Apple has filed a patent application for a new Apple Pencil with an optical sensor that could be compatible with the iPhone. The accessory should be compatible not only with the brand's cell phone, but even with non-touch-sensitive devices, such as the Apple Vision Pro, which is not a touchscreen. The application was published last Thursday (5) by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Apple has three models of the Apple Pencil: the first generation; 2nd generation USB-C Apple Pencil. They are all compatible with iPad devices only. If this news is confirmed, it should represent a big change for the brand, as the accessory can be used on iPhones and mixed reality headsets. Samsung Galaxy tablets and mobile phones from the S line already come equipped with the S Pen touch stylus.
In addition to expanding compatibility, the new Apple Pencil may offer features like force sensors, which would allow for swipe and tap motions, and new commands. The accessory will also contain laser spot flow sensors, capable of detecting spot patterns generated by illumination to estimate the position, direction and movement of the input device – which could be virtual reality glasses, for example.
The new features also show an interesting change as the pens now offer haptic feedback. In other words, they will be able to respond in different ways to different intensities of touch. However, there's no way to know if we'll actually see this new stylus, as Apple tends to patent technologies and doesn't always use them, or uses them later – for example, the patent itself was filed in 2010.
Source: TechTudo, with information from Patently Apple, GizChina, and New Atlas.
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