The Apple Pencil’s Next Big Feature Could Be… A Replaceable Battery?
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Apple is reportedly preparing to overhaul its lineup of iPad styluses with two new models coming next year alongside its next set of tablet releases.
Specifically, Apple is expected to upgrade the Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Apple Pencil Pro, which are effectively the only two current models. Although Apple still sells the original first-generation Apple Pencil and second-generation Apple Pencils, that’s solely to provide support for older iPad models.
While there’s not much information yet on what features Apple could be adding that the current Apple Pencil models don’t already offer, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who broke the rumor in his Power On newsletter over the weekend, believes that Apple may be acceding to demands by the European Union to make the batteries in the styluses more easily replaceable.
“The current (and prior) Apple Pencils are a nightmare to repair and filled with glued-together parts,” Gurman notes, “so this would be a big change if it happens.”
While this is entirely speculative on Gurman’s part, it’s grounded in the fact that the EU has a real problem with non-user-replaceable batteries in consumer electronics. It’s been pushing Apple to put a removable battery in the iPhone for years, along with most of its other products, and Gurman’s sources say Apple is working hard to find ways to satisfy these new requirements.
If that’s really the case, then it’s possible these new Apple Pencil models could be released solely to check that box off, thereby being an iterative upgrade that would offer few additional improvements.
It’s also worth mentioning that the EU’s idea of replaceable batteries doesn’t exactly line up with what some have been clamoring for over the years. Apple isn’t required to let users swap batteries out at will, so don’t expect an old-school battery compartment on the back of the iPhone or AAA batteries in an Apple Pencil.
Instead, the EU says batteries have to be “readily removable,” which means they can be “removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools.” As with the common charging standard, this is a policy about reducing e-waste; EU regulators are concerned about phones being tossed into landfill when their batteries no longer hold a charge; they couldn’t care less about your ability to change a battery on the go.
As Gurman notes, changing a battery in an Apple Pencil right now is effectively impossible. If the battery on an Apple Pencil dies, it’s an inert piece of plastic that might as well get tossed in the trash or recycled. Ensuring a battery can be swapped out gives those styluses a longer lease on life, thus preventing them from becoming e-waste.
The relevant part of the EU Batteries Regulation doesn’t come into force until February 2027, and it’s likely Apple’s mainstream products are already in compliance thanks to significant repairability improvements, such as the ones we saw in last year’s M5 MacBook Pro and the 2024 iPhone 16 lineup.
Still, it’s got a long way to go before the same can be said about accessories like the Apple Pencil and AirPods, where the batteries are so effectively fused into the electronics as to make even an attempt at replacement an exercise in luck.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
