We’ve all misplaced pens and pencils earlier than. It’s annoying when it occurs, however they’re simply replaceable, so that you don’t give it a lot thought. However dropping an Apple Pencil? That’s an actual ache. Not solely is it a specialised, distinctive utensil—it’s expensive, too.
A latest patent utility by Apple hopes to save lots of customers from that aggravation. Patently Apple experiences on U.S. patent 20230161545, which describes how acoustic resonators can be utilized within the Apple Pencil so it will probably alert a person as to its location.
Discovering a misplaced Pencil might work in the identical approach a person can use Discover My to find a misplaced iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The person launches the Discover My app and goes to the Gadgets part, and Bluetooth (which is what the Pencil makes use of to connect with an iPad) can be used to sense the it’s proximity. The person can then click on on the Pencil in Discover My’s map and have it play a sound and vibrate.
From Apple’s patent submitting, a diagram of the Apple Pencil acoustic resonator.
Apple
For the reason that Pencil’s design doesn’t enable for a speaker, Apple has developed the usage of acoustic resonators. In accordance with the patent, the resonators can be positioned on the high a part of the Pencil, beneath the cap that homes the haptic module. “The drive sign generated on the haptic module could be transferred to the acoustic resonators by means of a path of fabric that mechanical {couples} the acoustic resonators to the haptic module.”
Apple at the moment has two variations of the Pencil accessible, and each the unique Pencil and the 2nd-generation Pencil shouldn’t have the potential to emit sound. By the appears of Apple’s patent, there’s no approach so as to add such a characteristic to these Pencils in software program. It requires new {hardware} and can be part of a brand-new Pencil the corporate would launch sooner or later.
