Apple is firmly in rule-breaking mode, which has led to the introduction of the first touchscreen MacBook, and an iPhone that accepts Pencil input. These rules, as set by Apple co-founder and former CEO, the late Steve Jobs, are now quickly becoming footnotes in the tech giant’s history, and consumers are the beneficiaries of this outside-the-box thinking. This week, I took a break from trying to figure out reasons to touch my MacBook Pro PROLED XDR Display , to finally dig into the other formerly unthinkable Apple product feature: an iPhone that accepts — even welcomes — Pencil input. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) Granted, the iPhone Duo is not your typical iPhone. It’s a two-screen handset with a 5. 4-inch display on the outside and, when you unfold the device, a 7. 6-inch display with a remarkable nanotech finish that effectively hides the crease. That big screen invites all kinds of non-traditional iPhone use cases, including big-screen content consumption, animated page turning in the Books app, and split-screen multitasking. It’s also an invitation to art — a fact Apple recognized by introducing, for the first time, Pencil support to the iPhone line, albeit in a limited fashion. Here are the limits:
The iPhone 18 Pro and all other iPhones currently on the market do not accept Pencil input
The only Pencil the iPhone Duo supports is the Apple Pencil (USB-C)
That second limit is a direct result of how the rest of the Apple Pencils pair with devices and charge: by being seated along the magnetic edge of any supporting iPad. Even unfolded, the iPhone Duo offers no equivalent capability. Limits aside, I honestly could not wait to try using Apple Pencil (USB-C) on my iPhone Duo (upgraded to iOS 27. 2). Getting started and scribbling away
The Apple Pencil (USB-C) looks like other Apple Pencils, but it hides a secret. When I slide the back end back, it reveals a USB-C port. I can use that to charge the Pencil, but it’s also how I connected the Pencil to my iPhone Duo: I run a USB-C cable from the phone’s USB-C port to the port on the Pencil. After that, the pairing is pretty much automatic. As you might expect, the Pencil — which is recognized on the inside and outside screens — can be used just like the tip of your finger to navigate the interface, if that’s your thing. The platform also adds Scribble, which means I can now poorly write the website names I want to see in Safari, jot down notes in Notes, and even solve simple written equations in that same app. But the show I came for, the reason we’re here, is to try drawing on both screens. (Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future) Flexi-sketch
I’ve been drawing my whole life and doing so on digital platforms for 40 years. I drew on the first Mac with a mouse, early PCs with a Wacom tablet, my finger on the iPhone, and, in recent years, on an iPad using Procreate and (naturally) an Apple Pencil…