In just a few short hours, any and all speculation about Apple's upcoming iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will be put to rest once the company begins its annual keynote. However, that still leaves plenty of time for at least one more rumor: the iPhone 7 will support the Apple Pencil.
The rumor finds its roots in a comment made by Apple CEO Tim Cook during an interview in May when he was asked what he thought Steve Jobs would make of the Apple Pencil. However, it only really took shape this weekend when Apple journalist John Gruber highlighted it and brought it to everyone's attention now that the iPhone 7 is just a hair's breadth away from being unveiled.
Here is the original comment on NDTV that started it all:
NDTV: "Has that voice never come to you? For example when you launched the pencil and you know what Steve said, 'if you see a stylus they blew it,' when you launched that pencil?"
Tim Cook: "Well we launched a pencil, not a stylus, first of all, and there's a big difference, and the things that people are doing with this pencil, I think that Steve would have loved. He loved to help people create. If you've ever seen what can be created with that pencil on an iPad or an iPhone, it's really unbelievable."
The key part here is the mention of an iPhone, which is exactly what Gruber zeroed-in on in his weekend post. Why? Because the Apple Pencil is exclusive to the iPad Pro, and this is the case because it is the only device in Apple's lineup that possesses the display technology required to achieve the tool's high responsiveness: a subsystem that scans the Pencil's signal 240 times per second, allowing it to detect position, force and tilt at the individual pixel level - something that all iPhones to date currently lack.
With that in mind, it's clear that Tim misspoke about the Apple Pencil. Either he accidentally lumped in the iPhone with the iPad because of a slip of the tongue, or in a similar slip, revealed that Apple was internally using the Pencil with its upcoming iPhone.
Now, of course, the main question is whether the iPhone will support Apple Pencil, and based on everything that has been going on with Apple, the likelihood of that is somewhat high.
To start, with the future of the iPad mini unclear, there is a chance that Apple might discontinue the mini tablet and try to ship the iPhone 7 as its smallest creative device by adding support for the Apple Pencil. In a similar vein, Apple could only add support for the tool to the iPhone 7 Plus, thus giving potential buyers added incentive to purchase the high-end phone.
However, the biggest reason why this move seems likely is because of Apple's habit of expanding display advancements across its entire product lineup, once an initial one has been introduced. Just like how the 9.7-inch iPad Pro received significant display upgrades that set it apart from the iPad Air 2, the iPhone 7 could recieve similar upgrades that would allow functionality for the iPencil.
Fortunately, unlike so many rumors that came before it, this one will be short-lived. With just a few hours before the keynote is set to begin, it is only a matter of time before we learn whether the iPencil (which is totally not a stylus) will be coming to the iPhone 7.
