Apple Pencil enthusiasts may be getting an upgrade that can help them keep track of their stylus’ last location. The Apple Pencil could receive an acoustic resonator, the technology enabling Apple’s Find My technology, as reported by Patently Apple.
In a patent application filed by Apple, the inventors envisioned an acoustic resonator that could be placed at the end of the stylus and engineered to exhibit “resonant behavior or frequency.”
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Or, the acoustic resonator could be in the stylus’s cap, which would encourage ventilation. Either way, Apple inventors want to equip the Apple Pencil with technology to “communicate a location request to the stylus.”
Should the acoustic resonator be in the Apple Pencil’s cap, “the drive signal generated at the haptic module can be transferred to the acoustic resonators through a path of material that mechanical couples the acoustic resonators to the haptic module,” according to the patent.
This type of engineering means the Apple Pencil would be able to create a sound and vibration when the user needs to find it.
The Find My technology allows users to add multiple devices to their Find My app when all the devices are registered under the same Apple ID. So, if an Apple Pencil is lost, the user can use their iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or Mac to see where their Apple Pencil is.
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Once the user is at the same location as their lost Apple Pencil, from the Find My app on their Apple device, they can tap the “Play Sound” option and their Apple Pencil will chime repeatedly until it’s located.
And for most people, using Find My technology to find their lost Apple Pencil would be a good thing. Apple Pencils are popular among iPad users, but they are really easy to misplace. Plus, a new Apple Pencil is $130.
However, the prospect of having Find My technology in an Apple Pencil is just an idea for now. A patent filing doesn’t mean this technology will come to fruition, but it would be very handy.
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