The iPhone has been following a tick tock release pattern ever since the iPhone 3G, with a major phone upgrade every 2 years (e.g. iPhone 4, iPhone 5 etc.) and an incremental upgrade (iPhone 4S, iPhone 5S) in between. These incremental upgrades generally introduce a faster processor, a better camera and usually comes with a new feature or two. For example, the Siri was first introduced with the iPhone 4S while the iPhone 5S was the first phone to have a Touch ID sensor.
The iPhone 6S doesn’t break away from this pattern, with a new 64-bit A9 chip and a new 12 megapixel iSight camera in the same design as its predecessor. However, its new feature, 3D Touch, makes the iPhone 6S the most groundbreaking incremental upgrade ever.
So, what is 3D Touch? 3D Touch allows the iPhone to detect the pressure exerted on the screen via capacitive sensors behind the touchscreen (much like the Force Touch Trackpad introduced a while back). The sensors are able to detect 3 types of pressure: 1. the usual tap 2. a light touch and 3. a heavy press. With this new technology, Apple has introduced 2 new sets of gestures: Peek and Pop and Quick Actions.
With Peek and Pop, users can Peek into emails, websites, locations and more (think Quick Look on iOS) by simply pressing lightly. And with a heavier press, users can then Pop into the actual content. Quick Actions allows quick access to commonly used functions right from the Home Screen, which allows users to complete tasks more quickly with fewer taps. You can read more about 3D Touch here.
In my opinion, 3D Touch is groundbreaking as it allows for a whole new level of interaction with the phone. It might be limited to Apple apps right now, but I am sure that developers will soon provide support for 3D Touch gestures within their apps, especially as more and more users purchase 3D Touch enabled iPhones.