By Haley Whitt ’15

Apple has developed a new feature for its products called Force Touch. The smart phone responds differently to variations in pressure depending on the force of the tap. If a user clicks on an item, and then presses harder on a second click, a different function is activated. The company plans to introduce this technology into the following upcoming products: Apple Watch, MacBook and next year’s iPhone. Apple has already begun incorporating this technology into applications such as Mail and Safari.

Several hundred prototypes of iPhones with Force Touch were distributed to users who had one month to test out the new product and its features. After the experimentation period, it seems that users are ecstatic with the new feature. One claimed that “Force Touch was ground-breaking” and others said it highly enhanced their phone usage experience. Force Touch has the power to sense multiple levels of pressure, allowing the user to accomplish even more on their phone. One user tapped on Maps, and then tapped again, slightly harder, to reveal a more zoomed-in image of the house they were trying to get to.

Though the users were thoroughly impressed with the revolutionary feature, the products themselves had a different response to how they were being handled. For the first time ever, Apple has allowed the devices themselves to provide feedback on a new technology. Apple experts explain that the company is becoming increasingly concerned with the feelings of their products. An online forum titled “Technological Abuse” was published shortly after the one-month trial period ended, and received over a hundred comments.

The comments came from a variety of iPhones equipped with the Force Touch feature. “They didn’t even inform us that they were going to be messing with our software again!” wrote a baby-blue colored iPhone. This comment acquired several likes, but perhaps the comment that earned the most likes was the one that read, “At first, things were normal. I was gently being tapped and performing my daily functions of forming text messages and checking e-mails when all of a sudden, my user pushed down hard on me. It was painful, and I definitely felt abused.” Several iPhones replied to this touching comment with some encouraging messages.

The forum has been reported and the site has been taken down. Though no sources have confirmed this, there is speculation that Apple is responsible. Apple devices have been spotted protesting for their rights and are refusing to endure this injustice. Apple has yet to answer any questions having to do with the concerns of the iPhones.