With the possible inclusion of Find My support for the Apple Pencil, there could be a bit less reason to tear your hair out upon misplacing the somewhat pricey stylus.
A recent patent application by Apple hopes to save users from that aggravation. Patently Apple reports on U.S. patent 20230161545, which describes how acoustic resonators can be used in the Apple Pencil so it can alert a user as to its location.
The feature would operate much the same way it does for Find My to help locate a missing iPhone, iPad, or Mac. The user would go to the app, select “Devices,” and Bluetooth, and work to sense its proximity. The user can then click on the Pencil in Find My’s map and have it play a sound and vibrate.
Given that the Apple Pencil’s current design doesn’t allow for a speaker, Apple’s patent hints at acoustic resonators, which would be located at the top part of the Pencil, underneath the cap that houses the haptic module. “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.”
Apple currently sells first and second-generation versions of the Apple Pencil, neither of which emit sound. As such, the patent seems to indicate a third generation that could be en route, complete with new hardware that would allow for acoustic resonance and aid in locating the lost device.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via Macworld, Patently Apple, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office