Overview
- Bloomberg reported Sunday that Apple built and tested a shorter, stubbier Apple Pencil prototype made specifically for the company’s first foldable iPhone.
- The mockup was designed to magnetically attach and charge on the phone’s long edge, a placement that testers found would make the closed device awkward to hold and could force users to remove the pencil before unfolding.
- Engineers worried that the pencil’s tip could leave visible marks on the foldable’s more delicate inner display, a durability risk for a first‑generation product.
- Supporting an active stylus also requires an extra digitizer layer under the screen, which adds thickness and likely conflicted with Apple’s priority to keep the foldable thin and pocketable.
- Apple is not expected to announce or ship Apple Pencil compatibility with the first foldable at the September 9 event, third‑party capacitive styluses will still work, and Apple could revisit precision stylus support in later models.