iPhone To Copy Samsung Again? 2019 Model Could Have Stylus [Report]

Apple could release an iPhone with a stylus as early as 2019, according to the Investor. Apple engineers are reportedly working on a new iPhone that comes with a “digital pen.” An industry source told the Investor Apple “is also in talks with a couple of stylus makers for a partnership.”

If Apple releases a digital pen for the iPhone, it would follow its rival Samsung, which recently upgraded its S-Pen stylus for its Galaxy Note line. However, Apple’s stylus would reportedly differ from Samsung’s. The Note pen runs on electromagnetic resonance technology that requires additional panels under the display, while the stylus for the iPhone will reportedly adopt a supercapacitor stylus type for price benefits.

“A supercapacitor type is cheaper to make compared to the EMR stylus. It also offers a more pen-like feel,” the source said.

To make the iPhone work with a stylus, Apple’s current A-series chip would see a “drastic change” for a better handwriting experience, the source said.

Apple Stylus Rumors

This isn’t the first time it has been rumored Apple could release a stylus for the iPhone. Apple has previously filed patents related to the technology over the past years. The company recently filed a patent for an iPhone stylus this past summer. The documents show images of the iPhone next to a stylus and also of a notification that tells users when to change the tip of the accessory to avoid damage to the screen.

Apple has also continuously released new handwriting features for iOS devices, like those seen on Notes and iMessage.

It wouldn’t be a new thing for Apple either, since the company released the Apple Pencil in 2015 alongside the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The $99 Apple Pencil is sensitive to pressure and tilt, which means user can vary line weight, create subtle shading, and produce other artistic effects.

Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook seemed to suggest during an interview with Daring Fireball that a stylus for the iPhone was coming in the future.

“If you’ve ever seen what can be created with that pencil on an iPad or an iPhone, it’s really unbelievable,” he said during the interview in September 2016.

However, it could be possible that Cook may have misspoken. Cook has also refrained from calling the Apple Pencil a stylus, saying in the interview "we launched a pencil not a stylus."

Steve Jobs Hated The Stylus

Back in 2007 at the Macworld convention in San Francisco, Apple’s late co-founder publicly expressed his hate for styluses by mocking other smartphone manufacturers who featured the accessory.

"Who wants a stylus?" Jobs said when he first unveiled the iPhone. "You have to get 'em, put 'em away, you lose 'em. Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus. So let's not use a stylus."

He said the same thing a decade before in 1997.

"God gave us 10 styluses. Let's not invent another," he said.

However, Cook believes Jobs “would have loved” the Apple Pencil.