iOS 13 Hints at Lack of 3D Touch on 2019 iPhone Family, Apple Confirms 'Peek', 'Quick Actions' Coming to Compatible Models

All 2019 iPhone models already speculated to come without 3D Touch support. Now, Apple has revealed that all the iPhone and iPad models that will run iOS 13 and iPadOS will have "Peek" previews and "Quick actions" menus. This suggests the formal end of hardware-based 3D Touch feature that is a part of the iPhone family since the launch of the iPhone 6s back in September 2015. Notably, the iPhone XR was launched last year without 3D Touch support and utilised the built-in software-based Haptic Touch functionality to deliver a similar experience. The 2019 iPhone models are now expected to use Haptic Touch instead of 3D Touch.

The official listing on the Apple website highlights that the iOS 13 will support the Peek feature to preview email messages and Web links by pressing and holding to showcase a hint of the content. Similarly, there will be Quick actions that will emerge after pressing and holding an app icon to quickly perform actions specific to the app.

Notably, the Peek and Quick actions features were previously associated with the iPhone models sporting 3D Touch and were originally defined as the Peek and Pop gestures. Apple, however, is now apparently planning to provide them to its iPhone and iPad models that don't even have the hardware-specific, pressure-sensing technology.

The listing confirms that the existing non-3D Touch devices, including the iPhone XR and iPad Air 2, will get Peek previews and Quick actions menus through iOS 13. It is important to note that the iPhone XR is the only new iPhone model supporting Haptic Touch to replicate the experience of 3D Touch. iOS 12.1.1 in December improved the original software-based Haptic Touch experience by enabling notification previews with a long-press gesture on the screen.

According to a report by MacRumors, users on the iPhone 6s and newer models, except the iPhone SE and iPhone XR, were majorly able to use Peek and Quick Actions options via long presses after installing the first iOS 13 developer preview, tipping a software-based approach even on models with hardware 3D Touch. Some users were reportedly unable to access 3D Touch settings, though.

If we go by the rumours, iOS 13 would set the stage for future iPhone models sans 3D Touch technology. A report by The Wall Street Journal in January suggested that all 2019 iPhone models would lack 3D Touch. A research note by a team of Barclays analysts, shared with MacRumors, also claimed that Apple will eliminate 3D Touch from all its next-generation iPhones.