Apple patent app hints at future iPhone Force Touch display

Apple has a new patent application that hints at the OS X Quick Look feature coming to iOS via a new so-called “Intense” touch gesture that’ll be facilitated with new display intensity sensors — basically meaning Force Touch being integrated into the iPhone’s own display. We’ve already seen Force Touch on Apple’s new MacBook, and there’s also rumor that it’ll be coming to a future iPad model. If this is the future of iOS devices, it means they’ll be able to sense the force of your touch.

With Force Touch, the new MacBook’s trackpad is able to discern the level of force the user uses to tap, allowing different levels of force to serve as different gestures. For example, a soft tap will be discerned as a different gesture than a stronger tap. The potential uses for this on the iPhone and iPad are obvious.

The new Apple patent application speaks of a new display for iOS devices that are able to ‘detect intensity of contacts with the touch-sensitive surface’. The patent application also points toward one or more sensor that are able to detect how intensely one touches the Force Touch display.

The user interface could then be tailored to work with this force-sensitive display; the patent, for example, points towards the ability to preview a document rather than fully open it by using different insensitivity of touches. Check out the timeline below for more Force Touch news!

SOURCE: Patently Apple

