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When the original iPhone introduced us to the idea of Multi-Touch back in 2007, the landscape of smartphones was fundamentally altered.
Keyboards vanished and the screen took over, and has since become wider as we jump between different windows and apps that sit side-by-side on our phones.
Now Apple has spoken of making the screen “deeper” – and with the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, 3D Touch is one of the most central features, if not the most central one.
The 6s comes with a new pressure sensitive screen, and it is one of the most commanding aspects of the new iPhone; because it bleeds across almost every screen, app and function that you’ll encounter.
On the home screen, it offers shortcuts for functions within your apps – so press firmly on the Mail icon, and you get the option to create a new message, see emails from VIP contacts, search your inbox or view all inboxes. The idea being that you can quickly jump to the thing you want to do.
It’s also good that on some apps, such as Messages, the four options that appear are dynamic, so as well as the new message option, your three most recent contacts appear in the list too. And once you get into apps such as Mail, 3D Touch’s signature gestures Peek and Pop come into their own.
Press firmly on an email and a preview peek of it will appear on the screen. This enables you to glance at the gist of it, without opening it fully. You can also swipe up or to either side to quickly mark it as read, delete it, or see reply options. Press the message more firmly, and it will open fully.
While Peek is a smart feature for quickly scanning and organising your inbox, it does have its drawbacks. Most of the time your finger will cover some part of the email, but if you lift your finger the Peek disappears.
This means plenty of toying with the position of your digits on the screen, with no obvious solution to hand. However, beyond this, 3D Touch is a brilliant tool – even bringing new depth to gaming, as it offers a new layer of controls to players.
As time passes and more developers get hold of these controls, don’t be surprised to see games driven by 3D Touch appearing in the App Store.
The TV advert for the 6s states that “the only thing that’s changed is everything”, and while on a software level there is some truth to this, a glance at the hardware would suggest not much has changed.
The 6s has the same glass and aluminium casing as the 6 and 6 Plus, though Apple has changed the metal compound used for a more durable version. To the touch there is little difference, but Apple tells us this new aluminium is the one used in the aerospace industry.
The fingerprint scanning Touch ID is present too, though this has become considerably faster than previous generations. In fact it’s so fast, you might find yourself accidentally unlocking your phone even though you only pressed the home button to check the time. It really is lightning fast.
The camera too has been given a noticeable boost, jumping up to 12 megapixels from eight in the rear-view lens, and now also has the ability to capture and playback 4K video. For video playback this is great; and while 4K content is still a little thin on the ground, the level of detail you can now see in your own videos is a huge plus, and will make you thankful that you’ve taken the time to film something rather than just take a photo.
On the subject of photos, Apple’s latest image trick shot is Live Photos; the feature that turns still images into short animations when you use 3D Touch on the screen. As has been quite rightly pointed out already, this feature isn’t for every image – and luckily it can be very easily turned on and off – but get it right and the results really are great.
Once support for it rolls out to more third party apps – expect Facebook and Instagram fairly soon – it will offer a whole new form of image sharing.
The front-facing “selfie” camera has been improved too; it’s now up to five megapixels from 1.2 (a big jump), and now uses the screen to create a flash for better low-light selfies too.
Nestled in with all the 3D Touch and processor updates has been an overhaul of the Taptic engine. This is what delivers the vibrations through the phone. Where it’s changed is that it now pulses more than vibrates – it feels more Apple Watch-like actually.
Getting a text message sends a couple of pulses through the iPhone, and this feels a lot tidier. It works really well in correlation with 3D Touch too, not only neatly correlating with the pressure you apply to tell you when you’re peeking and then popping, but also nudging you with three short bursts when you attempt 3D Touch on an app icon which doesn’t have a shortcut.
“S year” devices are always difficult beasts to get overly excited about, because you’re aware that what you’re holding is regarded as an incremental device before a big upgrade the following year.
And yes, on the surface and at first glance, the iPhone 6s looks to fall into that category, because right on the surface little has changed – except that rose gold finish.
The innovation here lies underneath: in 3D Touch, the better camera and 4K compatibility. What the 6s is, is an improvement in several key areas to the iPhone 6 – and given that the 6 and 6 Plus were the best smartphones of last year, if you’re yet to upgrade from a 5 or lower, now might be the time.
