Why Apple Doesn’t Want to Add Apple Pencil Support to iPhones
Apple Pencil as a stylus
Controlling Apple tablets can be made somewhat more enjoyable by using the Apple Pencil stylus. It can behave like a perfectly ordinary pencil — with minimal latency, it can be used for writing all sorts of notes, drawing, easier control of apps and much more, making it an ideal partner for work or study, for example.
The giant rolled out the first-ever Apple Pencil back in 2015, when it unveiled it alongside the first iPad Pro. Specifically, it is a so-called digital stylus with the aforementioned capabilities. The use of styluses has been with us since the last century.
Even before the advent of today’s touchscreens, these styluses were used to control displays, but they were gradually phased out. Ironically, the first iPhone (2007) was a major change, as the giant relied on fingertip control to set the trend.
Since then, styluses have virtually disappeared from phones. Only Samsung has managed to keep them in some form. It still relies on the Galaxy S Pen stylus to this day, specifically for its flagship Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Apple Pencil for iPhone
There is a rather interesting topic among Apple fans. If Apple has the necessary hardware or its touch pen, why doesn’t it allow its phones to use it as well? As we have already hinted above, the Cupertino giant would be able to get closer to rival Samsung, which allows working with the S Pen stylus.
More importantly, Galaxy S23 Ultra users have liked using the accessory. Combined with the phone's larger screen, it is a rather handy and efficient solution for many different tasks and activities. Apple could offer the same gadget. But the problem is that they haven’t done so yet.
Moreover, considering the latest speculations and leaks, the giant is not even thinking about something like this or is keeping it under wraps. Hence, this raises another question about why Apple hasn’t deployed Apple Pencil support for the iPhone.
There are several different ways to look at this. First and foremost, there is an important fact to mention. The popularity of Apple Pencil on iPads does not guarantee that it will also succeed on Apple phones.
The smaller screen plays a key role in this. It could be a nuisance, paradoxically. On the other hand, it is theoretically possible to work with the theory that only the Plus and Max models, which rely on a 6.7″ display, would be supported.
In this respect, it offers a similar experience to the aforementioned Galaxy S23 Ultra. The latter has a 6.8″ display.
Will we ever see it?
As we mentioned right at the start, Apple has practically everything it could need. In theory, it doesn’t need to customize the stylus for the phone’s needs. It could simply take the already existing Apple Pencil and allow people to use it with iPhones.
But that’s not happening, and by the looks of it, we’re not going to see it anytime soon. Although touch pen control may make sense to a lot of people and, in a way, can be revolutionary.
A possible reason that often comes up among Apple fans is that the company doesn’t want to adapt the iOS operating system itself, which would have to be modified accordingly for these needs.
Does that even make sense?
I think so, but it would have to be a solution similar to Samsung’s, where the Pencil would be hidden in the phone's body. If the solution were magnetic like the iPad’s, I would have serious doubts about how long it would take users to lose the pencil.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article! If you enjoyed it, I appreciate your support through likes 👏🏻 and comments 💬. And if you want more content like this, don’t forget to follow me! Cheers 😊👌👋
Please consider direct support of my work: https://ko-fi.com/jakubjirak
