Third-generation Apple Pencil on the way! What can we expect from the next version of this popular Apple stylus?.
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Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple, introduced the iPhone in January 2007, famously saying, “Who wants a stylus? You have to take them out and put them away and they get lost. Gross! Nobody wants a stylus.” However, in 2015, Apple introduced the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro.
Of course, the Apple Pencil is much more advanced than the simple stylus Jobs knew in those days. Three years later, the second generation of the popular iPad stylus was announced.
And now it looks like Apple is ready to take its digital writing instrument to another level. According to Patently Apple, the company recently filed patent application number US 20220413636 A1 with the US Patent and Trademark Office for an optical sensor to be used with the third-generation Apple Pencil. The sensor would allow the pen to copy the texture and color of an object’s surface. It would also be able to send this data wirelessly to a laptop so that it can be used with a drawing program.
If Apple presents its third generation Apple Pencil! What to expect from the new version of this popular stylus?
Apple’s patent application describes an Apple Pencil capable of “sampling” textures and colors from other objects. Yanko Design has created some renders that show what the Apple Pencil would look like with the optical sensors included in the design of the new Apple Pencil 3.
Based on the patent application, the optical sensors for the Apple Pencil might look something like this: image by Yanko Design:
Apple has applied for or received a patent for other ideas and innovations related to the Apple Pencil. In 2021, he received a patent for an Apple Pencil with interchangeable tips (the writing tip at the end of the attachment).
The tip can be changed to replace a worn one, or it can be changed to change the capabilities of the tip based on “a color, a shape, a thickness, a size, a brightness, or an opacity.” Although it is currently possible to replace a worn tip, it does not add any new features to the accessory.
Nearly three years ago, Apple filed a patent for an Apple Pencil with a biometric security feature, a method of using the number of times the stylus is tapped on the screen as input that could be used to initiate a copy function. , a paste function, an undo function and/or a redo function”. Other potential additions to the Apple Pencil that we’ve seen mentioned in a patent application include “a speaker, a rotating input device, a microphone, a sleep/wake button, a mute button, a biometric sensor, a camera, a trackpad sensitive to force and/or touch, and so on.
A new Apple Pencil could arrive in 2024 along with the iPad Pro with an AMOLED screen
If we see a new Apple Pencil, it might not be until the iPad Pro 2024 is introduced, which could be the first iPad with an OLED display. When you think about it, that might be the perfect time to offer a new stylus with the ability to sample colors and textures lifted by the Apple Pencil and with features like a microphone, camera…
Just with a patent application, it doesn’t mean you should expect it to be used in a device right away. In fact, of the large number of patents Apple receives each year, many go unused. Therefore, we cannot say with certainty that the technology covered in this patent application will be used by the company. However, it makes sense that Apple would like to continue to improve the capabilities of its iPad pencil and we may see a third-generation Apple Pencil sooner rather than later.
New ✏️ ready to 🚢 #AppleEvent @TommyBo50387266 pic.twitter.com/s4RCDwDi5M
— 漢尼斯·拉斯納 🇨🇳 (@ileakeer) April 16, 2021
In 2021, a tipster shared a video on Twitter of what he claimed was the third-generation Apple Pencil, showing a shiny body with a flat magnetic edge for charging. A new Apple Pencil is expected to offer longer battery life and improvements in latency and precision.
