You know how McDonald’s (allegedly) has a secret menu? Plenty of people have heard about it, some use it frequently and bask in its glory, but most just stick to the regular menu.
That seems an awful lot like how 3D Touch could pan out.
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are the first Apple devices to feature this new technology, which operates under the surface-level UI by providing shortcuts — or as Apple calls them, “peeks” and “pops” — on the Home screen and within various apps.
While those of us in the tech bubble are obviously eager to get our hands on the new phones to test 3D Touch, how will this new method of interaction play out for regular consumers casually looking to buy their next smartphone?
It seems Apple has a potential exposure problem on its hands.
The epitome of Apple’s vision
Photo: Apple
Apple clearly thinks 3D Touch is the future. Otherwise the new technology wouldn’t be the flagship feature of this year’s iPhones.
In a rare peek behind the Cupertino curtain, Apple went into great detail about the years of work that went into developing 3D Touch, even granting Bloomberg access to the iPhone 6s to test the tech prior to Wednesday’s announcement.
There seems to be a passion for 3D Touch that Apple didn’t have for previous flagship iPhone features, or at least didn’t convey as strongly. This is because 3D Touch completely epitomizes Apple’s philosophy for tightly integrated hardware and software. The new display technology, Taptic Engine and iOS 9 work together in harmony to deliver an entirely new and improved experience.
If nothing else convinces you about Apple’s love affair with 3D Touch, consider this: No one can even see it. People who buy the iPhone 6s on a whim have absolutely no way of knowing about 3D Touch because it doesn’t interrupt the way anyone currently uses an iPhone. That might be a bad thing.
Sure, Apple could advertise the hell out of 3D Touch, but it’s far easier than other features to forget about because it’s not at all apparent. The best approach would probably be to get power users who follow Apple’s innovations to fall in love with the new feature — which probably isn’t much of a challenge — and then let the lovefest trickle down to regular users from there.
The only problem is this trickle-down effect must work in order for Apple to gain ground with 3D Touch.
Notable or novelty?
Photo: Apple
If you order something from that McDonald’s secret menu, more than likely you’ll probably giggle and rejoice about it once you get your food. For about seven seconds. Then you’ll move on with your life because it’s just a novelty.
3D Touch can’t be a novelty item. The future isn’t a novelty. People who hear about the new feature might try it out the first few weeks after buying an iPhone 6s, then slowly fade back into their old habits. Apple’s apps, as well as developers’ offerings, must invoke 3D Touch in near-magical ways to make the new touch technology memorable.
Past iPhone ‘s’ features
Let’s look at some past flagship iPhone features. On entirely new models like the iPhone 4, iPhone 5 and iPhone 6, most people are attracted enough to the new design to spur sales.
It’s different with the “s” models, which look the same as their predecessors but pack new flagship features. The 5s brought Touch ID, the 4s brought Siri, and the 3GS brought video recording.
Every single one of those previous features had visual cues that led users to discovery. The 3GS’ video recording was built into the camera that everyone already uses, Siri replaced the Voice Control function, and the redesigned Home button on the 5s signified Touch ID.
3D Touch, on the other hand, lacks a visual cue.
I’m not saying that 3D Touch is doomed to fail, but it’s worth acknowledging that Apple needs its famous marketing muscle now more than ever. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus no doubt have revolutionary technology, but it can only be revolutionary if people actually use it.
For some, a tasty and familiar Big Mac is more than adequate.
George Tinari has covered Apple and technology for over six years. On the rare occasion that he’s not sitting in front of his laptop, you can find him eating, awkwardly socializing, listening to music or singing along loudly to said music. You can also follow George on Twitter if you need more complaints and sarcasm in your timeline.
15 responses to “Why Apple’s new 3D Touch is like McDonald’s secret menu”
Kind of like force touch on the watch. Many people forget about it.
However, on the other side of the coin, couldn’t you have said the same about multi-finger touch. But everyone uses that too, so I am not worried about this on the phone, everyone will be using it.
Good point about the multi-touch, but I’d argue that was a little bit more natural. It’s easier to place one more finger on a piece of glass and figure out something new happens, as opposed to pressing down with different exertions of force.
But if you look at reality, how many places there are that correspond to human touch? I mean, if you touch paper – nothing happens. Touch wood – nothing happens, touch ground – nothing happens. So in that case I would say that force touch is as natural as touch itself, because if you press things in real life – something happens.
Even more I would say that it really depends on how many occasions user has to use this technology. 3D touch seems to be quite popular because of gaming possibilities. Contrary to Whatch.
I think it’s a gimmick tbh, but we’ll see what developers do with it.
Comparing Apple’s iPhone to MacDonald’s. Really?
I hope that pun was intentional.
I got to say, no matter what fancy new menu McDonald’s has at any given time, I do just stick to a good old Big Mac :-p
Do you mean a 27″ iMac?
People are going to buy the new iPhone specifically because of 3DTouch. It’s going to drive a huge number of sales.
3DTouch is more thoughtfully integrated into iOS than ForceTouch was in watchOS. Once we use it, we will wonder how we ever used iPhones without it. This new feature is a slam dunk.
Looks like a game changer to me, I would LOVE to have this, but I’m not due to upgrade until next year… :(
Apple has been drifting away from its roots for a while now. Discoverability used to be a priority in its UI design. Now there are all manner of special swipes, with one or more fingers, left, right, up, and down, in and out from the edges of the screen. None of these are particularly obvious. You have to read about them or be shown by someone to learn these maneuvers. 3D Touch is just one more of those things.
3D touch is the opposite of a novelty item. It is built specifically to increase productivity and efficiency. You can do many of the most popular actions of many apps without even opening the apps.
Also, you are assuming people won’t know about it because it’s not visible. Are you forgetting about the haptic engine? People will physically feel this new technology. And considering Apple leaked info to a major news organization specifically to advertise 3D touch, I don’t think a lack of advertising will be a problem.
The Apple Watch already has this feature. It’s called an ‘haptic’. It is awesome! It is as ‘hidden’ as any other gesture ie not hidden at all, you just do it. There’s the point, it is just another gesture. Nothing more. It is a great gesture. Some apps use it and well and others not at all. For example in the notifications screen of the watch, swipes and delicate touches dispose of individual notifications, the haptic touch disposes of them en masse. Very nice and not until now an iPhone feature.
That depends on how well is the 3d touch technology is adapted on iOS, is too early to tell, when touchscreen came out, a lot of dudes were afraid of the missing keyboard, now I use a non touchscreen cellphone and I try to touch the screen, just time will tell