Apple is reportedly exploring the potential of integrating Apple Pencil functionality with its Apple Vision Pro headset, despite the device's design to operate without the need for an external controller. Upon its release, Apple emphasized the Vision Pro's reliance on a "gaze and pinch" interaction system, eliminating the need for handheld devices.
Nonetheless, sources from MacRumors indicate that Apple is experimenting with the compatibility of a new Apple Pencil version designed to work with visionOS. The exact reasons for this testing remain unspecified, but speculation suggests it could enable users to engage in drawing activities while using the Apple Vision Pro, such as sketching on a virtual desktop or interacting with apps in a three-dimensional space. This feature would necessitate a software update, yet there is no confirmed schedule for when such an update would be available. While there's hope that visionOS 1.2 might introduce this functionality as early as late March, it's also possible that it won't be implemented until visionOS 2, if it happens at all.
This isn't the first hint at Apple's interest in this technology; previous research and patents have hinted at the exploration of such capabilities, including patents outlining a controller with virtual tips visible to the user, akin to the Apple Pencil.
