Upcoming Apple Pencil rumored to bring haptic feedback for the first time
The next Apple Pencil is said to incorporate Taptic Engine, Apple’s custom vibratory motors, to produce subtle haptic feedback when using certain features.
What features? For starters, things like the existing double-tap gesture which is used to change drawing tools on the second-generation Apple Pencil.
Haptic feedback should also be provided when using the rumored squeeze gesture to trigger preset actions like adding shapes, signatures, stickers and more.
We clearly don’t know for sure, nor does Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. “Here’s a tidbit on the latest Apple Pencil: It will have haptic feedback for the first time,” he wrote in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg.
What could the next Apple Pencil use haptic feedback for?
But Gurman didn’t need to ask people familiar with the matter for details. They’re hiding in plain sight in patent filings. Apple was granted a patent for an Apple Pencil with haptic feedback back in 2020. It suggests there might be two Taptic Engines in a future Apple Pencil to magnify the amount of haptic feedback you perceive.
It goes on to describe cool uses for this feature:
- Generate a haptic response based on the amount of contact with the screen
- Simulate the physical sensation of moving a paintbrush across a canvas
- Simulate the difference between a wet paintbrush and a dry paintbrush
- Simulate moving a paintbrush across a rough surface like wood
- Simulate the effect of a pencil rubbing against the edge of a piece of paper
The truth is in the patents
Another patent filing suggests a future Pencil could gain optical sensors so you could sample the color and texture of a surface by scanning it with a tip. “People familiar with the matter” haven’t discussed this with their favorite journalists yet.
What did get “leaked” to the press, however, is this patent envisioning location tracking for a future Apple Pencil. It outlines using acoustic resonators within a Pencil cap to play high-pitched sounds.
“Locating a lost stylus or other peripheral input device can be made possible by acoustic resonators integrated within housing structures of the stylus,” Apple writes.
When will the next Apple Pencil arrive?
The next Apple Pencil should be unveiled at Apple’s “Let Loose” event on May 7 alongside updated iPad Air and Pro tablets, an overhauled Magic Keyboard, the last round of FineWoven accessories, a new iPhone color, and more.
The next iPad Pro should debut Apple’s upcoming M4 chip before it hits Macs. The M4 is thought to use a beefed-up Neural Engine for enhanced AI capabilities.
“I believe Apple will position the tablet as its first truly AI-powered device—and that it will tout each new product from then on as an AI device,” Gurman wrote.
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