Although the touchscreen displays found on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch have wonderfully responsive screens, they can’t detect different levels of pressure, but this thing can change soon.
Recently, a patent application issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday reveals how a device that uses the same type of multitouch display as Apple’s other touchscreen devices but also packs a couple of pressure-sensitive sensors beneath the surface of the screen. These sensors can be located around the corners of the device or underneath the bezels, as the image below shows us.
Of course, these sensors could enable future devices to determine the force of a press. This could have many practical applications, from enhanced sensitivity for using your device to draw, or for a more immersive gameplay experience. It remains to be seen whether this technology will be implemented on Apple’s upcoming devices or not.