Last week, Apple announced the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus during a media event in San Francisco. The new devices went on sale Saturday morning at 12:01 AM PDT and Apple revealed, via CNBC, it is on pace to break pre-sale records set by last year’s iPhone 6 launch. Quite an astonishing claim as Apple sold 10M units in the first weekend for the iPhone 6.
There are several features driving such interest. These features include: Live Photos, a faster A9 processor, and 3D Touch. The flagship feature, 3D Touch is being touted by Apple as the next generation of Multi-Touch technology, “an entirely new way to interact with your phone.” For the first time in mobile phone technology, 3D Touch provides users the ability to interact with iPhone on a multi-dimensional level. Peek and Pop actions mean content can be manipulated by pressing just slightly or slightly harder on the cover glass to perform different actions.
The intention behind Peak then Pop, is the ability to glance at information without needing to fully launch or switch to the actual application. For example, in an iMessage, a friend sends you the address of a coffee shop to meet her at. Without 3D Touch, you are forced to touch the address, switch applications and then load the mapping features. However, with 3D Touch, you can lightly press the address in the message to “Peak” at the contents and a map will quickly load as an overlay to the message. If you desire to then completely load the maps app, “Pop” the information by pressing more deeply.
Another distinct advantage of 3D Touch is the Quick Actions gesture, which gives direct app controls from the Home screen. Often, users open apps to action repeated tasks. For example, how often do you open the Messages app to text the same person? Alternatively, how many times do you open the Camera app to take a selfie? Now, by 3D Touching the app on the Home screen a short menu of instant options arise. From this quick overlay, the app can be launched to specifically perform that exact action.
The technology behind the process includes a new Retina HD display with 3D Touch, layered with capacitive pressure sensors. To give physical feedback, Apple is employing a Taptic Engine, similar, but much larger than the one found in Apple Watch.
Ultimately, 3D Touch provides a new way to interact with iPhone, apps and content. The new feature actually offers a new dimension to the existing multi-dimensional interface. Where once users could only interact in a 2D x-axis and y-axis action, pressing or deeply pressing the screen now provides two additional planes on which the iPhone will respond. Not only are Apple’s stock apps making a switch to 3D, developer third-party apps and games are already offering the additional capability.
Currently, iPhone 6s is available for pre-order in Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and Rose Gold with 16GB, 64GB, or 128GB of storage space. Pre-order via Apple’s online store or directly through your cellular provider. To sign up to be notified when custom ProClip USA car phone mounts are available for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, sign up here.
