Apple Tested a Stubbier Apple Pencil for Its Foldable iPhone, but It Likely Wont Launch, Report Says

Apple internally prototyped and tested a specialized Apple Pencil designed for its upcoming foldable iPhone, but the accessory is unlikely to actually reach the market when the device launches next month, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Gurman detailed the findings in his "Power On" newsletter Sunday, writing that Apple "internally prototyped, tested and considered launching an Apple Pencil for the upcoming foldable iPhone." According to his reporting, the stylus Apple tested was noticeably shorter and stubbier than existing Apple Pencil models designed for the iPad, a design choice intended to align with the compact height of the foldable device. The prototype was engineered to attach magnetically to the side of the phone for both storage and charging, mirroring how current Apple Pencil models work with supported iPad devices.

Despite the extent of the internal development work, Gurman said he believes it is unlikely Apple will actually bring the accessory to market alongside the foldable iPhone's expected debut. "It seems unlikely that Apple will actually launch this accessory when it rolls out the foldable iPhone next month," Gurman wrote, according to a summary of his newsletter published by Cult of Mac.

Multiple outlets covering the report pointed to the same core reason for the accessory's likely cancellation: the risk that a stylus could damage the foldable device's more delicate screen. Foldable displays rely on flexible, layered materials that are inherently softer and more fragile than the glass panels used on conventional iPhones, and Apple's internal testing reportedly found that firm stylus pressure, of the kind commonly applied while writing or drawing, could risk causing lasting damage to the screen's surface.

Space constraints also appear to have played a role in the decision. Enabling active stylus support typically requires an additional digitizer layer positioned beneath the display to detect the Pencil's input, hardware that takes up valuable internal space inside a device that already needs to accommodate a large foldable display, batteries and other components within an unusually thin chassis. Reports have suggested Apple's foldable iPhone, expected to be named either the iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra, will measure roughly 4.5 millimeters thick when unfolded, making it thinner than Apple's current 5.1-millimeter iPad Pro, itself the thinnest device the company has ever produced.

Apple's broader stylus strategy on the foldable device also reportedly ran into design compromises beyond just the screen risk. According to a report from Techgenyz, the tested prototype's magnetic side-attachment mechanism, while convenient for storage and wireless charging, made it more difficult to physically open the folded device while the stylus remained attached, an ergonomic tradeoff that appears to have factored into Apple's broader hesitation to move forward with the accessory.

Apple's history with styluses carries some notable irony given the company's own founding philosophy on the subject. Steve Jobs famously mocked the concept of smartphone styluses during the original iPhone's 2007 unveiling, saying at the time, "If you see a stylus, they blew it." Apple nonetheless went on to introduce the Apple Pencil for the iPad in 2015, a product that has since become a well-established and popular accessory within Apple's broader tablet lineup, even as the company has never extended stylus support to any standard iPhone model.

The broader foldable phone industry has taken an inconsistent approach to stylus support. Samsung offered S Pen compatibility across its Galaxy Z Fold lineup beginning with the Z Fold 3 in 2021, but the company dropped that support entirely with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, removing the internal digitizer layer needed to detect stylus input in order to make the device thinner and more durable. Google has similarly shown no interest in adding stylus support to its Pixel Fold devices, and book-style foldables from manufacturers including OnePlus and Huawei have not offered official stylus accessories either. Oppo remains something of an exception within the industry, having built limited stylus support into its Find N series since the Find N2, though availability has remained restricted to certain regional markets.

Apple's foldable iPhone is widely expected to be unveiled at the company's Sept. 9 event in Cupertino, California, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Global foldable smartphone shipments are projected to grow roughly 20% in 2026 compared with the prior year, according to industry data cited by research firm DigiTimes, with Apple's long-anticipated entry into the category cited as one of the key factors expected to drive that growth, regardless of whether the device ultimately ships with any form of stylus support at launch.