The nibs on the Apple Pencil can be replaced should they be broken. However they are all of the same shape and size and they are essentially just replacement parts, but it a recently discovered patent filed by Apple a while ago could indicate what the Cupertino company might have planned for the future of the Apple Pencil.
Like we said, the patent was filed a while ago and if we had stumbled across it then, we would have easily dismissed it as the notion of Apple creating a stylus would have been incredulous back in the day. However given that we already have the Apple Pencil, perhaps there’s more to this patent then just simple protection of intellectual property.
According to the patent, one of the more interesting aspects of it notes that we could be looking at swappable nibs with different functions. For example it has hinted that there could be brush tips, felt tip pen type of nibs, pencil, and so on. To top it off, each nib will code with a unique identification code that is picked up by the Apple Pencil’s sensors.
This will then tell the iPad that the nib you are using is a brush tip and in turn it will be able to interpret the movements on the iPad as brush strokes as opposed to a pencil, and so on. This is an interesting idea and with Apple touting the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro combination as a digital artist’s dream come true, why wouldn’t they expand its capabilities, right? But we suppose until it has become an actual product, maybe we shouldn’t get our hopes up just yet.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Pencil, iPad Pro and Patent.