and lighter. It's like the time Apple made the iPad 3 thicker and heavier to achieve the worlds first retina display tablet in 2012, and people complained that it was too heavy. The iPad Air righted that wrong two years later.
People will get over the largely minimal weight difference so fast it won't be funny. A few youtube videos and articles a few weeks after it is released and no one will care after.
Sure. People can measure the difference in grams.
And this, dear naysayers, is why Apple works hard to achieve thinnest and lightness. If they start with a device that is already ridiculously this (iPhone 6), they can add to it with room to grow without sacrificing usability. Yes, the iPhone 7 will find a way to slim down more. No you won't be able to tell the difference unless you sit around holding two iPhones, one in each hand.
People will complain about the weight.. yet ask for, then upgrade to, the larger screened model.