3D Touch screen components add almost 11% weight increase to iPhone 6s, 6s Plus models

Not that the current iPhone in your pocket is a weighty brick that threatens your spine every moment of every day, but the upcoming iPhone 6s and 6s Plus units may be a bit heavier.

According to Apple the 3D Touch display components account for the bulk of an 11 percent increase in weight over last year’s models, not the use of 7000 series aluminum as some have speculated.

The findings were located through Apple’s environmental reports for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which break down materials used by respective component weight.

The 3D Touch display comes in at 29 grams for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 40g for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus (iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus). That’s more than twice as heavy as the 12g and 19g assemblies found in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.

The upcoming iPhones 6s comes in at 143 grams, or 14 grams heavier than the 129 gram iPhone 6, while the iPhone 6s Plus weighs 20 grams more than its predecessor. Not counting glass, which is another heavy iPhone component, 3D Touch assemblies in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus account for a respective 20 percent and 21 percent of overall handset weight. Also adding weight, and directly associated with 3D Touch, is Apple’s Taptic Engine, a haptic feedback mechanism that takes up substantially more internal space than vibrators used in previous iPhones.

Prior to last week’s unveiling, Apple’s new handsets were widely rumored to be slightly larger and heavier, though some debate as to why. Some believed the use of stronger 7000 series aluminum would add substantial heft, while others pointed to an implementation of Force Touch technology.

Not that this will break your arms, but it’s a bit of a difference.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via AppleInsider and The Verge