With the iPhone 6s expected to release later this year, some interesting news has come to light about the inclusion of Force Touch in the series. While it has been expected that this technology would be included in the iPhone range this year for some time, it seems that the debut of Force Touch in Apple’s flagship smartphone maybe a little different from how many analysts and observers expected.
Force Touch across the board in iPhone 6S
The latest reports indicate that Force Touch may not be exclusive to the phablet-sized iPhone 6s. It was previously expected that Apple would include this new functionality, which was introduced in the Apple Watch, in just the larger version of its next handset release. But whispers from close to the Apple supply chain suggest that the corporation may, in fact, include Force Touch technology in both of the iPhone 6s handsets when they release later this year.
This would seem to be a very natural move for Apple, as Force Touch technology was initially introduced in the Apple Watch; obviously a smaller form of technology. There would seem to be no objective reason why it couldn’t be included in the iPhone 6s smartphone edition, and certainly these latest leaks suggest that Apple will indeed make this natural move.
The report in question has emerged from Taiwan, with sources close to Apple’s supply chain suggesting that Force Touch will no longer be a feature that differentiates the phablet-sized iPhone 6s plus from the smaller iPhone 6s. Possibly the reason for this decision is that Apple is eyeing similar TouchWiz functionality included in the Samsung Galaxy range, and has concluded that it cannot be left behind by its Korean arrival.
Force Touch promises new features
Force Touch has proved to be particularly useful in the Apple Watch, enabling users to access different functions and commands depending on the strength with which users press the display. As useful as it has turned out to be in the first smartwatch release of Apple, it could be even more valuable in the iPhone range. Naturally, the iPhone has considerably more functionality than the Apple Watch, and therefore the technology has even more potential in the Apple smartphone.
With Apple having already included Force Touch in both its new 12-inch Retina MacBook along with the refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, it is clear that it is becoming something of a trademark of the Apple product range. So in several ways this seems to be an entirely logical decision by Apple, and it is sure to be one that will be greatly welcomed by large numbers of iPhone purchasers.
It would seem to be a particularly odd decision to admit Force Touch technology from the iPhone 6s, particularly as it is predicted that Apple will sell around two-thirds of its total iPhone 6s units in the smartphone-sized model. Essentially ensuring that tens of millions of iPhone 6s units are inferior to the less popular phablet-sized version of the iPhone range would not seem to be a sensible decision.
Release date
There is still some public debate regarding when precisely the next iPhone smartphone will release, and for that matter what it will be called when it does hit the stores. These latest rumors suggest that we will see an updated version of the iPhone 6 released later this year, and that this will be dubbed iPhone 6s by the corporation. Should this be the case then the iPhone 7 will be delayed until 2016, and when it is released it will be a revolutionary version of the flagship Apple handset.
Aside from the naming of the device, it has been suggested by some analysts that Apple may release the iPhone 6s slightly earlier than last year’s iPhone 6. There is a variety of reasons for this particular prediction, not least the behaviour of Apple’s major rival Samsung. But even for those who are sceptical about this motivation considering that Apple is currently significantly ahead of Samsung in the mobile battleground, there are also other logical reasons for this decision.
If Apple is intending to release a revolutionary iPhone 7 during 2016, it is possible that we could see this significantly earlier than the previous iPhone releases. It has been suggested by some Apple observers that the iPhone 7 could be in the shops as early as April next year. The apparent reason for this is that the consumer electronics giant is keen for a device in which it will be investing a significant amount of capital, research and technology to reach as big an audience as possible, as quickly as possible.
It would then obviously make sense Apple to release the iPhone 6s at an earlier date in order to make it worthwhile for early purchasers to pick one up, and also to provide a maximum window for Apple to work on the iPhone 7 release. It is certainly something that the corporation will need to handle sensitively, as if it genuinely does intend to release an iPhone 7 little more than six months after the iPhone 6s, it would be quite easy for those who purchased the earlier device to feel that they had been misled.
Conundrum
At the time in which Apple is in a position of incredible strength, it would obviously much rather avoid such controversy, so it is therefore possible that the corporation will delay the iPhone 7 until October 2016. This would obviously give the engineers at the company longer to work on the design, while the supply chain would also benefit from this release date. Should this be the case then we will almost certainly see the iPhone 6s release in October of this year.
For the time being, there is a great deal up in the air with regard to the iPhone series, with Apple also needing to consider what specifications it will include in this year’s release, ahead of a reboot of the series in 2016. But what we do know is that Force Touch will almost certainly be across-the-board when the iPhone 6s is released.
