Today, Apple was granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office regarding possible next-gen features for Apple's Magic Keyboard including an insert for Apple Pencil for easy transportation and recharging along with a new clipboard mode.

New Apple Pencil Retainer and Recharger

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates an isometric view of an electronic system that can include an accessory article (Apple Pencil) and a portable electronic device (iPad Pro); FIG. 2A illustrates a side view of the electronic system shown in FIG. 1, showing the system a closed configuration with a new Apple Pencil retainer and recharger.

Apple's patent FIG. 5 illustrates an isometric view of the electronic system shown in FIG. 1, showing the electronic device separated from the article along with a digital pen; FIG. 7C illustrates that the accessory could be lifted to a higher elevation with a second hinge configuration.

New Clipboard Mode Feature

Apple's patent FIG. 7D further illustrates the "clipboard mode/configuration."; FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a method 800 for automatically altering an operation state of a portable electronic device based on the configuration of an article removably coupled to the portable electronic device.

When in clipboard mode or third mode, Apple notes that the electronic device in the third mode can automatically launch an application such as a note-taking application or a drawing application because the clipboard configuration can be associated with a "scratch pad" configuration for users to use a digital pen. The exact application launched can be based on a user setting that is user selectable.

Apple's granted patent 11,307,615 is their second granted patent for this invention. Apple was granted this patent based on the addition of twenty new patent claims.