There's a good chance Apple will unveil a new stylus during its Let Loose event, but recently discovered clues suggest we could see an Apple Pencil Pro. User rsuOvO in X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) would have found multiple references to the Pro model in the code of the company's Japanese website.
As of this writing, you can still find the name by heading to the web page and then pressing the Ctrl and U keys at the same time. Scroll down to about 60 percent of the way down and you'll find the name “Apple Pencil Pro” scattered throughout.
The surrounding text is in Japanese. Since we can't read the language, we checked the text on Google Translate to get an idea of what it says, so take the following with a grain of salt. According to the machine translation, it only describes in detail the accompanying GIF animation. The text talks about how the event's logo is drawn with shades of green and white before finishing with a brighter version of the Apple icon. No other information could be found about the Pencil Pro, its appearance, or any of its features.
The interesting thing about the code is that it cannot be found on the American, European or British versions of Apple's website. We found text strings mentioning the Apple Pencil and a description of the same GIF animation, but nothing about a Pro model of any kind. As far as we know, the name does not appear anywhere else.
Analysis: a possible rebrand
Does this mean that Japan is going to receive an exclusive Apple Pencil model or was its appearance on the website just a mistake? It's probably the latter. As MacRumors points out in its coverage, this could all be a “translation error” or someone made a mistake somewhere; both are equally probable.
However, the existence of an Apple Pencil Pro is an interesting concept; one we can't ignore, as leaks over the past six months have described the stylus as a very capable device. In September 2023, there was a leak claiming that the Apple Pencil 3 would have “interchangeable magnetic tips” to help artists perform different tasks. Then, this April, we saw more clues. Recent reports point to the possible inclusion of haptic feedback in the upcoming pen. It's a type of technology that can make it look like you're drawing on paper instead of glass. And a report from early last month indicated that basic features like pressure sensitivity would be present in the upcoming pen. This allows you to alter the “thickness of your punches depending on how hard you press down.”
Going back even further, there was another leak that claimed the Apple Pencil 3 would have “interchangeable magnetic tips” to help artists perform different tasks. In our opinion, features like these are better suited to a professional-grade model. It is for this reason that we believe that the Apple Pencil 3, assuming it is announced at the event, will be renamed the Apple Pencil Pro. It will exist alongside the original stylus and the Pencil 2 as the high-end option with all the bells and whistles, while that the other two will be the most economical options.
That seems to be the most likely scenario. Whoever helps run the Japanese website may have accidentally revealed the important update. If we don't see the Pencil Pro at the event, it's possible it will appear at WWDC 2024. It's hard to say for sure right now.
We hope Apple's Let Loose event is a big one and the world sees several tablets, like two iPad Pro models. If you're looking for a new tablet, check out TechRadar's list of the best iPads for 2024.
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