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Is the Stylus Making a Comeback at Apple?

Who wants to use your fingers when you can grab a stylus?

U.S. Patent Office

Remember when Apple Co-Founder Steve Jobs confidently declared, “Nobody wants a stylus?”

That was in 2007 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, when Jobs unveiled the first iPhone. Instead of a silly little pointing device that people could lose, he said consumers would navigate the smartphone using a familiar “pointing device” that we’re all born with — our fingers.

Times have changed, maybe.

Apple has filed several patent applications relating to a stylus and touch-sensitive displays capable of receiving signals from such a device — some as recently as last September.

The latest speculation comes from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. According to a report by Kuo, obtained by AppleInsider, the patent filings suggests Apple plans to introduce a stylus with the anticipated launch of a 12.9-inch iPad that some have dubbed the “iPad Pro.”

Kuo did not respond to an email, seeking confirmation. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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