The new Apple Pencil Pro would make a perfect accessory for Apple Vision Pro.
Alongside new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, today Apple announced the $130 Apple Pencil Pro for use with them.
The new Apple Pencil Pro.
In addition to the pressure sensing and double tap detection of the existing second-generation Apple Pencil, the new Pro model has a gyroscope, squeeze sensor, and haptic feedback. Apple did not mention that it would support any other device than its new iPads, but these features make it a perfect controller for Apple Vision Pro. When announcing the headset,
that “it’s so precise, it completely frees up your hands from needing clumsy hardware controllers”.
Statements like these make it clear that Apple won’t be shipping a gamepad split in half, the dominant form of input for every other major AR/VR platform, any time soon. But the lack of tactility of visionOS’s default input paradigm severely limits its usefulness for the creative and professional use cases iPad Pro is marketed for and Sony is hoping to target with Apple boasted.
Given Apple is already its upcoming standalone headset with Vision Pro, a prudent strategy given the headset’s price point, will it really be content to cede the segment of the market that requires a precision input device?
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Supporting Apple Pencil Pro in visionOS could be Apple’s strategy to make the platform suitable for both 2D and 3D precision creativity. Apple’s visionOS could theoretically transform any table into an enormous drawing surface, or the surrounding space into a canvas that can be used for 3D modeling, animation and painting. It doesn’t appear to be too difficult for Vision Pro to track a white, bright object that is held by the user and has known dimensions. This is especially true since the object in question has an embedded gyroscope, which allows it to be oriented. And if like almost every other consumer electronic device this gyroscope is in an IMU (inertial measurement unit) which also contains an accelerometer, the tracking quality could be almost as good as a dedicated VR controller.strongly focusing on enterpriseFor 3D creativity, the squeeze sensor and double tap sensors would essentially give Apple and its developers a trigger and button to work with. For example, double tap would bring up the contextual menu. Squeeze to draw in 3D. Apple could calibrate the virtual content so that it appears locked to your desk’s height and angle by combining the pressure sensor input with LiDAR meshing and pencil tracking. The biggest iPad Pro gives you a 13-inch drawing surface, but Vision Pro could one day give you a limitless canvas for creativity.
But Is It Actually Happening?
In March
“a source familiar with the matter” as saying Apple had internally tested a future Apple Pencil with Vision Pro, though the outlet didn’t go into further details.
That Apple didn’t tease this today doesn’t mean it won’t happen. The focus of today’s event on iPads meant that adding Pencil Pro to Vision Pro required significant changes to visionOS. If this is coming, Apple would likely announce or tease it at WWDC, its annual event where it showcases upcoming improvements to its operating systems.
Apple
that WWDC24 will take place June 10 and include “visionOS advancements”. Apple
that WWDC24 will take place June 10 and include “visionOS advancements”.