iPhone 2018 release date, specs & features news: Apple to end 3D touch feature with new 6.1-inch device

A customer tests the features of the newly launched iPhone X at VIVA telecommunication store in Manama, Bahrain, November 3, 2017.REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Shortly after the launch of the iPhone X last year, it was already rumored that Apple was not only preparing one, but three new iPhone 2018 models. One of these upcoming variants will be the 6.1-inch iPhone model that will use the same features of the iPhone 8 and the current iPhone X flagship.

Although, a recent report suggests that this iPhone variant also spells an end to the 3D Touch feature, which made Apple's devices more advanced compared to standard touchscreen phones. 

As reported by MacRumors, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in his latest notes to investors that the 6.1-inch iPhone 2018 model will receive an upgraded display panel. This display technology, called the Cover Glass Sensor (CGS) will be slightly ahead of the current one used in the iPhone X, although it could cost between $23 and $26.

Apple is expected to keep this iPhone 2018 variant's price hedged lower, and to counter the CGS display's expensive cost, the Cupertino-based tech firm will have to remove the 3D Touch feature.

The CGS technology in the 6.1-inch iPhone 2018 device is expected to make the display lighter and more resistant to impact. Furthermore, it was tipped by the Chinese online tech publication Feng that the CGS will shift the iPhone touch module from the display panel to the surface glass. There will also be a new thin-film sensor to be inserted in the display panel with this updated screen technology, although Kuo did not specify the exact benefit of this feature.

It also appears that Apple is not only confining the use of the CGS technology to the iPhone 2018 model. Kuo believes that this new displays setup will be used in all iPhone 2019 variants.

While it is expected for now that the CGS process will only be present in the LCD variant of the iPhone this year, the 2019 models, including those using OLED, will have the same display feature. To keep the price in check, these iPhones are likely to lose the 3D Touch technology as well.

Some users are not too excited about this plan, given that the 3D Touch has been very useful since it was first introduced in the iPhone 6S. To note, the 3D Touch allows the touchscreen to recognize how hard the user's fingers are pushing, while the standard touchscreen phones only detect the finger gestures.