Jony Ive on Apple Pencil: A 'Natural' and 'Familiar' Extension of Traditional Drawing Tools

[MacRumors]

Alongside today's launch of the iPad Pro and its Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard accessories, Apple design chief Jony Ive shared his thoughts on the new stylus accessory with The Telegraph.

Addressing the device's strong resemblance to an actual pencil, Ive stresses that a familiar and natural feel is key to the user experience.

"We hoped if you are used to spending a lot of time using paintbrushes, pencils and pens, this will feel like a more natural extension of that experience - that it will feel familiar," he says, carefully. "To achieve that degree of very simple, natural behaviour, was a significant technological challenge."

Ive notes how that natural feel increases with usage to the point where the user forgets they are using a piece of technology and is able to simply focus on the task at hand. As an example, he points to his design team, which has experimented with tools other than traditional sketchbooks over the years but is finally finding the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil a natural combination.

"Many of us in the design team have worked together for 20 plus years. We've always drawn in our sketchbooks, and for the first time - despite flirting with some alternatives a couple of years ago - I'm seeing people starting to use the iPad and Apple Pencil. Our personal experience has been that there are definitely affordances and opportunities now that you have a much more natural and intuitive environment to make marks, there are clearly things you can do sketching and writing on the iPad which you could never dream of doing in the analogue world."

The Apple Pencil is a $99 accessory sold alongside the iPad Pro, although early customers may need to wait a bit to get their hands on one. While the iPad Pro is in some cases available for in-store pickup as early as today, the earliest Apple Pencil orders are taking a few days longer to start shipping out and shipping estimates for new orders have quickly slipped to 3-4 weeks.

Article Link: Jony Ive on Apple Pencil: A 'Natural' and 'Familiar' Extension of Traditional Drawing Tools

 

[SSD-GUY]

Yeah... No Tim, it's just a stylus.

 

[vjpulp]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

This is the main rub I have with the thing. I don't need a huge iPad, the Mini does just fine. I hope that they wise up and make it compatible with future versions of iPads and maybe even the iPhone Plus. I'd seriously buy it then. Having a dedicated stylus for ALL of my iOS devices . . . . that would rock.

Yeah... No Tim, it's just a stylus.

Indeed it is, but you know how Apple is.

 

[2457282]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

I understand that they had to change the touch sensing matrix on the screen for the Pro to be way more accurate than on the iPad Air2. My guess is that the next iPad Air will add the ability to work with the pencil.

Yeah... No Tim, it's just a stylus.

I have not tried the Pencil yet so it is hard to give a judgement (I think the same is true for you). I have used styluses before, but I quickly found myself just going back to the finger. We shall see if the Pencil is the same thing that provides no additional benefit. OR, as has been stated in all the reviews, it really is something different that works better than a stylus.

In anycase, I am glad that it is only an add on for those that need/want such a thing. I am not an artist and I do not see myself needing such a device. I am happy with what my finger is capable of -- especially if you pull my finger.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

"We sat in a room and thought, 'How can we come up with something new that no one has ever thought of that makes drawing easy?' and contemplated the drawing experience. We then explored the multitude of ways that people use to communicate both ambidextrously and unidextrously? This was a complex problem to solve, yet it needed to be. As I was walking through London, I came upon some children of different cultures and they had one thing in common. They were using a device found on the grounds to draw in the dirt, and then it hit me. We will use a stick, that has drawing capabilities that can fit in your pocket. We call it, 'Apple Pencil'"

(Yeah, you read that in Jony Ive's voice...

 

[Digital Skunk]

....

I agree that we haven't tried it as of yet, but so far it's slating itself right up there with the Surface Pen. While neither company classifies them as a stylus, they do serve the same functionality albeit far more accurate than the stubby nub we iOS users are accustomed to.

Even for a none illustrator like myself, I find myself relishing the Surface Pen even over my own fingers. It's just something about pecking away with a pen and then using my own handwriting (which the Windows 10 is excellent at recognizing) to input text. Note taking has always been my main need for tablets, whether in a meeting or jotting down random ideas.

An Apple Pen and a high-powered iPad Mini with iPhone 6 Plus would be my dream team iOS machines.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

I agree that we haven't tried it as of yet, but so far it's slating itself right up there with the Surface Pen. While neither company classifies them as a stylus, they do serve the same functionality albeit far more accurate than the stubby nub we iOS users are accustomed to.

Even for a none illustrator like myself, I find myself relishing the Surface Pen even over my own fingers. It's just something about pecking away with a pen and then using my own handwriting (which the Windows 10 is excellent at recognizing) to input text. Note taking has always been my main need for tablets, whether in a meeting or jotting down random ideas.

An Apple Pen and a high-powered iPad Mini with iPhone 6 Plus would be my dream team iOS machines.

The Newton, back in 1997 had pretty good handwriting recognition. What I'd like is an app that kept my original scribbling along with the recognized text in the same document.

 

[Pakaku]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

But they're not "Pro" iPads, even though literally the only difference between them is screen size.

 

[teslo]

I have not tried the Pencil yet so it is hard to give a judgement (I think the same is true for you). I have used styluses before, but I quickly found myself just going back to the finger. We shall see if the Pencil is the same thing that provides no additional benefit. OR, as has been stated in all the reviews, it really is something different that works better than a stylus.

i'd venture to guess most of the people criticizing the Pencil haven't used a wacom/cintiq before either, and have nothing but cheap stylus experience with mostly past iOS iterations and accompanying accouterments. if it's even close to a wacom experience, it's going to blow a few minds out the doorframe. here's hoping anyway.

 

[Lexdexia]

Apple Pencil 2 will probably do away with the silly cap/lightning port design altogether and add an eraser in place, and you can charge it just by putting it on top of your iPad Pro via inductive charging/magnets. After all, it's called an Apple Pencil and pencils usually have an eraser at the back for the sake of convenience.

As a design student, I would love an iPad Pro since it could be more flexible to work with and can replace the need for me to buy different sketchbooks for different classes and different notebooks too. But, I'm going to skip this first generation iPad Pro and its accessories since its successor will obviously be so much better.

 

[mr.steevo]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

You think I'm going to buy a $100 "pencil" to go with my $300 iPad mini?

 

[Flow39]

You wouldn't have said that 8 years ago Jony

 

[saschke]

Got a chance to grab one today at the Apple Store (they had some Pencil's for business customers). I gotta say, it's amazing. There's no perceptible lag and the accuracy, even at the edge of the screen, is amazing. Fantastic tool that's going to be loved by many.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

You think I'm going to buy a $100 "pencil" to go with my $300 iPad mini?

Yep, and then use it with my $1099 iPad Pro, when I got it. It's kind of like the $299 Bose QC15 I have that works with my iPhone, iPad, iMac, and all of the other audio devices.

 

[teslo]

You wouldn't have said that 8 years ago Jony

yeah - key words being "8 years ago" when iPhones were competing with mostly stylus-dependent smartphones. which would suck to rely on. this old argument against styluses + apple is getting old to the point it's its own Reality Distortion Field. i truly doubt anyone at apple at any point in time had any true problem with styluses existing in the world of Apple. it was just a time and a place to dismiss styluses for a simpler solution to technological limitations. now technology - clearly - has evolved.

who really thinks artists - or even students taking notes - would want to use their fingers on magazine-sized tablets forever? fingerpainting had a time and a place, and it was a successful MO by the looks of things. apple didn't start shipping the Pencil with all their iPhones, they're offering it with one of their new tablets.

 

[ChrisA]

Yeah... No Tim, it's just a stylus.

Styluses work better than fingers. To see this try and sign your name with a finger. Does your finger-signature look just like the one you'd make using paper and ink? If you can't do something as easy and signing your name then you can't do something like drawing or re-touching photos (making a person's a little teeth whiter or removing dust from a scared photo)

I've used Wacom tablets for years and they are very good but you are drawing on a blank surface not directly on the drawing.

That said for most people you use the iPad for watching movies, email and the web the pencil is not going to be used. Pencils are for drawing or for precision work on photos

 

[joueboy]

I hope Apple will support Pencil on OSX. That would be a reasonable price if it works both with iPad Pro and Macs.

If you can't do something like drawing or re-touching photos (making a person's a little teeth whiter or removing dust from a scared photo)

Professionals are been retouching photos with mouse for over a decades. But drawing directly would be a better experience, no doubt!

 

[blackcrayon]

Apple Pencil 2 will probably do away with the silly cap/lightning port design altogether and add an eraser in place

Is an eraser that important? Can't you just tap the erase tool with the pencil or a finger on the other hand and use the tip? I don't see how that's any slower than flipping the stylus over, then flipping it back to resume drawing.

 

[vjpulp]

I hope Apple will support Pencil on OSX. That would be a reasonable price if it works both with iPad Pro and Macs.

How would you use it? Draw on the screen of your Macbook? On the surface of the Magic Trackpad? You'd need an additional device, right?

 

[Defender2010]

Apple Pencil 2 will probably do away with the silly cap/lightning port design altogether and add an eraser in place, and you can charge it just by putting it on top of your iPad Pro via inductive charging/magnets. After all, it's called an Apple Pencil and pencils usually have an eraser at the back for the sake of convenience.

As a design student, I would love an iPad Pro since it could be more flexible to work with and can replace the need for me to buy different sketchbooks for different classes and different notebooks too. But, I'm going to skip this first generation iPad Pro and its accessories since its successor will obviously be so much better.

I can see it now - Apple Pencil 2 with "Digital Eraser"

 

[Fancuku]

I can see it now - Apple Pencil 2 with "Digital Eraser"

Pencil 2 with Magic Apple Eraser.

 

[modulusshift]

I wish they would make it compatible with other iPad versions. They would sell it a gazillion times.

Wait, who would buy it? There's not even that many iPad owners, let alone owners that want a class leading stylus. Anyway, since half of the Apple Pencil magic is within the screen of the Pro, while I wouldn't be surprised if the Air 3 was updated for compatibility, this just literally isn't possible with the Air 2.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

You think I'm going to buy a $100 "pencil" to go with my $300 iPad mini?

Maybe it will be a mini pencil and go for $50.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

Maybe it will be a mini pencil and go for $50.

Apple Golf Pencil $85