The Apple Pencil 3 Is Coming | Latest Rumors, Features and What to Expect

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, the Apple Pencil is the best iPad accessory for both professional and casual users. From how easy it is to set up to the precision and non-existent latency when drawing, writing, or just navigating your iPad, the Apple Pencil is a must-have accessory. Sure, the first-generation Apple Pencil wasn’t the best, especially when it was time to charge it – but Apple completely changed the design and functionality for the better when it introduced the second-generation Apple Pencil.

It’s hard to imagine Apple creating an even better Apple Pencil than what we currently have, but it seems the company will try to push the Apple Pencil even further. The best part? We’re probably going to see it this year. And if the rumors are correct, we will see some amazing, never-before-seen features from Apple. Here’s everything we know so far.

Apple Pencil 3 Will Have the Same Design, But Will Feature a New Color

Apple completely redesigned the Apple Pencil when it introduced the Apple Pencil 2. From a smaller, easy-to-use design to new double-tap controls and wireless charging, the Apple Pencil tool looked sleeker and worked better than ever.

The Apple Pencil 3, on the other hand, won’t see so many changes in its design. An Apple leaker known as Mr. White shared on Twitter what they claimed to be the new Apple Pencil.

If the picture above is accurate, there aren’t any major changes from the current-generation Apple Pencil. People have pointed out that it looks glossier than the Apple Pencil 2, but that could be for many reasons.

On the inside, the Apple Pencil tip seems slightly different, but that’s something you wouldn’t notice until it’s time to change it.

Along with this picture, Mr. White also said that the new Apple Pencil is black. If true, we should expect Apple to offer different colors of the Apple Pencil, similar to what it’s done to other products. Now, Apple, please do the same with the AirPods.

Other than that, it seems like Apple won’t make any other changes in the Apple Pencil 3’s design. The new features, though, could be game-changing.

Apple Pencil 3 Could Have These Unique, New Features

As of right now, there aren’t many rumors or leaks regarding what new features the Apple Pencil 3 will bring. We should expect a more precise experience with even less latency than the current Apple Pencil 2 has, which is around 9ms.

What’s more interesting, though, are all the new features Apple patented last year. These new Apple Pencil patents, provided by Patently Apple, show what Apple might want to bring to the Apple Pencil.

We’ll try to focus on the new features that are more likely to appear on the Apple Pencil 3 since there are some over-the-top features that we won’t see anytime soon.

One of Apple’s patents shows a feature that would allow making a rolling gesture on the Apple Pencil to zoom in on the iPad. This feature would be convenient for artists who need to zoom in and out of their art to work on fine details.

It’s highly likely that Apple will let you customize the actions of the rolling gesture, similar to what you can do with the double-tap controls of the current Apple Pencil.

There’s also a feature that would let you draw with the Apple Pencil in augmented reality using a headset, probably referring to the also rumored Apple Glasses.

Another cool feature that could possibly come to the Apple Pencil 3 is an Advanced Color Sensor. As the patent says, this feature would make the Apple Pencil capable of scanning colors from real-life environments into the iPad. How cool would it be to grab colors from the real world to give your art a more accurate essence?

Even though we don’t know if Apple will have this feature ready for the Apple Pencil 3, let’s hope the company’s working on it.

There are even more features we could see on the Apple Pencil 3. First, the ability to facilitate in-air gestures to control an iPad. We’ve already seen Samsung attempt this feature using the S Pen from the Samsung Galaxy Note, but it’s a bit too gimmicky to use regularly. However, Apple could use these gestures as an accessibility feature for people when they can’t (or don’t want to) hold their iPads.

Another patent describes an Apple Pencil with advanced built-in haptics. Apple’s no stranger to haptics, and we’ve seen this feature in many Apple products, including the Apple Watch. However, we don’t know exactly how the Apple Pencil could benefit from haptics yet.

It’s possible that Apple uses the feature to make the user feel like they are writing or drawing on a different texture like paper. Many complaints revolve around how unsatisfying it is to write on a screen, so Apple could be working on a fix.

Keep in mind that these features, although they sound awesome, are just patents at the moment. We haven’t heard anything from leakers regarding new features coming to the Apple Pencil. Still, if a least one of these features makes it to the Apple Pencil 3, that would make it a must-have for artists and professionals.

Apple Pencil 3 Release Date and Price

Although we don’t know when Apple will release the Apple Pencil 3, we have a couple of guesses – like at the next Apple event, whenever that’s happening. Just last week, we were expecting an Apple event on March 23. Sadly, it seems that event won’t happen until April, although there are still many speculations about it.

Whenever the Apple event happens, we’re expecting to see new iPad Pro and iPad mini models. Apple may announce a new Apple Pencil along with the new models. However, that seems a bit too far-fetched. At least according to what we’re expecting to see at that event.

Based on Apple’s launch history, the Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil 2 were both released in November of 2015 and 2018, respectively. It’s likely that Apple will wait at the end of the year to announce a new Apple Pencil like it’s done in the past.

As for the price, we should expect Apple to keep the same 130-dollar price tag as the current-generation Apple Pencil while lowering the older models to a more affordable price.

[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.]