Apple Pencil could soon work with your Mac’s trackpad, hints new patent

Cupertino giant Apple has won patent for a stylus concept that has the potential to pave way for using an Apple Pencil with Macs via a future version of Magic Trackpad. According to Apple Insider, which claims to have seen the patent, it "describes a more complex device than the current Pencil, able to work not just on trackpads but in mid-air as a motion-sensitive air mouse.It might also support rotation commands, or operating as a joystick."
As Patently Apple says, this will "help users to control presentation slides in Keynote or turn pages in Apple's Pages or MS Office displayed on a monitor in a classroom or boardroom...."
The filing also has references to using a stylus with touchscreens. This raises the possibility that the technology mentioned in the patent could allow the rumored MacBook Pros to support stylus on their trackpads. As per reports, Apple MacBook Pro 2016 will have a new OLED touch bar right above the keyboard, replacing the basic function keys.
According to Apple Insider, Apple is unlikely to develop a stylus specifically for Macs, however, "it could make the Pencil compatible if it gave Macs an easy way of pairing." There are already several third-party styli available for Macs.
The patent application was first published in May 2016 by US Patent & Trademark Office, though it was submitted back in November 2014.

Earlier this year, Apple has filed a new patent application for a wireless hybrid headphone system. The patent filed with the USPTO, first seen by Apple Insider, details a "headphone device and supporting hardware capable of seamlessly switching between wired and wireless listening modes."
There are several headphones available in the market that support both wired and wireless modes. Many of these come with a plug that allows a user to switch to wired use whenever the headphone is out of battery, or for better quality audio. However, this transition is largely not very smooth. With this patent, Apple appears to be wanting to tackle these very issues.
As the company's patent filing describes, "A method of seamlessly transitioning between data sources controlling operation of a speaker in a headphone, the method comprising: receiving data at the headphone via a wireless data path; storing the data received via the wireless data path within a data buffer; controlling a speaker according to the data stored within the data buffer; receiving data at the headphone via a wired data path; determining that the data received over the wireless data path and the wired data path are both being received from the same user device; and transitioning from storing data from the wireless data path within the data buffer to storing data from the second data path within the data buffer."