In my experience (on an iPhone 7 Plus), the hard-press still involved a small delay, so the new long-tap isn't that much different. They may have optimized this

In my experience (on an iPhone 7 Plus), the hard-press still involved a small delay, so the new long-tap isn't that much different. They may have optimized this in newer versions of the phone, but I jumped from a 7 to an 11 and thought it wasn't that bad. I didn't like the original version because the delay left me wondering if I'd pressed hard enough or not waited long enough for it to activate.