According to a report by Macrumors, Barclays analyst Blayne Curtis said that it is ‘widely understood’ that 3D Touch will be removed from the rumored third-gen iPhone X and second-gen iPhone X Plus 2019 models. This comes after Curtis travelled across Asia to visit several companies associated with Apple’s supply chain.
A report in The Verge points out that this move could be in line with Apple’s drive to reduce wastage of resources. Early this year, the company’s marketing chief Phil Schiller said that the hardware required to make a screen that supports 3D Touch is complex and needs a sizeable amount of time and investment.
Since the technology’s introduction, it has not caught on with Apple fans and most do not even know what it is or that it is there in the first place. Apple’s watches have found a more suitable use for the technology, while iPads are yet to receive it.
Curtis's words echoed predictions made by KGI Securities' analyst and Apple expert Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that the company would opt out of using the 3D Touch technology, and will instead adopt something he calls a ‘Cover Glass Sensor.’ This would relocate the iPhone’s touch module to the surface glass instead of the display panel, allowing for a lighter and stronger display.