3D Touch Probably Abandoned in 2019 iPhones While Haptic Touch Widened Through iPhones and iPads

Earlier this month, it was reported that 3D Touch would not be supported by the 2019 iPhones. This rumor was revealed by a team of Barclays analysts after their trip to Asia and their interview with several Apple suppliers, which probably means that 3D Touch has been eliminated at the hardware level.

Now, on the software side, there are changes that suggest that the rumor is accurate. It really looks like pressure sensitive 3D Touch it's going away.

Apple has confirmed that the "Quick Actions" menus that floated above the application icons on the home screen and the "Peek" previews of emails, links, messages, etc., are now supported on any iPhone or iPad compatible with iOS 13 or iPadOS. These features were previously reserved for iPhone with 3D Touch.

Apple's feature list for iOS 13 and iPadOS

Both functions rely on a long pressure, ie a constant pressure, which means that it is actually an extension of the Haptic Touch feature that has debuted on the iPhone XR last year. Haptic Touch is simply a marketing term for a long press, combined with a haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine.

This means that the Quick Actions menus and Peek previews are now supported on the iPhone XR and the iPad Air 2 or newer for the first time.

Quick actions on a iPad and iPhone XR for the first time

The ability to call quick action menus and peek previews with a long press on iOS 13 is even supported on iPhones with 3D Touch, including the iPhone XS models, probably announcing the removal of 3D Touch from 2019 iPhones.

3D Touch can still be used in iOS 13 on iPhones that support this feature, which makes it possible to call the Quick Actions Menus in two ways. This includes the iPhone 6s through iPhone XS Max, excluding the SE iPhone. However, some users can not access 3D Touch settings in the first iOS 13 beta, which is probably a bug.

The transition of 3D Touch Previews of Haptic Touch for Peek were suggested a few weeks ago. As noted by the developer Radek PietruszewskiOpen source WebKit validations revealed that the APIs of the feature, formerly Peek and Pop, would be obsolete in a future iOS version.

Overall, it is quite possible that 2019 iPhones will feature Haptic Touch instead of 3D Touch when they will be released later this year.

(Screenshots: RayFirefist, BitVoiceFM)