Apple Pencil Pro could be surprise entry in last-minute iPad event leak — iPad Pro 2024 could get the ultimate partner accessory

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Could this be the Apple Pencil 3?

Using an Apple Pencil 2 to edit a photo on an iPad Pro
(Image credit: Future)
Apple Let Loose Event

Let Loose Live

(Image credit: Apple)

1. Let Loose iPad event LIVE — New iPad Pro, iPad Air, and more as it happens!
2. OLED iPad Pro — Will it be M3 or M4?
3. iPad Air 6 — Is the M2 chip coming to the iPad Air?
4. Apple Pencil 3 — Or should we say Apple Pencil Pro?

The iPad’s most valuable accessory may be about to get even better — as a recent leak suggests we could be skipping the Apple Pencil 3 altogether.

As pointed out by an X user, the Japanese Apple website suggests the new Apple Pencil 3 will instead be called the “Apple Pencil Pro”. By clicking ‘fn + f12’ on your keyboard while on the website, you can “inspect element”, which shows the code for displaying the site. From here, ‘hit cmd + f’ to search, and type in “Apple Pencil Pro” to find it in a string of text.

It’s important to note that the phrase is only referenced twice in this code and it’s in the same paragraph. Said paragraph appears to be alt text — a description of the Apple Event imagery for screen readers to access. iMore has verified this information and it can still be found on the Japanese website as of the time of publication.

What does this all mean?

Both the U.S. and U.K. website for the Apple event also has alt text in their code but these texts are the same, only calling the accessory “an Apple Pencil”. I have checked with over 10 different Apple sites from different regions, and most are some variation of the same alt text, without the ‘Pro’ moniker.

The “Apple Pencil Pro” name found in the Japanese Apple site is not a translation, as it appears as English text in the middle of Japanese words. There seem to be a handful of possible reasons why this specific leak has popped up. The first is that the next Apple Pencil will be called Apple Pencil Pro, and this code leak is confirmation of that.

The second reason could be that “Apple Pencil Pro” may have been a key term or code word for the accessory at some point earlier in its inception and it has since changed. Apple has never officially confirmed the existence of the Apple Pencil 3 and that name has come from a mixture of speculation and industry insight. However, we know from its imagery that the next Apple event will feature an Apple Pencil of some kind. Both names could be equally likely at this point and we’ll have to wait for the Let Loose event in just a few hours to find out what is happening with the next Apple Pencil.

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James Bentley
James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.