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Apple’s stylus could do even more than we thought

We’re huge fans of the Apple Pencil. It’s comfortable, accurate and handily charges from the iPad Pro’s Lightning port. It’s a winning combination with the iPad Pro, but it was clear to us that the 2015 launch model wasn’t the beginning and end of Apple styluses. We expect a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro to debut in late 2016, and a new Pencil should be announced with it.

However, the changes could be more far-reaching than would at first seem obvious. Sure, there’s bound to be even longer battery life and maybe a choice of colours, but according to a recently uncovered patent, a new Pencil might work with a Mac and possibly support gestures in the air!

Apple’s granted patent 9,400,570 was originally filed in late 2014 and was published this July by the US Patent and Trademark Office. It depicts a Pencil working with an updated Magic Trackpad for manipulating 3D objects in a Mac app. Moving the Pencil beyond the iPad makes sense and could see an exciting new market for this accessory.

Alan says… Different nibs to better simulate the texture of a pencil on paper is my hope for the next model