Apple :Will The Defining Feature Of The iPhone 5S Be A Stylus?

Apple founder Steve Jobs was famously against the use of the stylus pen with mobile devices, seeing gesture control on the iPhone and iPad as the next generation of stylus-controlled “Palm Pilots” of yesteryear. In spite of Jobs’ hardline ethic on the stylus pen, the tech media has managed to keep the notion of an Apple-sanctioned stylus flowing through the mainstream rumor mill.

Today, a new rumor is circulating that a stylus pen will accompany the iPhone 5S in 2013:

According to an article on Technorati:

Apple’s next version of the iPhone, rumored to be the iPhone 5S, may feature a stylus technology similar to that of the S-Pen on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, according to a new report.

The report mentioned that Apple may use the company’s new Smart Pen technology with a stylus orientation detection, identifiable stylus and intelligent stylus features on iPhone 5S or the iPhone 6.

I followed the “report” to an article that claims the proof of new Apple stylus technology hangs on several Apple patents. In terms of the viability of this rumor, I wouldn’t put much stock into it — there’s really no proof here to suggest that a stylus for the iPhone 5S is imminent.

However, the stylus story connects with our previous article on Lowering Expectations On New iPhone 5S Hardware, and on how Apple could try to do some things with accessories in 2013 that would give the effect of a hardware upgrade without Cupertino having to abandon key hardware design on the iPhone 5 that can save them money on the iPhone 5S.

With new rumors that the Samsung Galaxy S4 could include Qi wireless charging technology that would be housed not in the smartphone chassis itself, but rather in a proprietary back cover, which would interface with the mini USB. Apple could take a similar approach with the iPhone 5S by keeping the hardware on the device similar to that of the iPhone 5, but debuting something new, such as a stylus, which could accompany the new iPhone.

With recent reports that iPhone 5S production is already beginning on the same assembly lines that Foxconn uses for the iPhone 5, it remains to be seen if the iPhone 5S would include a stylus that is housed in the 5S’s chassis, alla the Note. It’s also worth noting that a stylus pen would really be better suited for the likes of the iPad than the iPhone. After all, one of Apple’s iPhone 5 commercials boasted of how the elongated screen made it easy to control scrolling on the iPhone with one’s thumb.

Perhaps if Apple is going to debut a stylus pen, we’ll see it included with the iPad 5 before the iPhone 5S?
By John Smith