Apple Pencil will finally become what it should have always been: a stylus.
Ever since its introduction to the masses, alongside with the iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil has gained increasing popularity with home users, as well as professionals, as one of the most sophisticated pen input methods available on the market.
With that said, Apple Pencil has one glaring problem: its use is exclusive to the iPad Pro, which has prompted third party manufacturers of stylus pens to target the new tablet aggressively, with their own iPad Pro compatible accessories, such as Pencil by FiftyThree, Ten One Design Pogo Connect 2, and Adonit Jot Dash.
It was only a matter of time for Apple to show signs of wanting to take charge of the situation, as it did before with other accessories. Finally, according to a patent filed recently, it seems that the Apple Pencil will no longer be bound to the iPad Pro exclusively. The patent, titled “Stylus With Inertial Sensor “ describes methods for the Apple Pencil to work with other devices, aside from the iPad Pro, which also includes Mac computers, via the Apple Magic TrackPad.
This situation could spell trouble for stylus and graphic tablet pioneer Wacom. Should the apple Pencil become available to Mac users, Wacom might be facing a tough competitor of the Intuos Bamboo capacitive tablet accessories.
It’s entirely possible that the hardware changes required to enable the Apple Pencil to work with Macs might involve only the receiving end of the accessory, making it necessary for Apple to modify the Apple Magic Trackpad.
While this information still pertains only to a patent, which may or may not mean anything in regard to Apple’s true intentions, the possibility of an Apple Pencil forthe Mac is very real, considering that providing Mac users with a native accessory capable of bringing the power and flexibility of the iPad Pro to the Mac, means catering to many users in search for a viable and supported way to do image manipulation, graphic design, and other tasks, notoriously difficult to accomplish without a stylus.