The iPhone Duo arrived without Apple Pencil support despite Apple announcing the feature at its September event, and a new report sheds some light on why it isn’t ready yet.
Apple originally planned to release a smaller Apple Pencil designed specifically for its first foldable iPhone. The accessory would have attached magnetically to the Duo’s hinge, giving it a place to stay with the phone when it wasn’t being used.
That Pencil never made it to production. Technical problems reportedly forced Apple to abandon the accessory before launch, leaving the company to find another way to deliver the support it had planned for the Duo.
Apple switched to the USB-C Pencil
Rather than delay Pencil support indefinitely, Apple turned to the existing $79 USB-C Apple Pencil already sold for the iPad.
That created another problem. The iPhone Duo wasn’t originally designed to work with that Pencil, so compatibility can’t simply be enabled with a setting or software switch.
Apple is developing the software needed to make the two devices work together and conducting internal testing before releasing it publicly. That work is still underway.
Apple said during the Duo unveiling that Pencil support would arrive before the end of the year. The latest reporting suggests the company may use most of that window, with compatibility expected fairly late in 2026.
When it does arrive, the USB-C Pencil will support basic writing and drawing along with tilt sensitivity. More advanced features available with Apple Pencil Pro aren’t supported.
The Pencil Apple originally wanted
The abandoned accessory offers a glimpse at how Apple initially envisioned stylus use on the Duo.
A smaller Pencil that attached directly to the hinge would have been easier to carry with a phone than Apple’s existing iPad styluses, which were designed around much larger devices.
Instead, Duo owners will have to use the full-size USB-C Pencil and carry it separately once support is enabled.
It’s unclear whether Apple has permanently abandoned the idea of an iPhone-specific Pencil or could revisit it for a future version of the Duo. For now, the USB-C model is the only Pencil Apple has announced support for.
The iPhone Duo starts at $1,999 and is available now, but buyers who want to use it with an Apple Pencil will have to wait for a software update later this year.
