Do you like the look of a color you see on a t-shirt or book cover? You may one day be able to tap your Apple Pencil on it and use it in your own digital designs, according to a recently released Apple patent. The patent, discovered by AppleInsider, details a "color sampling pen" that uses sensors to pick up the colors it points to. This would obviously be very useful for art and sketching apps on iPad. It's actually an idea that's been sitting on Apple patents since at least 2014, so don't assume it's going to suddenly hit the market, although we think it would be a popular update. It appears that the Apple Color Picker comes with little lights on board, both to help you point to what you want to color sample (like a laser pen) and to indicate sync status with another device like a tablet.
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(Image credit: USPTO/Apple) New iPad models are always on the horizon, but with the patent only being published this week and filed last November, it doesn't seem like Apple has enough time to release a stylus. improved before Late 2020. The current second-generation Apple Pencil is already a good device, but there's always room for improvement. Previous patents have alluded to supporting new gestures, sliding your finger along the side of the stylus to scroll through a web page, for example. It's also been reported that Apple is considering adding stylus support to the iPhone, but right now the accessory only works with Apple tablets. We can't really see that change with the iPhone 12 either. As always with patent filings, there's no guarantee this device will ever be released, but it does show one of the Apple Pencil upgrades being considered. This is something to look out for at the next iPad launch event.