"Nobody wants a stylus" but Apple tested a Pencil for folding iPhone

Apple Pencil Pro — (Image credit: Apple)

Quick summary

Apple is thought to have tested an Apple Pencil with the forthcoming folding iPhone.

The Pencil is unlikely to be released, however, as it faces a number of practical challenges with mobile use.

Steve Jobs famously said "nobody wants a stylus" when revealing the original iPhone in 2027, making a swipe at business-focused devices like the Palm Pilot and Windows-powered PDAs that all came with a stylus.

But it seems that Apple has been testing a Pencil that would work with the iPhone Ultra, its first folding phone, expected to be unveiled at an event next week.

The Apple Pencil is said to be "stubbier" than the version already available for the iPad, and able to magnetically attach to the side of the phone for storage and charging.

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However, according to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg - who says he has "zero doubt" that this has been prototyped and tested - doesn't think Apple will release it.

There's a couple of reasons for that, starting with design. Having a Pencil attached to the side of the device is awkward - especially if you're going to be opening and closing and putting it in your pocket, where it will almost certainly detach.

The display surface also has to be considered: folding screens are softer and more prone to marking than traditional glass displays and a stylus could make that worse. Then, of course, we have Steve Jobs saying that nobody wants a stylus, making the point that the interface should be optimised for touch.

Apple won't find itself at a disadvantage here either: Samsung dropped support for the S Pen on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and it wasn't restored for the Galaxy Z Fold 8. That's thought to be because Samsung wanted the device to be thinner and removing the supporting digitising layer made this possible.

So it seems that an Apple Pencil for the iPhone Ultra was considered and then, probably, abandoned. Gurman says that it's "unlikely that Apple will actually launch this accessory".

Apple's September launch looks like it will give us the iPhone 18 Pro alongside the new folding iPhone. Rumours have suggested that Apple will save the regular iPhone 18 for early 2027. What we're really going to be looking for is some exemplary use cases for the new iPhone to make best use of the big display.

The new iPhone will probably be joined by new Apple Watch models, while new AirPods could also make an appearance.

Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he's covered just about every product launched, witnessed the birth of Android, the evolution of 5G, and the drive towards electric cars. You name it and Chris has written about it, driven it or reviewed it. Now working as a freelance technology expert, Chris' experience sees him covering all aspects of smartphones, smart homes and anything else connected. Chris has been published in titles as diverse as Computer Active and Autocar, and regularly appears on BBC News, BBC Radio, Sky, Monocle and Times Radio. He was once even on The Apprentice... but we don't talk about that.