After insisting nobody wanted a stylus, Apple went ahead and made the best one money can buy. It’s the perfect companion to iPad Pro if you like writing and drawing on touchscreens, but will it ever be compatible with iPhone? One interview with Tim Cook seems to suggest so.
Cook doesn’t like to call the Pencil a stylus, and believes there’s a “big difference” between what people are doing with this device and traditional touchscreen pens. Even Steve Jobs, who famously said “if you see a stylus, they blew it,” would like the Pencil, Cook claims.
“The things that people are doing with this pencil, I think that Steve would have loved,” he told NDTV’s Vikram Chandra back in May. Cook then hinted that Apple Pencil won’t always be exclusively compatible with iPad Pro.
“If you’ve ever seen what can be created with that pencil on an iPad or iPhone, it’s really unbelievable,” he said.
Throwing the iPhone into that sentence could be more than just a slip of the tongue. The likelihood is Apple has at least been investigating the possibility of making the Pencil compatible with iPhone, and whether or not it’s worth it.
Some might argue that an iPhone display is simply too small to write or draw on — even if you buy the larger Plus model. But lots of users already take notes and sketch on their smartphones. Samsung’s Galaxy Note series, which ships with the S Pen stylus, gets more popular every year.
Either way, Cook’s comments don’t confirm anything. We’ll have to wait for Apple’s iPhone 7 keynote on Wednesday to find out whether Apple Pencil really will expand its reach.
Via: Daring Fireball
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
8 responses to “Will Apple Pencil come to iPhone? Tim Cook suggests so”
“Even Steve Jobs, who famously said “if you see a stylus, they blew it,” would like the Pencil”
“Who wants a stylus? Yuck—nobody wants a stylus,” Jobs said at the MacWorld event in 2007, when he introduced the iPhone’s multi-touch feature.
This quote ALWAYS gets taken out of context by people who foolishly refer to it regarding the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro.
In 2007, when Steve Jobs made that statement at the introduction of the iPhone, he was talking about existing smartphones like those from Palm, that had a TFT single touch screen display that required a built-in stylus to use the interface. There was no easy use by pressing the screen with your finger, and you could only use a single touch point (there was NO multi-touch).
The iPhone in 2007 was the first smartphone with a capacitive, multi-touch display, and with a multi-touch operating system and apps. It wasn’t until 3 years later, in 2010, that the first Android phones offered a similar capacitive, multi-touch display, a multi-touch operating system and apps.
Today, ALL smartphones are like the original 2007 iPhone. They ALL allow you to use multi-touch gestures with your fingers, and the use of a stylus is NOT necessary to operate smartphones anymore.
ugh I hope not…
why not? nobody said you need the pencil, or will force you to use it, but added support is almost always a good thing, the freedom of choice. Plus, I thoroughly enjoy the S Pen on my friend’s Note and is among the top wants in my wish list for an iPhone, after battery life and a bigger screen to surface ratio and customisability. If any Android troll is reading this, I am aware many androids deliver on what I listed, but they don’t execute other features as good, the overall experience is poorer and I’m already hooked into the Apple ecosystem (and a good number of my friends).
Apple is at their best when they’re making decisions for the consumer and not just having a free for all with supporting different technologies. This is a samsung move if they offer it.
It’s also an Apple move when their devices support each other. Plus, it can’t possibly be that hard to include support… It’s not making a new device or anything, it’s just adding support for an existing product… everything else is already there, like notes with sketching, paper by 53, pixelmator, Adobe Comp CC, Conceptz, Digital touch messages… so.. why not? It would make sense on the Plus model, but I do sketching (albeit really light sketching due to lack of a stylus) even on my iPhone 6.
Holly Crap !!!! Steve are probably mulling on the coffin ! I think he will open the coffin and perform a back flip
If they make a shorter/thinner Pencil, then sure I get the idea of regularly having it on you when travelling. But I would not purchase the current Pencil just for the iPhone. I’d be more afraid of damaging it than anything…
Hopefully they will make one available SOONER rather than later.