iPhone Pro + Apple Pencil, is Apple going to slap Steve Jobs in the face this year?

According to Taiwan Economic Daily, there are reports in the industry that the new iPhone will support the Apple Pencil stylus for the first time, which will add a selling point and stimulate sales. If users want to experience the Apple Pencil, they need to purchase it separately.

This isn't the first time Apple Pencil has been predicted to come to iPhone devices

In fact, the rumor that the iPhone will be equipped with Apple Pencil is not groundless. As early as December 2017, there were reports that exposed Apple's new patent. From the patent illustrations, it can be seen that Apple's mobile device iPhone is bundled with a small Apple Pencil, which means that the application range of Apple Pencil will be expanded.

Then, before the 2018 Apple conference, there were frequent reports about the iPhone supporting Apple Pencil. Relevant forecast reports pointed out that Apple will release two phones with OLED screens and one phone with LCD screen, and Apple Pencil will support OLED screen phones. However, in last year's conference, Apple Pencil supporting iPhone did not appear.

This year, similar predictions are still emerging. It is reported that Apple will launch iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max at the launch event in September this year. It is worth noting that if the news is finally confirmed, this will be the first time that Apple uses the "Pro" name on the iPhone.

In addition, the forecast also pointed out that the iPhone 11 will be equipped with a 5.8-inch LCD screen, while the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max will be equipped with 6.1 and 6.5-inch OLED screens respectively; as the iPhone screen becomes larger, it may complement the Apple Pencil and stimulate each other's sales.

It is worth mentioning that when Apple Pencil was first released, it only supported iPad Pro models. If this naming trend is followed, the possibility of releasing an iPhone version of Apple Pencil this year is greatly increased; judging from the functional expansion brought by Apple Pencil to iPad, if it is applied to iPhone, it will surely bring a different functional experience.

Apple Pencil: A high-tech stylus

Apple Pencil is a wireless stylus accessory developed by Apple to support iPad tablets. Currently, two generations of Apple Pencil have been released. The first generation of Apple Pencil was released on September 9, 2015. At the beginning of its release, Apple Pencil only supported iPad Pro products. Later, the sixth generation iPad released in 2018, as well as the iPad Mini and iPad Air in 2019 were also supported.

According to Apple's official introduction, the first generation Apple Pencil uses a pure white color scheme. One end of the pen body has a magnetically fixed detachable cover. Under the cover is a lightning connector, which can be charged through the iPad's lightning port.

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Unlike traditional capacitive styluses, Apple Pencil can be connected to the iPad Pro screen. The system can determine whether the user is using a finger or Apple Pencil. When it senses Apple Pencil, the auxiliary system scans the display 240 times per second, collecting twice as many data points as using a finger, with fast and efficient response capabilities.

In addition, Apple Pencil has built-in pressure sensors and tilt angle sensors that can simulate the real situation when people use the pen, such as sensing pressure, position, and the angle between it and the iPad. According to the tilt and pressure of the pen tip, the Multi-Touch display can detect the corresponding position of each sensor, thereby drawing lines of varying thicknesses.

Based on the Apple Pencil's sensor and the iPad Pro's screen support, the Apple Pencil can also achieve very high usage sensitivity. There is no sense of delay when writing or drawing on the screen. Moreover, compared with traditional capacitive styluses, the Apple Pencil's writing effect is more precise.

The second-generation Apple Pencil was released on October 30, 2018, and is currently only compatible with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (3rd generation) and 11-inch iPad Pro.

The second-generation Apple Pencil is similar to the first-generation product in design and specifications, with some modifications based on the first generation. The second-generation Apple Pencil removes the detachable connector, has a cutout on the body to prevent the stylus from rolling, and can be directly attached to the side frame of the iPad Pro through magnetic force. Once attached, it automatically pairs with the device and starts charging.

Jobs mocked the stylus, but Cook released the Apple Pencil

It is worth mentioning that Apple was once an opponent of the stylus. In 2007, when Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco, he ridiculed the stylus. His original words at the time were:

Who wants a stylus? You have to get 'em, put 'em away, you lose 'em. Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus. So let's not use a stylus.

It can be seen that Jobs despises traditional styluses.

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However, Jobs' attitude needs to be viewed in light of the situation at the time. In 2007, the first generation of iPhone used a capacitive touch screen that supported multi-touch and was responsive. At the time, most mobile devices used resistive screens, and finger touch could not achieve precise operation. The stylus made up for its functional defects. In Leifeng.com's view, it is better to say that Jobs was confident in the iPhone's capacitive touch screen rather than disliking the traditional stylus.

Eight years after Jobs abandoned the stylus, in 2015, Cook released the first Apple Pencil for iPad products, and now there are many rumors that the Apple Pencil for iPhone will be released soon. Is this a betrayal of Jobs's philosophy?

In fact, this is not the case. Unlike the 3.5-inch iPhone in the Steve Jobs era, the screens of current mobile devices are getting bigger and bigger, and the applications are becoming more and more diverse. The implementation of some application functions requires more precise touch (such as painting, design, etc.), and finger touch cannot fully meet this demand.

More importantly, as mentioned above, Apple Pencil has many high-tech features. Therefore, traditional styluses cannot be compared with Apple Pencil on the same dimension.

Regardless of whether the Apple Pencil for iPhone will appear at this year's conference, Apple Pencil is still a product worth looking forward to. After all, looking at some of Apple's previous "non-mainstream" practices - using touch screens, using fingerprint unlocking, canceling the 3.5mm headphone jack, etc., it always brings surprises in products.

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