Apple's 3D Touch displays make iPhone 6s, 6s Plus almost 11% heavier than previous models
According to Apple, 3D Touch display technology integrated into the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus accounts for the bulk of an 11 percent increase in weight over last year's models, not the use of 7000 series aluminum as some have speculated.
The findings were uncovered in Apple's environmental reports for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which break down materials used by respective component weight. The Verge was first to spot the additional tech specifications.
As seen in the charts above, the 3D Touch display comes in at 29 grams for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 40g for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus (iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus). That's more than twice as heavy as the 12g and 19g assemblies found in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.
As a whole iPhone 6s weighs in at 143g, or 14g heavier than the 129g iPhone 6, while the 192g iPhone 6s Plus is a full 20g heavier than its predecessor. Not counting glass, which is another heavy iPhone component, 3D Touch assemblies in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus account for a respective 20 percent and 21 percent of overall handset weight. Also adding weight, and directly associated with 3D Touch, is Apple's Taptic Engine, a haptic feedback mechanism that takes up substantially more internal space than vibrators used in previous iPhones.
Apple's 3D Touch technology relies on capacitive sensors integrated into iPhone's backlight to sense input pressure, enabling specialized UI gestures that add an entirely new layer to iOS 9 interaction. Dubbed "Peek and Pop," the new control scheme lets users preview content like photos and email with a light press down on the screen. A deeper press "pops" open a full version of the corresponding app.
Prior to last week's unveiling, Apple's new handsets were widely rumored to be slightly larger and heavier, though some debate as to why. Some believed the use of stronger 7000 series aluminum would add substantial heft, while others, like noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, pointed to an implementation of Force Touch technology.
The findings were uncovered in Apple's environmental reports for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which break down materials used by respective component weight. The Verge was first to spot the additional tech specifications.
As seen in the charts above, the 3D Touch display comes in at 29 grams for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 40g for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus (iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus). That's more than twice as heavy as the 12g and 19g assemblies found in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.
As a whole iPhone 6s weighs in at 143g, or 14g heavier than the 129g iPhone 6, while the 192g iPhone 6s Plus is a full 20g heavier than its predecessor. Not counting glass, which is another heavy iPhone component, 3D Touch assemblies in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus account for a respective 20 percent and 21 percent of overall handset weight. Also adding weight, and directly associated with 3D Touch, is Apple's Taptic Engine, a haptic feedback mechanism that takes up substantially more internal space than vibrators used in previous iPhones.
Apple's 3D Touch technology relies on capacitive sensors integrated into iPhone's backlight to sense input pressure, enabling specialized UI gestures that add an entirely new layer to iOS 9 interaction. Dubbed "Peek and Pop," the new control scheme lets users preview content like photos and email with a light press down on the screen. A deeper press "pops" open a full version of the corresponding app.
Prior to last week's unveiling, Apple's new handsets were widely rumored to be slightly larger and heavier, though some debate as to why. Some believed the use of stronger 7000 series aluminum would add substantial heft, while others, like noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, pointed to an implementation of Force Touch technology.
Comments
And this is why iPhone 7 will be, nay, must be thinner and lighter. It's like the time Apple made the iPad 3 thicker and heavier to achieve the worlds first retina display tablet in 2012, and people complained that it was too heavy. The iPad Air righted that wrong two years later.
People will get over the largely minimal weight difference so fast it won't be funny. A few youtube videos and articles a few weeks after it is released and no one will care after.
Since everyone clamoring about battery life claims everyone would be a happier with a much heavier iPhone I'm sure there will be ZERO negative comments about the weight, thickness or volume being slightly more than last year's model¡
I have a metal credit card, which I mostly use for restaurant purchases for the points. It's amazing how absentminded people I hand it to to run through their PoS system who immediately comment on the weight of the card even though it's probably only a couple grams different from a plastic card. They all do the same motion, where they lift it up and down to verify that it is heavier. These people aren't even looking for it, they just notice it. There seems to be something about going heavier that the brain recognizes, but going the other way doesn't.
Nice. I thought that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus felt too light in the hand.
Oh no, an extra 11%. What a disaster!
Wow what a difference the weight makes.
What a slow news day..lol
People will complain about the weight.. yet ask for, then upgrade to, the larger screened model.
As an owner of the iPhone 6 Plus, and one who purchases a new iPhone every year, I decided to switch to the 6s this time around. The 6 Plus, with or without a case, is heavy/bulky enough, and to think the new Plus will weigh even more convinced me to make the change.
Intersting. I couldn't imagine going to a smaller display.
I can just see following headline article on WSJ, MarketWatch and repeated 1 minute news flashes on CNBC -
"Apple unable to sell 15Million iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus during the first week because it is (11%) heavier than iPhone 6"
When I picked up the iPhone 5 the first time, I noticed how light weight it was compared to the iPhone 4S. The brain adjusts itself to expect an object to have a certain weight then reacts differently when it notices a change in what was expected. Let someone who noticed your metal card weight pick it up again. I think they will remember the weight of the card before the card. Then they will remember the first time they felt the weight and possibly even you.
Oh no, an extra 11%. What a disaster!
Cue the obligatory Heavy-Gate!!
So today, the analyst says that supply is constrained and is more believable than Apple saying that they will beat last year's numbers. All proven by the fact that he said the weight added is due to the display. Which is a total lie since battery and case combined is much greater than the display alone.
Anything to give credence to fiction and thereby manipulate the stock price.
Do people often remember the first time they felt you? ????
I’m waiting to see what kind of ‘-gate’ is invented and harped on for the new iPhones.
Cue the obligatory Heavy-Gate!!
Weightgate!