Apple is developing a version of its Pencil stylus with the ability to capture color and texture information from any surface, according to a patent application published in late December.

As Patently Apple reports, patent US 20220413636 A1 describes a stylus that has a "color sensing light detector" built in. The inclusion of an optical sensor would allow the stylus to detect the color of any real-world surface it comes into contact with, but the patent also suggests that the functionality could be extended to include capturing texture details, too.

Once the information has been captured, it would be transmitted wirelessly to a companion device such as an iPhone or iPad. The user could then use the color or texture in their drawing app of choice, assuming it's capable of reading the information captured and transferred from the stylus.

Adding this functionality to a third generation of the Pencil would certainly offer Apple an advantage and ultimately a lot more stylus sales. However, as with all patents, this functionality may never make it off the drawing board. Whether that happens or not will depend on how consistently accurate the sensor is, and if the feature can work without draining too much battery life out of the Pencil.