Inside the iPhone 7: Apple's Taptic Engine, explained

AppleInsider

Apple has moved the Taptic Engine to its third device -- the iPhone 7. The new technology replaces the older linear actuator, and will ultimately bring a world of force feedback sensations to the user, as developers implement the technology in their own apps.

The Taptic Engine is Apple's implementation of haptic user interface feedback. Using a linear actuator, devices like the iPhone 7 can reproduce the sensation of motion or generate new and distinct tactile experiences. In some cases, audio feedback from onboard speakers completes the illusion.

Apple applies its Taptic Engine to mimic a home button press, relay system notifications, and reinforce audio alerts. The technology doesn't feel bolted on -- feedback from the system feels natural, and in sync with what is being presented on screen.

Apps are only now appearing on the app store with Taptic Engine support, and the few that AppleInsider has tried aren't well executed -- yet.

The iPhone isn't the first place the technology has been used. The Apple Watch uses it for user feedback after a user has scrolled past the limit of a field, to mimic a rubber band snapping back. Famously, the feature is also used to send a heartbeat to another Apple Watch user.

True force feedback, not a simple vibration

The iPhone has previously used the linear actuator for vibrations -- this has shifted over to the Taptic Engine in the iPhone 7. Even through a case, the Taptic Engine feedback is strong enough to be noticed more distinctly than the older technology.

Alongside iOS 10, users can create a new vibration for use in both older devices' linear actuator, and on the new Taptic Engine. Playing the exact same custom vibration back on the newer iPhone 7 family versus the iPhone 6s Plus gives a "crisper" sensation, and a more powerful one.

Expanding wider use of the technology, Apple has opened up the feedback with the new Taptic API. Previously an Apple-only feature, making the API available to developers will allow for better force feedback implementation OS-wide, and give developers a way to utilize the feature in other ways, such as haptic responses to actions in a game.

Not just a "rumble pack"

If you've got an iPhone 7, any use of pinch-to-zoom invokes a tap as users hit the upper and lower ends of the limits of the feature. Hitting a toggle switch in the control panel will shake the phone with the Taptic Engine a bit as well.

While the older linear actuator was best in class for cellphone vibrations, the Taptic Engine is much more precise, and gives better feedback with associated actions. The best example of Taptic Engine feedback is associated with the date and time wheels in the settings app.

If you change the date or time on your iPhone 7, an audio click is accompanied with a slight tap, simulating the spin of a mechanical wheel. The effect is subtle, yet noticeable, with a discrete build-up, click, and wind-down as each number scrolls past.

The best is yet to come

Apple's implementation of the Taptic Engine is excellent, and blows away what the third party developers have implemented. However, Apple developers have an enormous head start on the feature.

Apple didn't break the seal on the API until iOS 10 shipped, giving developers no lead time to get set up for the feature. As a result, apps supporting the feature are still few and far between.

"[A new Taptic API in the beta releases] would have revealed a new feature," developer Rosyna Keller told AppleInsider. "Apple hates that, they tend to scrub it from public seeds until the next major public seed."

Apps are only now appearing on the app store with Taptic Engine support, and the few that AppleInsider has tried aren't well executed -- yet. As developers become more familiar with the technology, third-party implementation will grow, and be more refined.

rishioinsider

I don't think I like the taptic engine on the iPhone and iWatch. It takes up so much space. I wonder how much space it takes compared to the old fashion "rumble pack." Especially on the Apple Watch, it seem like a lot of battery space is sacrificed for the Taptic. It's huge.

DesignNev

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

Deelron

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

False dichotomy is unsurprisingly false, the iPhone 7 has OiS, a larger battery, a non-moving home button (decreasing a point of failure) and if I recall a larger earpiece speaker (no claims this is an exhaustive list), all which require more space. Everything is a series of trade offs, not merely "a Taptic Engine for a headphone jack."

The horse is dead, and it's not coming back. 

sflocal

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

Mr. drive-by 1-post man suddenly knows Apple's plans... *rolls eyes*

coolfactor

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

Don't worry, Samsung's next device will have TWO headphone jacks, just for you. May you enjoy that!

nolamacguy

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

the hell you say. apples own VP of engineering already said very clearly -- better cameras and image processor, bigger battery, water seals. 

i prefer this comprise to an old port i don't need. now stop complaining. 

DesignNev

Deelron said:

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

the iPhone 7 has OiS, a large battery, a non-moving home button (decreasing a point of failure) and if I recall a larger earpiece speaker (no claims this is an exhaustive list), all which require more space.

Disassembling both, I would like to disagree. Firstly let us just look at iPhone 7 (non plus variant) and compare to the last phone not to have 3D touch and the Haptic Engine, the iPhone 6:
1.OIS only takes up more thickness, not width. (its probably smaller in width due to improved fixings and cabling)
2.The home button there isn't much in it.
3. Speakers, again don't think there is much in it, but the earpiece is maybe a few mm bigger. I will give you that.
4. Battery - 1960mAh vs 1810. That's 8% increase. Just a reminder that with only additionally including TouchID as a major hardware change Apple increased the iPhone 5 to 5S also by 8% through incremental improvements.
Go take a look for yourself on courtesy of iFixit iPhone 7: https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/pOGETDcZmyClraJF iPhone 6: https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/MSuCTMh4VHQMLOO2

When Apple added both 3D touch (3D-T) and Haptic Engine (HE) to the iPhone 6s it had to compromise on battery. Now they compromise on the 3.5mm jack to have the battery capacity again. So in my opinion, we have traded 3.5mm jack for 3D-T and HE as everything else has pretty much stayed the same with evolutionary improvements. These choices were made by Apple for a few good reason as Tim Cooke likes to always state about Apple technology:

1. It is a technology they own and is difficult to copy
2. Apple feels this is what makes the experience better. Better design if you will.

I would agree that TouchID covered these 2 bases but I am not sure about 3D-T and HE. What I would like to know is if this is the right compromise? Apple thinks so.

If we have to remove this "old port" @nolamacguy doen't need, can I have 10% larger battery which by my rough calculations you would get by removing these 2 bits of tech?

lepton

This taptic thing - doesn't it border on the dreaded _skeuomorphism_? Actually, I like it, and I liked a lot of the skeuomorphism, I think it helps make the device more intuitive, just don't go overboard. As for the headphone jack, Apple says not only was it to make room for the taptic engine and some sound routing, but it also allowed the better camera. For the bigger camera, the cable coming off the top of the display needed to move, so they turned the display unit upside down so its cabling came out at the bottom of the phone, where the jack was, instead of the top.

flaneur

TDesignNev said:

Deelron said:

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

the iPhone 7 has OiS, a large battery, a non-moving home button (decreasing a point of failure) and if I recall a larger earpiece speaker (no claims this is an exhaustive list), all which require more space.

Disassembling both, I would like to disagree. Firstly let us just look at iPhone 7 (non plus variant) and compare to the last phone not to have 3D touch and the Haptic Engine, the iPhone 6:
1.OIS only takes up more thickness, not width. (its probably smaller in width due to improved fixings and cabling)
2.The home button there isn't much in it.
3. Speakers, again don't think there is much in it, but the earpiece is maybe a few mm bigger. I will give you that.
4. Battery - 1960mAh vs 1810. That's 8% increase. Just a reminder that with only additionally including TouchID as a major hardware change Apple increased the iPhone 5 to 5S also by 8% through incremental improvements.
Go take a look for yourself on courtesy of iFixit iPhone 7: https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/pOGETDcZmyClraJF iPhone 6: https://d3nevzfk7ii3be.cloudfront.net/igi/MSuCTMh4VHQMLOO2

When Apple added both 3D touch (3D-T) and Haptic Engine (HE) to the iPhone 6s it had to compromise on battery. Now they compromise on the 3.5mm jack to have the battery capacity again. So in my opinion, we have traded 3.5mm jack for 3D-T and HE as everything else has pretty much stayed the same with evolutionary improvements. These choices were made by Apple for a few good reason as Tim Cooke likes to always state about Apple technology:

1. It is a technology they own and is difficult to copy
2. Apple feels this is what makes the experience better. Better design if you will.

I would agree that TouchID covered these 2 bases but I am not sure about 3D-T and HE. What I would like to know is if this is the right compromise? Apple thinks so.

If we have to remove this "old port" @nolamacguy doen't need, can I have 10% larger battery which by my rough calculations you would get by removing these 2 bits of tech?

Removal of the jack was not a compromise. You're ignoring that Apple is committed to interfaces for 
that which can be better transmitted wirelessly.:video, audio, controls over systems in and out of the device, etc. Twas ever thus with them going all the way back.

The jack disappeared now because the W1 chip and the phased-array mics inside the AirPods are now ready. The headphone jack is obscenely obsolete to any designer or engineer focused on miniaturization. And getting rid of the wires is like going from telegraph to radio.

Deelron

DesignNev said:

If we have to remove this "old port" @nolamacguy doen't need, can I have 10% larger battery which by my rough calculations you would get by removing these 2 bits of tech?

While in a vacuum more better life always equals better, in reality for most people 10% more battery life on current phones would mean nothing. If you're the type of person who gets through the day on a single charge, you still get through the day. If you're the type who is a heavier user and has to charge their phone by 2pm, you make it all the way to 2:30 and have to charge it anyway (and if you're the type that needs to charge by 10am, good luck ). The choice isn't just features vs battery life, it's features vs. battery life that would primarily impact the people who don't quite make it through the day on a charge. 

On a personal level I'd rather have 3D touch and the improved Taptic Engine and just buy a battery case if I was in that edge case.

nolamacguy

DesignNev said:

Deelron said:

DesignNev said:

Basically they put this inside the iPhone over a 3.5mm Jack. Not the compromise I think most consumers would like to make.

the iPhone 7 has OiS, a large battery, a non-moving home button (decreasing a point of failure) and if I recall a larger earpiece speaker (no claims this is an exhaustive list), all which require more space.

If we have to remove this "old port" @nolamacguy doen't need, can I have 10% larger battery which by my rough calculations you would get by removing these 2 bits of tech?

ok so you're an EE now? what mobile devices do you build? what are you credentials such that we can weigh your words as anything other than some random dude on a rumors site with random "rough calculations"?

and you're really saying Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, is a liar?

“It was holding us back from a number of things we wanted to put into the iPhone,” Riccio says. “It was fighting for space with camera technologies and processors and battery life. And frankly, when there’s a better, modern solution available, it’s crazy to keep it around.”

"Even better, removing the audio jack also eliminated a key point of ingress that Riccio says helped the new iPhone finally meet the IP67 water resistance spec Apple has been after for years"

https://www.buzzfeed.com/johnpaczkowski/inside-iphone-7-why-apple-killed-the-headphone-jack?utm_term=.siM2637wj#.glXqB8evz ;

....so yeah, cool story bro.

DesignNev

@flaneur Funny you should talk about "going from telegraph to radio". Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell patented the telephone at the same time and that's interesting as bluetooth headsets haven't just been invented. In fact, Apple have covered this already:

Jobs introduced us to "incredibly small" bluetooth headset that "pairs automatically" and "automatically goes to sleep". "It's really simple"

2007 Apple Bluetooth headset:
5.5 hours of talk time

2016 Apple Airpods:
2 hours of talk time and 5 hours of audio playback

I would agree it doesn't have the fancy bluetooth specs and noise cancelling of today but competitors at the time, like Jawbone, did have noise cancelling. And the Apple bluetooth headset was a failure. Is the W1 chip really 9 years worth of technology development? This tech is not in its infancy and is going to dramatically improve next year or the year after. The worst part about all this, the Airpods are getting slated by most tech critics and Apple are notorious for not updating accessories. As @Deelron says, "The horse is dead, and it's not coming back" and that worries me as it might be 3-5 years before we see W2 and an updated Airpods that don't suck.

How about Apple launch a fancy World changing bluetooth headset. Then down the road when everyone loves it, remove the jack. The Mac App Store was launched in Jan 2011 then in mid-2012 Apple removed the optical drive from their most popular laptop, the Macbook Pro then the iMac in late 2012.

Steve Jobs was great at understanding people and the compromises to make on their behalf before then even knew it. There are similarities between "Courage" and "Foolishness" but the differences matter.

flaneur

DesignNev said:

@flaneur Funny you should talk about "going from telegraph to radio". Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell patented the telephone at the same time and that's interesting as bluetooth headsets haven't just been invented. In fact, Apple have covered this already:

Jobs introduced us to "incredibly small" bluetooth headset that "pairs automatically" and "automatically goes to sleep". "It's really simple"

2007 Apple Bluetooth headset:
5.5 hours of talk time

2016 Apple Airpods:
2 hours of talk time and 5 hours of audio playback

I would agree it doesn't have the fancy bluetooth specs and noise cancelling of today but competitors at the time, like Jawbone, did have noise cancelling. And the Apple bluetooth headset was a failure. Is the W1 chip really 9 years worth of technology development? This tech is not in its infancy and is going to dramatically improve next year or the year after. The worst part about all this, the Airpods are getting slated by most tech critics and Apple are notorious for not updating accessories. As @Deelron says, "The horse is dead, and it's not coming back" and that worries me as it might be 3-5 years before we see W2 and an updated Airpods that don't suck.

How about Apple launch a fancy World changing bluetooth headset. Then down the road when everyone loves it, remove the jack. The Mac App Store was launched in Jan 2011 then in mid-2012 Apple removed the optical drive from their most popular laptop, the Macbook Pro then the iMac in late 2012.

Steve Jobs was great at understanding people and the compromises to make on their behalf before then even knew it. There are similarities between "Courage" and "Foolishness" but the differences matter.

Well, those Bluetooth headsets were too unwieldy to force on people, weren't they. I haven't tried the AirPods yet, so I'll take the critics' "slating" — what is that anyway? — under advisement. Apple seems to think they're ready for the real world, so I'm looking forward trying them, hoping to free myself from the wires, which I curse several times a day.

tycho24

I am enjoying the Taptic on my iPhone 7 more & more each day!
I'm noticing "unadvertised" places it's used.
I know the most common example everyone is using is spinning the virtual dial in the alarm clock feels real... well let me give you another one:
I recently received a text message with the iOS 10 fireworks effect & could "feel" each explosion!!! VERY cool...

nolamacguy

DesignNev said:

@flaneur Funny you should talk about "going from telegraph to radio". Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell patented the telephone at the same time and that's interesting as bluetooth headsets haven't just been invented. In fact, Apple have covered this already:

Jobs introduced us to "incredibly small" bluetooth headset that "pairs automatically" and "automatically goes to sleep". "It's really simple"

2007 Apple Bluetooth headset:
5.5 hours of talk time

2016 Apple Airpods:
2 hours of talk time and 5 hours of audio playback

I would agree it doesn't have the fancy bluetooth specs and noise cancelling of today but competitors at the time, like Jawbone, did have noise cancelling. And the Apple bluetooth headset was a failure. Is the W1 chip really 9 years worth of technology development? This tech is not in its infancy and is going to dramatically improve next year or the year after. The worst part about all this, the Airpods are getting slated by most tech critics and Apple are notorious for not updating accessories. As @Deelron says, "The horse is dead, and it's not coming back" and that worries me as it might be 3-5 years before we see W2 and an updated Airpods that don't suck.

How about Apple launch a fancy World changing bluetooth headset. Then down the road when everyone loves it, remove the jack. The Mac App Store was launched in Jan 2011 then in mid-2012 Apple removed the optical drive from their most popular laptop, the Macbook Pro then the iMac in late 2012.

Steve Jobs was great at understanding people and the compromises to make on their behalf before then even knew it. There are similarities between "Courage" and "Foolishness" but the differences matter.

how about you stop living in the denial dream world of an alternate reality? apple is better at this than you are, and they decided now was the time. there is absolutely no gain for you to ask us why they didn't do it the way you wish they would. that's not our shared reality. accept it and move on. 

as as for the AP battery life vs their old one, it goes without saying but these do a lot more. they have more sensors and more capabilities, which, surprise, uses more electricity. 

DesignNev

nolamacguy said:

how about you stop living in the denial dream world of an alternate reality? apple is better at this than you are, and they decided now was the time. there is absolutely no gain for you to ask us why they didn't do it the way you wish they would. that's not our shared reality. accept it and move on. 

as as for the AP battery life vs their old one, it goes without saying but these do a lot more. they have more sensors and more capabilities, which, surprise, uses more electricity. 

Ok calm down. Basic credentials are that I am an industrial designer preliminary in products/tech/electronics but have also done some 'top tier' automotive design. The kind of place where I been involved/advising directors of major car firm. Producing alternatives but highly analytical view points is what gets you noticed, it's what gets peoples minds thinking. It's a habit, sorry. Please take my words with a pitch of salt, as anyone should. I'm not saying anything I say should be written in stone or than Tim Cook should follow what I am saying. I've read this blog for probably a decade and decided I would write my thoughts. Maybe stir the pot and further my knowledge. And I appreciate the feedback.

I did learn a few things by doing some research. First, the camera isn't as "big" as you might expect with OIS and F1.8. Apple have done some great engineering to keep it in the same package. Obviously they have 2 camera in the 7 plus but they also have more space to play around with. Secondly taptic engine is massive but also a lot of people on here clearly value it more than I thought.

Is Dan Riccio a lier? I'm not really fussed if he is or isn't. I think his statements are cleverly worded but I think the truth is a little bent. IP67 standards have been achieved by other mobile phone manufactures for a while now with headphone jacks. There is validation to say that Apple chose not to spend their engineering time water-proofing the 3.5mm socket if they thought it might be on the way out. The time constrain would be that they wanted IP67 on the iPhone 7 and couldn't wait until the market had already heavily adopted wireless audio. This would particularly be the case with Apple being very ruthless with engineering and cannot afford failures with their tech, so it would be a large investment to do IP67 than jusrt grab an off the shelf part. People are much less forgiving when an Apple product fails than any other manufacture. The nature of having a reputation of such high standards in quality. Apple are known to chose things on their ascendancy and they have much more data than I do, I hope they are right but they aren't perfect. Sometimes course correction is needed. I am pretty sure they will never go back though. Only try and develop wireless tech better. They did change their direction with the Shuffle though. https://gigaom.com/2010/09/01/apple-updates-ipod-shuffle-brings-buttons-back/

With regards to battery size increase, I say roughly 10% because it is only a quick calculation. None of this is copy/paste from another source, I have measures the taptic engine, battery and headphone jack of both iPhone iPhone 6 & 7 and worked out what the extra space would give in battery capacity. I have also been working on Haptic feedback (which is the actual field of what Apple's taptic Engine fits under) for about 6-7 years now so I very much see its merits so it is great to see a big player bring it to the masses. 

nolamacguy

this shouldn't need to be stated but, it doesn't matter if "other phones" have water seals -- they aren't operating within the design and confines of this device, the iphone. obviously there will be a great many differences -- such as the haptic engine, shell, etc. the constraints of one brand aren't thusly the same for every other design. 

again, why on earth would i doubt the senior apple hardware guy who actually is an engineer and actually works on this product?

i guess i'm struggling to understand your point...you think there should be a 10% bigger bettery from the space saved. but instead we got better cameras, a better image processor, water seals, and a somewhat larger battery. and that's prompting you to complain and/or suggest people instead want just a larger battery?

foggyhill

nolamacguy said:

this shouldn't need to be stated but, it doesn't matter if "other phones" have water seals -- they aren't operating within the design and confines of this device, the iphone. obviously there will be a great many differences -- such as the haptic engine, shell, etc. the constraints of one brand aren't thusly the same for every other design. 

again, why on earth would i doubt the senior apple hardware guy who actually is an engineer and actually works on this product?

i guess i'm struggling to understand your point...you think there should be a 10% bigger bettery from the space saved. but instead we got better cameras, a better image processor, water seals, and a somewhat larger battery. and that's prompting you to complain and/or suggest people instead want just a larger battery?

Another thing is the taptic engine is a key differention point of Apple vs the competition (nobody really has it and they are doubling down on it).
These are the kind of things that are VERY important to a brand's survival.
Apple has right now, AL7000 (only one) + Best Performance, Best Overall Camera, Best overall SCreen + Taptic as their key differention points.
Seems it even beat the S7 at water ingress (despite having a ratings that's in theory lower)

It's pretty obvious the  button itself will disapeer soon, probably, so they're current design is moving to that too.

Wouldn't be surprised if they use the Speaker trick of the Watch on the Iphone and made it dive to 50m proof next year.

Other phones have water seals, but they're already all worse than the Iphone... Even though it's Apple's first stab at it... As usual.

tallest skil

foggyhill said:
Other phones have water seals, but they're already all worse than the Iphone... Even though it's Apple's first stab at it... As usual.

Some Galaxy and Sony phones had IP67 back in ’13. But is it an official standard by a third party body or is it at each company’s discretion to test? Like contrast ratios on televisions…

DesignNev

nolamacguy said:

this shouldn't need to be stated but, it doesn't matter if "other phones" have water seals -- they aren't operating within the design and confines of this device, the iphone. obviously there will be a great many differences -- such as the haptic engine, shell, etc. the constraints of one brand aren't thusly the same for every other design. 

again, why on earth would i doubt the senior apple hardware guy who actually is an engineer and actually works on this product?

i guess i'm struggling to understand your point...you think there should be a 10% bigger bettery from the space saved. but instead we got better cameras, a better image processor, water seals, and a somewhat larger battery. and that's prompting you to complain and/or suggest people instead want just a larger battery?

Just as you should with me, you should take what the Senior Apple hardware guy has to say with a grain of salt. Water-proofing a headphone jack CAN be done. There is no question about it so already he is bending the truth or perhaps not being clear with his statements.  

With regards to what I am stating is that "we got better cameras, a better image processor, water seals" not by removing the headphone jack but just through refined engineering. This is pretty obvious. The "somewhat larger battery" is due to the headphone jack being removed but it was made smaller in the iPhone 6s from the iPhone 6 due to Taptic and 3D touch.  Some users don't even notice Taptic and 3D touch from their previous iPhones and don't even know it exists. They do notice battery life or headphone port being missing. 

News flash: iPhone 7 removes lightning port. Sync via iCloud and use wireless charging. Greg Joswiak Apple VP says "we needed the space for the better camera/battery/slimmer design/IP69 rating".