The next Apple Pencil may launch sooner than you think

Apple has already kicked off its 2024 portfolio with a surprise launch of the M3 MacBook Air laptops earlier this week. Now, it seems the next Apple product may already be on the horizon – a new Apple Pencil.

As per a new report by 9to5mac, evidence of a new Apple Pencil in the works was spotted in the code of the new iOS 17.4 update. The new Apple Pencil is expected to unsurprisingly feature a USB Type-C port, as well as new features like Find My addition. Here’s all we know about it so far.

Apple Pencil 2024: What to expect

The upcoming Apple Pencil will reportedly launch in time for the new iPad Pro models that Apple is also expected to announce later this year. The device is expected to come with a USB Type-C port like the affordable Apple Pencil which launched a few months ago.

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However, this new Apple Pencil is likely going to be a more feature-packed product, a true successor to the Apple Pencil Gen-2. It is currently not known what Apple may call the new device, however, given that the USB-C Apple Pencil never officially got a ‘Gen-3‘ tag.

The new Apple Pencil is expected to also support the new PencilKit 3 API, that developers can use to make their apps compatible with the Apple Pencil. However, what the new version of the API includes is also currently under the wraps.

We do expect some new, possibly exclusive features that will leverage the hardware on the upcoming iPad Pro models, although the Pencil should still work just fine with other iPads.

Find My integration, for instance, should allow users to track their Apple Pencil when it’s lost, similar to how they could track a pair of AirPods. This would make finding a misplaced/lost Apple Pencil much easier.

When the device will launch is currently unknown, but if a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is to be believed, new iPad Air and iPad Pro tablets could launch by March this year, painting a good picture of when we may get to see the new accessory too.