Apple has submitted a new project to the US Patent and Trademark Office. It is a new latest generation Apple Pencil which, according to the submitted project, would be able to exploit its optical sensors to sample both the color and texture of a surface.
The news was shared publicly by patentlyapple.com, which also published drafts from the original project. In the Apple document it emerges that the optical sensor will be able to interact with external objects in order to detect its color tone, pattern and other metrics.
What we know about the new Apple Pencil
The sensor will also take into consideration all the possible variables of color measurement (such as light) by exploiting the various latest generation photodetectors. Alternatively it will also be possible manually adjust the parameters to more accurately detect the color of the object in question.
The collected data will then sent wirelessly to a companion device. This can be, for example, a tablet. All the information can then be processed in the various drawing and graphics software.
At the moment it is not clear when Apple will end development of the new device, as well as details regarding other features are scarce. What is certain is that the project has been filed under patent number 20220413636 A1.
In another news story today, Apple announced the permanent shutdown of the Dark Cloud app, which the company acquired in 2020.