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Sure. A lot of people thought when Apple removed the headphone jack that it would make room for a bigger battery, specifically. But Apple didn't use the space t

Sure. A lot of people thought when Apple removed the headphone jack that it would make room for a bigger battery, specifically. But Apple didn't use the space that way. They put the Taptic Engine there instead. The bigger Taptic engine on e.g. an iPhone 8 vs. 6 is used for two things: 1) 7/8 series have a home button that doesn't actually push. The Taptic Engine mimics the feel of a button push. 2) It allows for different types of vibration, e.g. when hitting the corner of the screen while dragging or for more subtle notifications. (https://www.androidcentral.com/its-2018-and-android-phones-still-cant-compare-iphones-taptic-engine https://www.androidcentral.com/its-2018-and-android-phones-s...) The iPhone 6 battery is 1810mAh, whereas the 8 is 1821mAh. So they didn't increase the battery size; they added the Taptic Engine instead, and got rid of the mechanical home button. Articles gush about the Taptic Engine, but I'd still rather have my headphone jack back. And I liked the clicky home buttons.

chrisoverzero 8y ago
> It doesn't create more room inside the phone […] > They put the Taptic Engine there instead. It sounds like it created the room for the Taptic Engine.
- JustSomeNobody 8y ago
  The 6S had a taptic engine AND a 3.5mm jack.
  - chrisoverzero 8y ago
    And ~100 fewer mAh than the models mentioned above, which precede and follow it. Seems like Apple did use the space to increase battery size, then.
    - JustSomeNobody 8y ago
      Maybe? Would have to look at side by side of 6S and 8. The 8 is a tad thicker, but that may be the glass.
    - LyndsySimon 8y ago
      I wonder what the net change in weight and volume was with the removal of the home button and expansion of the display.
- nsriv 8y ago
  The Taptic Engine existed because they decided to do away with the mechanical home button, ostensibly for "waterproofing." The decision to retain tactility led to necessity for a larger more precise vibration motor, and then punting the headphone jack out of the phone became the obvious thing to do, with a bunch of post-rationalization externally and internal justification hinged around accessory sales.
  - ummonk 8y ago
    So they did create space by removing the headphone jack; you just think they used that space unwisely (or that that space would have been best used for a headphone jack).
  - ascagnel_ 8y ago
    Waterproofing and reliability -- word started to go around that the home button would break after a while. The "fix" for this was to make the home button a fake capacitive button, and that required a bigger vibration motor.
    - eridius 8y ago
      AIUI the home button was by far the least reliable component left on the phone and the biggest driver of AppleCare support for non-accidental damage. The problem was so bad that it became an Asian cultural thing to turn on the accessibility feature that gave you an on-screen home button control and to use that exclusively, literally never touching your real home button, because you needed the real home button to remain intact for when you wanted to sell your phone later.
    - yellowapple 8y ago
      Another option would've been to remove the physical button entirely, which is exactly what happened with the iPhone X (I think? I've never used one; only seen pictures) and with pretty much every flagship (and even less-than-flagship) Android phone nowadays.
Nextgrid 8y ago
The Taptic Engine, along with 3D Touch is probably the most useless things ever on an iPhone. Some may argue that the home button is a moving part and can fail but personally I've never had any issue with them. I don't think the occasional failures (that are bound to happen no matter what) warrant redesigning the entire mechanism.
- SallySwanSmith 8y ago
  3D Touch to quick jump to a app with a notification buried in a folder is amazing
- stephenr 8y ago
  > Some may argue that the home button is a moving part and can fail but personally I've never had any issue with them. Asia wishes to disagree with you. There are literally millions of people here who turn on AssistiveTouch on a brand new phone for no other reason than to not use the physical home button because they believe it will wear out/break.
  - Nextgrid 8y ago
    > they believe it will wear out/break But does it actually? Because if it's just a belief, nothing prevents the same belief from occurring with the 3D Touch home button. I guess it's going to be a feedback loop because obviously there wouldn't be reports of failures if nobody uses the physical button, but assuming normal usage, does the button fail frequently enough to be a concern? I think the west is a clear proof that this is not the case (unless something in Asia is breaking the buttons - climate maybe?).
    - mixmastamyk 8y ago
      Button working fine on my 6s, older 5 my wife used worked fine as well. The 5 was finally replaced when the battery expanded. Anecdotal evidence says they are dependable.
    - eridius 8y ago
      It does, actually, AIUI the home button was the #1 driver of AppleCare incidents for non-accidental damage. It had the highest failure rate of any component on the phone.
sosborn 8y ago
> And I liked the clicky home buttons. Really? I enjoy the fake home buttons much more. In fact, the only iPhone part I've had fail on me was the old style home button. Happened twice.
- the_watcher 8y ago
  I also had this experience, as have many of my friends who now know what "Adaptive Touch" means.
- bonestamp2 8y ago
  Agreed. I replaced the home button in a couple of my wife's iPhones and it's a pain to replace. It's one of the first things that goes into the phone when they assemble it, which means you have to take nearly everything else out to get to it. Haven't had a problem with the solid state home button.

chrisoverzero 8y ago

> It doesn't create more room inside the phone […] > They put the Taptic Engine there instead. It sounds like it created the room for the Taptic Engine.

JustSomeNobody 8y ago
The 6S had a taptic engine AND a 3.5mm jack.
- chrisoverzero 8y ago
  And ~100 fewer mAh than the models mentioned above, which precede and follow it. Seems like Apple did use the space to increase battery size, then.
  - JustSomeNobody 8y ago
    Maybe? Would have to look at side by side of 6S and 8. The 8 is a tad thicker, but that may be the glass.
  - LyndsySimon 8y ago
    I wonder what the net change in weight and volume was with the removal of the home button and expansion of the display.
nsriv 8y ago
The Taptic Engine existed because they decided to do away with the mechanical home button, ostensibly for "waterproofing." The decision to retain tactility led to necessity for a larger more precise vibration motor, and then punting the headphone jack out of the phone became the obvious thing to do, with a bunch of post-rationalization externally and internal justification hinged around accessory sales.
- ummonk 8y ago
  So they did create space by removing the headphone jack; you just think they used that space unwisely (or that that space would have been best used for a headphone jack).
- ascagnel_ 8y ago
  Waterproofing and reliability -- word started to go around that the home button would break after a while. The "fix" for this was to make the home button a fake capacitive button, and that required a bigger vibration motor.
  - eridius 8y ago
    AIUI the home button was by far the least reliable component left on the phone and the biggest driver of AppleCare support for non-accidental damage. The problem was so bad that it became an Asian cultural thing to turn on the accessibility feature that gave you an on-screen home button control and to use that exclusively, literally never touching your real home button, because you needed the real home button to remain intact for when you wanted to sell your phone later.
  - yellowapple 8y ago
    Another option would've been to remove the physical button entirely, which is exactly what happened with the iPhone X (I think? I've never used one; only seen pictures) and with pretty much every flagship (and even less-than-flagship) Android phone nowadays.

Nextgrid 8y ago

The Taptic Engine, along with 3D Touch is probably the most useless things ever on an iPhone. Some may argue that the home button is a moving part and can fail but personally I've never had any issue with them. I don't think the occasional failures (that are bound to happen no matter what) warrant redesigning the entire mechanism.

SallySwanSmith 8y ago
3D Touch to quick jump to a app with a notification buried in a folder is amazing
stephenr 8y ago
> Some may argue that the home button is a moving part and can fail but personally I've never had any issue with them. Asia wishes to disagree with you. There are literally millions of people here who turn on AssistiveTouch on a brand new phone for no other reason than to not use the physical home button because they believe it will wear out/break.
- Nextgrid 8y ago
  > they believe it will wear out/break But does it actually? Because if it's just a belief, nothing prevents the same belief from occurring with the 3D Touch home button. I guess it's going to be a feedback loop because obviously there wouldn't be reports of failures if nobody uses the physical button, but assuming normal usage, does the button fail frequently enough to be a concern? I think the west is a clear proof that this is not the case (unless something in Asia is breaking the buttons - climate maybe?).
  - mixmastamyk 8y ago
    Button working fine on my 6s, older 5 my wife used worked fine as well. The 5 was finally replaced when the battery expanded. Anecdotal evidence says they are dependable.
  - eridius 8y ago
    It does, actually, AIUI the home button was the #1 driver of AppleCare incidents for non-accidental damage. It had the highest failure rate of any component on the phone.

sosborn 8y ago

> And I liked the clicky home buttons. Really? I enjoy the fake home buttons much more. In fact, the only iPhone part I've had fail on me was the old style home button. Happened twice.

the_watcher 8y ago
I also had this experience, as have many of my friends who now know what "Adaptive Touch" means.
bonestamp2 8y ago
Agreed. I replaced the home button in a couple of my wife's iPhones and it's a pain to replace. It's one of the first things that goes into the phone when they assemble it, which means you have to take nearly everything else out to get to it. Haven't had a problem with the solid state home button.