Future Apple Pencils could have interchangeable nibs with different functions

Future Apple Pencils could have interchangeable nibs with different functions, according to a newly granted Apple patent (number 10,921,907).

In the patent filing, Apple notes that a stylus (that would the Apple Pencil, which Apple has often denied is a stylus) can be utilized to provide input by contacting a touch panel of an electronic device such as an iPad (and, probably, an iPhone in the future). Typically, you move it across the touch panel of an iPad in a pattern that the device translates into an input command. 

Today that involves drawing or writing on the screen or clicking where you wish to input data. However, Apple wants to kick things up a notch by having interchangeable nibs with special features such as changing the color, shape, thickness, size, brightness, or opacity of an object.

Here’s the summary of the invention: “An input device, such as a stylus, can include a main body comprising a main body connector for connecting to a charger to charge a power source of the stylus. A separate functional end module is removable from the main body to expose the main body connector. The functional end module includes a functional component and a module connector that communicates with the main body via the main body connector. Various different functional end modules can be interchangeable to provide a variety of distinct features to the stylus.”