The iPhone XR and all newer iPhones exchange 3D Touch for Haptic Touch. The two techniques are similar, but they are different. What are the differences? We explain.
iPhone XR Haptic Touch: What’s The Difference From 3D Touch?
The iPhone 6S (Plus) was the first Apple device with 3D Touch. By touching the pressure-sensitive screen in different ways, you got direct access to shortcuts. For example, press firmly on the Photos app and you can go directly to pictures you took a year ago.
Although 3D Touch was loved by some, not everyone used the function. That is why Apple said goodbye to the technology in 2018 with the iPhone XR, and introduced Haptic Touch, in Dutch ‘haptic feedback’. This technique became the new standard for all iPhones in 2019, making 3D Touch officially a thing of the past.
The main difference is that the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 (Pro) do not have a pressure-sensitive screen: the phone does not register how much force you exert on the display. Haptic Touch can therefore best be seen as a form of ‘long press’, or holding down the screen for a long time.
What can you do with Haptic Touch?
The iPhone XR and newer therefore notice how long you hold down the screen, but not how much pressure you exert. As soon as the registration is successful, you will receive a short vibration, and you can get started. Haptic Touch does much the same as 3D Touch, but without the pressure sensitivity. For example, you can press and hold a screen icon in the Control Panel, after which you can adjust the brightness.
The way in which you make a cursor appear on screen has also changed. On iPhones with 3D Touch, you could press the full keyboard firmly, but on iPhones with Haptic Touch, this function has shifted to the space bar. By briefly holding down the space button, you can place the cursor exactly where you want.
Haptic Touch is the future
Now that all 2019 iPhones have dropped 3D Touch, Haptic Touch is the new standard on the iPhone. Apple would have made this choice because it is cheaper to produce, 3D Touch takes up more space in the housing and it would make an in-screen fingerprint scanner impossible.
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