“Industry insiders” have said that the upcoming follow up to the iPhone X will include support for the Apple Pencil, according to a new report from Taiwanese Economic Daily News.
The Apple Pencil will apparently only be compatible with OLED models, meaning that only the second generation iPhone X and iPhone X Plus will benefit, rather than the rumoured cheaper iPhone 9.
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Other than that, there’s not a great deal to go on.
It would make sense for this to be a new version of the Apple Pencil, partly because the iPad-sized version would seem a bit unwieldy for a smartphone, and partly because the stylus hasn’t had a redesign since its launch in 2015.
If confirmed, this would be the first time in the 11-year history of the iPhone that styluses have been officially sanctioned by Apple. Indeed, back in 2007 at the iPhone’s launch, Steve Jobs was pretty clear that the stylus would never go near the iPhone under his watch.
“Who wants a stylus?” he rhetorically asked the audience more than a decade ago. “You have to get ‘em and put ‘em away, you lose ‘em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.”
The Apple Pencil, in fact, was born after Jobs’ death in 2011, and then only for use with the iPad – something Jobs would likely still not have been keen on, even when limited to tablets. “It’s like we said on the iPad – if you see a stylus, they blew it,” he quipped to the press back in 2010.
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Phones with styluses are few and far between, putting the new iPhone X on a collision course with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 should this rumour prove to be true.
Notably, such a move would instantly kill an attack line Samsung debuted in its recent Note 9 adverts, which suggested the Apple Pencil was less versatile than the not particularly versatile S-Pen.
Are you itching to use an Apple Pencil on your phone? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.