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iPhone 6s & 6s Plus are 11% heavier than their predecessors due to the 3D Touch display

Apple did something very uncharacteristic with the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus – it made the devices both thicker and heavier than their predecessors. While many people attributed this weight gain to the new 7000 series aluminum the new iPhones use. It appears, however, that the weight gain is actually attributable to the new 3D Touch display.

According to figures revealed in the official environmental documents for the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the new display assembly weighs twice as much as the display assembly used in last year’s iPhone models. In the iPhone 6, the display assembly weighed 12 grams. In the iPhone 6s, the display assembly weighs 29 grams, more than double the weight of last year’s model. When you think about all of the technology that goes into 3D Touch, it makes perfect sense for there to be a considerable weight gain. Apple had to add an entire new layer to the display to measure pressure, as well as a new capacitive pressure sensor to the backlight of the display.

Overall, however, this year’s iPhone 6s and 6s Plus weigh 14 grams and 20 grams more than their predecessors, respectively. The switch to 7000 series alloy aluminum accounts for just 2 grams of the weight increase of the iPhone 6s Plus, while the iPhone 6s’s aluminum actually weighs a gram less.

The weight and thickness increase of the iPhone 6 and especially the iPhone 6s Plus will lend to a more sturdy design and likely cease all the complaints of phones that bent when put under pressure.

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Comments

  1. AeronPeryton - 9 years ago

    Good, the 5S was too light for me. Bought a case just to give it more heft!

  2. lincolnsills - 9 years ago

    Nice post!

  3. Nandan Desai (@nnddesai) - 9 years ago

    huh? 12 grams in iPhone 6 vs 24 grams in iPhone 6s is 2x the weight. NOT MORE THAN TWICE. Definitely expected more from you guys. Don’t make it ‘misleading’ by adding words that defeat the purpose of this article.

  4. saifrawahy - 9 years ago

    And yet the iPhone 7 to be the slimmest iPhone 😳

  5. Ilko Sarafski - 9 years ago

    I guess IT IS possible… but… how they are going to make the 7 even slimmer? A lot (as KGI’s analyst noted) actually? Around 6mm? Insane… They’ll do overhaul redesign, that’s for sure, but still… What I expect from Apple this time around is to remove the audio jack, maybe even remove the Home button (or maybe they’ll save this for the 8 because it is still too early, just an year after the 3D was introduced?)… Can’t wait to see! :) P.S. I think it’s a good think they made them a bit heavier/etc, that way you feel a bit more phone while holding it. P.S.2 Bendgate was a fucking lie, so no concerns there.

  6. kjl3000 - 9 years ago

    There’s no need to make the next iPhones thinner… Since you should be able to hold it somehow.

  7. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    Ahhh . . . . It’s Heavier!!!!!!! Last year’s Shamesung bois who started the whole “Bendgate” fiasco will now start this year’s “Carpal Tunnel Pain” game due to this weight gain.

    Pleas – Don’t feed the trolls this year. Just ignore the drama and enjoy this new technology from Apple Inc.

    YMMV!

  8. I know most Americans are not well versed in the metric system, but 1mm is pretty tiny. The new phone is 0.2mm thicker. Most case designers are already saying this will not affect the use of their old cases.

    0.2mm thicker is like noting that the latest BMW is 0.05 seconds faster 0-60 than the last year’s model. I don’t think anyone would actually notice.

Author

Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is an editor for the entire 9to5 network and covers the latest Apple news for 9to5Mac.

Tips, questions, typos to chance@9to5mac.com