KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s upcoming 2018 6.1-inch iPhone model may not feature 3D Touch among its features. The analyst says Apple could do away with the feature to keep costs down.
Kuo says that the 6.1-inch iPhone will use what he calls “Cover Glass Sensor” (CGS) technology, relocating the iPhone’s touch module from the display panel (in-cell technology) to the surface glass. The CGS method reportedly results in a display that’s lighter and more shock resistant.
Apple will reportedly add a thin-film sensor to the touch film sensor included in the Cover Glass Sensor. However, the purpose of the new layer is unknown. The addition of the new sensor will add 15% to the cost of the touch panel, raising the price of the component from $23 to $26.
Kuo believes Apple will remove the 3D Touch functionality from the 6.1-inch handset, to help offset the added expense. However, 3D Touch is an entrenched feature of the iPhone and its accompanying operating system, so we feel that removing the feature would be an ill-advised move. (The new thin-film sensor referred to by Kuo could be a replacement for the current 3D Touch technology. We’ll have to wait and see.)
The other two iPhones that are expected to debut this year – the 5.8-inch iPhone X replacement and the 6.5-inch OLED “iPhone X Plus” – will both continue to offer 3D Touch in their feature sets. However, as Apple is said to be planning to use the new CGS technology in future iPhones, 3D Touch could be on its way out. Again, this is all simply conjecture, so we’ll simply have to wait and see.
