Apple plans new touch technology for iPhones

APPLE will add sensors to its next iPhones to detect how hard a user is pressing on the screen, allowing them to switch functions.

Apple CEO Tim Cook talks about the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus during an Apple event on Monday, March 9, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

APPLE plans to add sensors to its next iPhones to detect how hard a user is pressing on the screen, incorporating a technology used in its forthcoming MacBook and Apple Watch, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apple’s Force Touch technology can distinguish between a light tap and deep press, allowing users to control a device differently depending on how hard they push on a surface.

The touch technology is one of the changes that Apple plans for the next versions of its iPhones due for release later this year, these people said.

Apple isn’t changing the size of the displays in the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones and plans to keep the resolution similar, but it may add another colour for the aluminium casing of the iPhone, these people said. Currently, Apple offers the iPhone in three colours: silver, gold and space grey. It is testing a new pink option to the line-up, these people said.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Apple is considering the changes as it tries to follow up on the tremendous success of its iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Apple said it sold 74.5 million iPhones during its fiscal first quarter ended December 27 after introducing the two new larger-screen iPhones, fuelling the most profitable quarter of any American company ever.

The information about the coming iPhones comes from Apple’s suppliers. Apple tests different technologies and designs with suppliers that ultimately may not be included in a product for a variety of reasons. Mass production for some of the components used in the new phones is expected to start in May, they said.

The new technology could spawn new applications for the phones, such as a piano-playing app that would make different sounds when touched lightly or more heavily.

Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Kylie Huang said Force Touch would work better on larger-screen iPhones and could lead to more innovative gaming applications.

Wall Street Journal