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iPad Pro stylus

J

JustMadeThisNameUp

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 15, 2015
162
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Word is the stylus won't be required for the iPad Pro and can be purchased separately. Anyone hear anything about possibly being able to use said stylus on another iPad?

I'd purchase one first day if I thought I could use it with the Air or the Mini.
 
I'm in a very similar position. I would love to see support for the smaller iPads, if Apple create a 1st party stylus. The idea of a large screened canvas does seem very appealing though.

The short answer to your question is that there's been no strong leaks of any kind related to the rumoured stylus.

The long answer:

Apple have had several different patent applications approved for stylus devices. These cover many bases and show many differing types of technology. So there's no conclusive evidence as to how a rumoured stylus would work. If the stylus is reliant on improved iPad screen technology such as force touch or improved digitizer, I can see it being an exclusive iPad pro device. However, if the stylus registers pressure onboard, then it may well be supported by other devices.

If you look at the various patent applications, there are some really compelling ideas being proposed.

1. Interchangeable nibs for different drawing tasks (including an inked nib, see below).
2. The ability to write on a piece of paper and the writing be transposed onto your iDevice remotely (even iPhones etc).
3. Onboard taptic engine to register feedback through the stylus.

Why stop there? A universal stylus could be supported by OSX. Imagine drawing on your desk and everything being transposed onto your Mac computer, with the taptic engine warning you when you've reached the edge of the virtual canvas on the computer?

My guess is that Apple will make any stylus exclusive to the iPad pro, initially. But they are really starting to see the benefit of 'accessories'. The potential of selling millions of stylii to existing iPad, iPhone and Mac owners would surely be very attractive.
 
Maybe it will be kind of like the Pen for the Surface Pro? this is all going to depend on whether the iPad Pro is going to be positioned as a Surface Pro competitor by Apple, if so then we may see features that are better. Apple typically only get's involved in new products where they see area for development and where it as matured, for example the Surface and other hybrid devices have been around for a few years. OR maybe the iPad Pro will just be a bigger iPad and it will have a stylus that enables business people, and creative individuals like myself to create, write and so on.

The Stylus is an interesting thing tho, it has matured over the last few years to more than just something to tap the screen with, it has become a digital paintbrush and a pen for some people, maybe this is what Apple will try and tap into. Hopefully we won't have long to find out, October probably.
 
This image appeared on a patentlyapple.com story about the Force Touch patent..

it appears to show an ipad with a different layout to other pictures from patents previously showing an ipad.
In particular, there is a cutout slot upper right - ?for a stylus
and a port ?USB
 

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I can't see Apple doing much else except pushing Force Touch harder, pun intended. It will not be a Surface Pro competitor, not by a long shot.
 
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No, if Apple releases a halfway decent stylus that can compete with Wacom or nTrig, it almost certainly will not be supported by older devices. The limiting factor has always been the capacative screen, which is why despite dozens of options, none of the current 3rd party styluses out there are worth buying due to poor performance. To support a stylus, Apple either needs to add some display tech like a digitizer, or use some other technical solution that will also require hardware not featured on older models.
 
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Nausicaa said:
No, if Apple releases a halfway decent stylus that can compete with Wacom or nTrig, it almost certainly will not be supported by older devices. The limiting factor has always been the capacative screen, which is why despite dozens of options, none of the current 3rd party styluses out there are worth buying due to poor performance. To support a stylus, Apple either needs to add some display tech like a digitizer, or use some other technical solution that will also require hardware not featured on older models.
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I agree, and it is the most likely scenario.

However, it is possible that Apple will produce a bluetooth stylus (similar to what is currently available) but provide support for it at the operating system level (vs. the app level for those apps that have been written to utilize private APIs for those styli) In this scenario such a stylus would (or at least should) be backward compatible.
 
Mine arrived yesterday and, unless it requires iOS 9, currently i cannot pair it with my iphone 6.
 
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