Future Apple Pencils might be able to sample real world colors. That however is still in the conceptual stage as Apple has only patented such a feature where the Apple stylus is able to sample colors from real world objects as well as apply the same on the iPad or other compatible devices. That apart, the future Apple Pencil is also touted to come with other features as well, which include being able to sample textures as well.
As per images that are available in the public domain, the future Apple Pencil is expected to come integrated with an ambient light sensor, a light emitter as well as a light detector that would act to ‘capture’ the color and texture of the exterior surface. Such a feature will make for a huge makeover for the Apple Pencil and will no doubt set a precedent for others to follow in the segment.
That said, there is no surety such a Pencil will indeed make it to the market. Companies filed such patents but it is only a few that ever make it to the commercial stage and eventually get launched. In fact, Apple had earlier filed a patent for a similar feature back in June 2020 though none of it has come out of the developmental stage. Apple had introduced the second generation Apple Pencil back in 2018 but never stated when they plan to follow that up with a newer third generation Pencil.
However, such a feature will come as a boon for many, particularly artists, designers, architects, game designers, or those whose profession requires them to draw, sketch, or scribble on a digital surface – read the iPad. As of now, the only way for artists to create textures is to click images of the textures followed by digitizing them. Apple had earlier announced new features for the Apple Pencil as well as other software level enhancements introduced in the subsequent iPadOS versions that enhanced the functionality of the Apple Pencil all the more.
Take for instance the new iPad Pro equipped with the M2 processor which introduced the new hover feature for the Apple Pencil. The feature allowed users to hover the pencil over the iPad Pro’s display which let them know where exactly the Apple Pencil would touch the display.
