A feature patrons can only find in iPad Pro tablets may finally come to Apple's smartphone line soon.
Citing industry sources, The Korea Herald claims that the Cupertino-based company is planning to bring digital pen support to the iPhone. Engineers are reportedly already working on a smartphone model that could work with a stylus, and talks with potential partner digital stylus companies have also started. If all goes smoothly, it could launch as early as 2019.
Apple has introduced its very own digital pen called the Apple Pencil in 2015, which became a staple of the iPad Pro ever since. It allows one to digitally "write" on the tablet to annotate files, sign documents, and take notes. However, it has not released one for its smartphones yet. This could be due to Steve Jobs' dislike for styluses.
The late Apple founder was known for his hatred of such accessory, mocking other companies of his era that featured devices with digital pens. But while Jobs hated it so much, other companies and tech consumers do not.
Samsung, Apple's chief competitor in the smartphone market, has offered its own stylus with its Galaxy Note lineup for years, and it has consistently sold well, especially with artists. This year's iteration of the line, the Galaxy Note 8, similarly comes with the company's S Pen stylus.
Since times change and the iPhones are getting bigger and bigger, it is seemingly time for Apple to fully embrace the Apple Pencil. In recent years, it has been widely speculated that the company is considering deploying digital pens for its mobile devices.
According to Tech Radar, it filed a slew of related patents, hinting the addition of stylus support. A patent discovered in April, for example, suggested that the Apple Pencil could get an upgrade to support an iPhone.
Then again, nothing is confirmed yet, and two years is a long time. This concept could be scrapped without much notice anytime, so readers should take it with a grain of salt for now.
