Rumor has it that the alleged iPad Pro will come with a stylus and not just an ordinary one. According to Value Walk, the Cupertino-based company is making the accessory stand out by integrating a built in camera.
According to the publication, the use of the camera is for the stylus to replicate the textures of the surfaces it is brushed against. Thus, the iPad Pro will seamlessly imitate the feel of whatever it is the pen is being used on.
The patent was submitted by Jason Lor, Patrick A. Carroll and Dustin J. Verhoeve for Apple just three days ago. The invention, as described in a post on the US Patent and Trademark Office website, reads:
"A touch implement may include one or more controllers coupled to one or more haptic devices and one or more sensors that detect when the touch implement contacts a surface. The controller may provide haptic feedback via the haptic device(s) to simulate a texture of the surface when the touch implement is in contact."
As for the rest of the specs for the iPad Pro, it is expected to sport a 12.9-inch high resolution display, possibly at 2732 x 2048 pixels, the same as that of the iPad Air 2. It will reportedly run iOS 9, Apple's latest operating system that's still in the works.
The giant tablet is reportedly getting the Force Touch feature, which was first seen in the Apple Watch and was integrated in the latest MacBook model. The iPhone 6s and the 6s Plus, the alleged next smartphones from Apple, is rumored to boast this as well.
Force Touch elicits different functions based on the pressure of a user's touch. This means that the device will respond differently when simply tapped as well as when it is pressed hard.
The iPad Pro might get Apple Pay, too, with an NFC chip expected to be squeezed in it. Unfortunately, there's no word on the release date but the price tag of the device is estimated to be bigger than that of the iPad Air 2, which is at $600.
