The folding iPhone will support Apple Pencil after all, sources claim
A week or so ago, the Bloomberg leaker Mark Gurman made a bold claim: Apple had, βwith zero doubt,β been testing and prototyping a new, stubbier version of the Apple Pencil for its upcoming foldable iPhone. Considering that the company has sold phones for 19 years and styluses for 11 years but has never brought the two things together, this seemed surprising. Some might even say a colossal mistake. But at least the idea was just that: an idea, tested for a while and probably discarded.
But hang on for a minute, because today, at the very last minute, Gurman has posted another article about Appleβs Surprise and Shine press event. And he now insists that the folding iPhone (or iPhone Duo, as heβs now calling it) will indeed be compatible with the Apple Pencil.
Itβs important to note that Gurmanβs latest prediction, in his own words, is merely that the iPhone Duo will have βsupport for the Apple Pencil stylus.β If Apple still plans to launch a special edition of the stylus, he doesnβt mention this. From the sound of this the inclusion of Apple Pencil support would be very much optional; a nice-to-have rather than an integral feature. Which sounds like something nobody could be against, right?
Except the screen, which is already a source of concern because of the dangers of a visible crease, will need the additional tech to support stylus input, and as Gurman himself has pointed out, that could result in visible marks. And the iPhone Ultra/Duo wonβt be the right size for a standard-issue Apple Pencil to attach magnetically along one side, which creates all sorts of storage and charging headaches. All this to support an accessory most people wonβt use.
To be fair, the foldable iPhone, when unfolded, will be more akin to a tablet than a smartphone. (Its expected screen size is virtually identical to the original iPad mini.) So there may be some demand for stylus support. Itβs just hard to feel positive about what seems like a half-hearted approach to the matter. Either you do Apple Pencil support properly, with a dedicated version of the stylus that actually fits, or you donβt bother.
Then again, the Pencil gets the briefest of snippets in Gurmanβs report, so perhaps thereβs more to the story than heβs letting on. You can follow all the latest breaking news as we lead up to todayβs announcement with our Apple event live blog.


