iPhone 6s Plus Touch ID Much Quicker Than iPhone 6 Plus in New Hands-On Video

With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, one well-known hardware feature got a substantial upgrade: Touch ID. Apple improved the Touch ID sensor, allowing it to recognize fingerprints faster than it could previously. We went hands-on with the brand new iPhone 6s Plus and compared its improved Touch ID sensor to the one in the iPhone 6 Plus.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

The 6s Plus' Touch ID unlocks the phone almost instantaneously, taking a user straight to their Home Screen when they rest their finger on it. Comparatively, the speed of the 6 Plus' Touch ID makes it seem like a two-step feature, first waking up the display and then taking a user to the Home Screen.

On first impression, some users think the new Touch ID is too fast, however. Reddit user MasterofLuiz notes that it's so fast it affects how he usually uses his phone.

I can't even click the home button to check the clock without it automatically unlocking the phone. It's crazy

MacRumors forum member mykaluk has attempted to best the speed of the new Touch ID, attempting to tap the Home Button so quickly that it doesn't read his fingerprint. However, he notes that the Touch ID is able to read the fingerprint every time.

Be sure to check out the iPhone forum to join the discussion about the two new phones and their new features, or visit the iPhone accessories forum to see how the new cases look on the new devices, or whether existing cases fit the new devices. If you'd like to find out which apps take advantage of 3D Touch, make sure to check out the iOS Apps forum.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...

Top Rated Comments

MacFan782040 Avatar
131 months ago
Too fast? Just unlock the phone with the sleep/wake button and not the home button.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hurleyint1386 Avatar
131 months ago
With the new 3D Touch, I'd like to force touch my display to turn it on for notifications to prevent it from auto-unlocking. I noticed that it unlocks much faster and I lose my home screen notifications.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JohnApples Avatar
131 months ago
On first impression ('https://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/25/iphone-6s-reader-first-impressions/'), some users think the new Touch ID is two fast, however. Reddit ('https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3md414/the_iphone_6s_plus_touch_id_speed_is_insane/') user MasterofLuiz ('https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/3md414/the_iphone_6s_plus_touch_id_speed_is_insane/cveb9m8') notes that it's so fast it affects how he usually uses his phone.
"Too" fast you mean? :D

I think it's funny that some are complaining it's too fast. Lots of people saying it was too slow before with the 5S/6. Can't win can they lol.

I think it's great that it's "too fast". My dad refuses to use Touch ID because he says it's too slow (despite it taking no longer than manually "sliding to unlock"). He would definitely approve of this.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CmdrThor Avatar
131 months ago
No need to press the home button to check the clock when you have an Apple Watch :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
131 months ago
Why do we have so many "Dumb" people here? :(

Or course something can be too fast, just in the same way it can be too slow.
We seem to have people here who cannot grasp this.

If the Apple watch showed you the time and turned the screen off after 1 second, it would be too fast, and would need to be slowed down a bit.
The mouse speed in Windows and OSX has adjusters so that you can set things between slow and fast depending on your preference.

Why do we have so many numb nuts who don't understand that a feature that a human being has to interact with has to be set at a speed that's most comfortable for humans to use.
Too fast can be just as bad as too slow.

In an ideal world, a feature like TouchID would work instantly, and then you would have a small slider under settings to adjust how fast it reacted, then each user, old people and young children etc, could set a response speed that felt most comfortable to them.

It's not, as they say "Rocket Science" folks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Oblivious.Robot Avatar
131 months ago
I'm hoping so! Though I'm not going to hold my breath. I may be pleasantly surprised come next year!

But... If they DID implement Touch ID into the screen.. how would you unlock your phone? Hit the sleep/wake button, then Touch ID to unlock? Or would the screen wake up just from sensing a touch? If the latter, wouldn't the screen potentially wake up from a lot of unintentional touches?
It's going to need some serious amount of work and effort when they design those devices.
That's why it'll be so much worth it!

I for one think that would sell like hot cakes, I'd probably buy two and I don't even know why. :D
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)