Does the iPhone Duo Support Apple Pencil? What You Need to Know
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It was January 9, 2007, and then Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs had taken the stage at Macworld 2007. Jobs was there to unveil the product that changed an industry, the original iPhone. During the presentation, Jobs famously posed a rhetorical question “Who wants a stylus?”
Jobs himself answered the question, saying:
Talking about styluses Jobs said, “Yuck! Who wants a stylus? You have to get ‘em, put ‘em away and you lose them. Nobody wants a stylus! […] We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world. We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with. We’re born with ten of them, we’re going to use our fingers. We’re going to touch this with our fingers.”
Jobs’ comments can be forgiven, as he was trying to sell a product that would change the way users would interact with their smartphones. Users had grown comfortable with styluses from the popular PDAs of the time — Palm and Windows — both used them (and yes, they were easy to lose — I know of one CompUSA in Indiana that made a nice profit off of me selling me replacements).
Plus, Apple itself had just a few years before offered its own PDA with a stylus, the Newton. And we all know how THAT product turned out. To be honest, the stylus was the least of the problems Newton users had to deal with. But it’s understandable why Jobs spoke so harshly about styluses.
But now, it’s a new day, and Apple has decided using a stylus with your iPhone (okay, we call them Apple Pencils these days) isn’t THAT bad of an idea!
On Wednesday, Apple unveiled its long awaited iPhone Duo — the first foldable iPhone ever.
During the presentation, Apple marketing boss Greg “Joz” Joswiak mentioned that the iPhone Duo will offer limited support for the Apple Pencil:
Later this year, you’ll be able to use Apple Pencil with USB-C on either display for jotting notes, sketching, or marking up documents. The first time iPhone offers the great Apple Pencil experience that iPad users love.
Impressively, Apple says that an Apple Pencil will work with both the inner and outer iPhone Duo displays. Unfortunately, if you already have an Apple Pencil for your iPad, there’s no guarantee that you can use it with your brand new foldable iPhone.
Apple notes that you’ll need the Apple Pencil with USB-C for use with the iPhone Duo, so if you have the Apple Pencil Pro, you may be SOL (simply out of luck).
It actually makes sense that the iPhone Duo doesn’t support the Apple Pencil Pro, as that particular stylus recharges from the magnetic surface on a compatible iPad. Unfortunately, the iPhone Duo shows no such magnetic surface in its long list of features — and even if it did, a 6.5-inch Apple Pencil Pro would be longer than the 4.64-inch long edge of the folded iPhone Duo — and it would be pretty awkward to only be able to charge it when unfolded.
The Apple Pencil with USB-C boasts a USB-C charging port hidden behind a sliding cap, and users will likely be able to charge it directly from the iPhone Duo’s USB-C port — provided they bring a cable along.
Apple reportedly considered a special Apple Pencil for the iPhone Duo, but abandoned the idea. That led some to assume it wasn’t going to support the stylus at all, but the company clearly felt it should let existing Apple Pencil users in — it just wasn’t worth creating an entirely separate accessory.
It should be noted that the Apple Pencil with USB-C lacks several of the features offered by the Apple Pencil Pro, including pressure sensitivity, haptic feedback, squeeze, double-tap, barrel roll, or Find My. It does, however, offer tilt sensitivity. The USB-C model is also much cheaper than the Pro model, as Apple charges $79 for the Apple Pencil with USB-C ($69 at Amazon) and $129 for the Apple Pencil Pro ($99 at Amazon).
As noted by Mactrast, Apple Pencil support will not be available when the iPhone Duo hits store shelves, and Apple merely says it’s “coming later this year.”
Pre-orders for the iPhone Duo will begin on October 16, and it will be available in stores and online on October 23.
