8 Things to Know About the New Apple Pencil

[citysnaps]

Relax... its a rumour and discussion site...

I'm totally relaxed. Just wondering why so many people feel that giving customers a choice with a $20 savings (a 20% discount) is bad.

Perhaps you can weigh in on that. In the spirit of having a rational discussion. Perhaps this new Pencil will be Apple's downfall forcing them to close the doors?

 

[Fuzzball84]

I'm totally relaxed. Just wondering why so many people feel that giving customers a choice with a $20 savings (a 20% discount) is bad.

Perhaps you can weigh in on that. In the spirit of having a discussion.

I think the mess in the lineup is the iPads they offer and the persistence of the first gen Pencil. They should reduce the offering to only two of the Apple pencils.. the newly released version and Apple Pencil 2

 

[citysnaps]

I think the mess in the lineup is the iPads they offer and the persistence of the first gen Pencil. They should reduce the offering to only two of the Apple pencils.. the newly released version and Apple Pencil 2

But why?

Is Apple suffering as a result?

Are customers suffering (assuming you believe they're not stupid and able to make a good decision)?

Will that $20 dollar discount adversely affect Apple stock holders?

Things have changed (technology and customer savvyiness) since the Steve days. Time to move on and forward.

 

[vegetassj4]

No free engraving? How dare they. That's a must have feature to make my pencil unmistakeably mine. How am I going to find my pencil among the thousands lying around that I accidentally drop mine into everyday.

 

[Tagbert]

I think the mess in the lineup is the iPads they offer and the persistence of the first gen Pencil. They should reduce the offering to only two of the Apple pencils.. the newly released version and Apple Pencil 2

The first gen Pencil only still exists because the 9th gen iPad still exists to be the lowest priced iPad. The Pencil 1 doesn’t work with any of the other iPads. Once Apple stops selling that 9th gen model, its pencil will go too.

Apple has a legacy iPad line with Lightning and a current line with USC-C.
That USB-C iPad line has a low end and a high end pencil.
It’s not a confusing when you split it out like that.

 

[CharlesShaw]

9. The USB-C Pencil enters a sleep state when magnetically stored on the iPad.

 

[Fuzzball84]

The first gen Pencil only still exists because the 9th gen iPad still exists to be the lowest priced iPad. The Pencil 1 doesn’t work with any of the other iPads. Once Apple stops selling that 9th gen model, its pencil will go too.

Apple has a legacy iPad line with Lightning and a current line with USC-C.
That USB-C iPad line has a low end and a high end pencil.
It’s not a confusing when you split it out like that.

Yeah but if you want pressure sensitivity with your iPad 10th gen... you need to get the gen 1 Apple Pencil... so it doesnt just exist for the iPad 9th gen.

If anyone was buying the 9th gen iPad they would more than likely just get the Logitech crayon, which is cheaper still and more robust than the 1st gen pencil.

 

[BreuerEditor]

Please please PLEASE let there be a different way to charge the Magic Mouse when they move to USB-C like the Pencil. Put the port on the front so we can use it while working or better yet, make a Qi charging mousepad that can wireless charge it when needed WHILE BEING ABLE TO USE IT. Then again, if Apple made a wireless charging mousepad, it would be $199 so maybe someone else can make one.

 

[strayts]

Honestly this might be the silliest product Apple has put out in years. Up there with the magic mouse even.

 

[derekamoss]

Apple could price this Pencil at $2.99 and there would still be epic whines here. From people that don't even have a use for it. Or know what to do with it.

Actually I think most people in here would clap and express joy if it was 2 99. I don't even know that iPad and I would be like that is one amazing deal

 

[derekamoss]

I'm totally relaxed. Just wondering why so many people feel that giving customers a choice with a $20 savings (a 20% discount) is bad.

Perhaps you can weigh in on that. In the spirit of having a rational discussion. Perhaps this new Pencil will be Apple's downfall forcing them to close the doors?

It doesn't matter that it's $20 cheaper. It's the actual value you're getting out of the price and this pencil does not have it. I mean $10. Styluses have pressure sensitive built-in I mean that's like the bottom line feature that there is

 

[derekamoss]

But why?

Is Apple suffering as a result?

Are customers suffering (assuming you believe they're not stupid and able to make a good decision)?

Will that $20 dollar discount adversely affect Apple stock holders?

Things have changed (technology and customer savvyiness) since the Steve days. Time to move on and forward.

You are very incorrect on the tech saviness being changed. The younger generation is much more tech savvy but the older generation is still almost the same as they were. If a kid tells an older parent they want an iPad and they need a apple pencil. I'm pretty sure a lot of parents aren't going to understand that there are three pencils and are just going to see apple pencil on the packaging and buy it and it might not even work with the device

 

[citysnaps]

It doesn't matter that it's $20 cheaper. It's the actual value you're getting out of the price and this pencil does not have it. I mean $10. Styluses have pressure sensitive built-in I mean that's like the bottom line feature that there is

Not everyone needs pressure sensitivity. Sure, artists/illustrators do. But that's a subset. Many don't. As an example, there's a member here who's a CSI and uses an iPad in his work. And doesn't need it.

 

[derekamoss]

Not everyone needs pressure sensitivity. Sure, artists/illustrators do. But that's a subset. Many don't. There's a member here who's a CSI using an iPad in his work. And doesn't need it.

I agree then not everybody needs it but it still should be a defacto thing on every stylus now I mean you can buy a $10 stylist online and it has it . Now maybe tilt sensitivity. I would understand taking out but not pressure sensitivity

 

[citysnaps]

I agree then not everybody needs it but it still should be a defacto thing on every stylus now I mean you can buy a $10 stylist online and it has it . Now maybe tilt sensitivity. I would understand taking out but not pressure sensitivity

Then people should by the $10 stylus. And save a ton of money. And doom Apple in the process.

I can think of a lot of business-related iPad applications where pressure sensitivity isn't needed.

Apple has thought this through. Despite what many HERE believe, Apple isn't oblivious.

 

[BC2009]

Now the Apple Pencil lineup is just as confusing as the iPad lineup.

Who on earth wants to carry a USB-C cable to charge the pencil?

The correct answer was to place a male USB-C port on the pencil that flips out so when it is exposed it faces out the side of the pencil instead of the end of the pencil. Then when you plug the pencil into the iPad you don't have an iPad lollipop and instead the pencil is attached to the iPad with its long edge along the side of the iPad.

Also, adding hover support is kinda ridiculous. Anybody willing to fork over the hundreds of extra dollars for an iPad Pro will clearly spend an extra $50 and get the Apple Pencil 2. But maybe they are just future-proofing here for when the hover feature makes its way down the confusing iPad lineup.

Or maybe future iPads will have 2 USB-C ports. A female one for charging the iPad and a flip-out male one for attaching and charging your Apple Pencil USB-C.

All I know is that it is going to take a serious revamp to the iPad lineup to make this new Apple Pencil make sense and maybe that is what this is signaling: a revamped iPad lineup coming soon.

 

[MrMojo1]

Just wait for the Pencil 2 to go on sale ~$99, which it has many times during the course of the year.

 

[Joe Dohn]

Also, adding hover support is kinda ridiculous. Anybody willing to fork over the hundreds of extra dollars for an iPad Pro will clearly spend an extra $50 and get the Apple Pencil 2. But maybe they are just future-proofing here for when the hover feature makes its way down the confusing iPad lineup.

There's no justification at all for the hover support + lack of pressure support. Hovering is just a cosmetic feature; pressure sensitivity is an ESSENTIAL feature for dynamic lines.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

it’s a mess. The 2nd generation has it all. What is the point to keep in sale the other ones?

 

[profets]

1. Unnecessary
2. Confusing
3. Vista edition of the Apple Pencil
4. Whats the point really? No pun
5. Really, another one?
6. Its a pencil for G** sakes!
7. If this what you call innovation, I'm concerned.
8. Back to the drawing board please.

This made me chuckle, especially thinking back to Steve poking fun of Windows pricing and all the variations at the time.

Kind of sad to think about how convoluted the entire lineup has become. Can’t imagine what Steve would think if he were able to see this today.

 

[leicaman]

Here's a fact to keep in mine. Removing pressure sensitivity is nuts.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

boy, what a scam

 

[dwig]

There's no justification at all for the hover support + lack of pressure support. Hovering is just a cosmetic feature; pressure sensitivity is an ESSENTIAL feature for dynamic lines.

There probably is a real justification, but not one that is anything that any user would ever see. The internal chip that is the brains of the beast could very well be the same as that in the Pencil 2, which would save a lot of development and manufacturing cost. Leaving out the pressure sensor itself would save some cost and could improve "ruggedness", which is important in the education/student market.

This is obviously a pencil that artists should avoid like the plague. It's for students and others that just need to take notes and/or want/need something slightly more advanced than a passive "pokie stick". I just wish they'd colored it yellow like a classic #2 pencil to help distinguish it from the more advanced pencils.

 

[ececlv]

How to turn your product line into a mess, lesson 101.

How so? If you have a lightening ipad get a lightening pencil. If you have a usbc ipad get a usb pencil. How would you manage apple's accessory transition if you were in charge? We all knew getting rid of lightning was going to cause this transitional mess

 

[ececlv]

I think the mess in the lineup is the iPads they offer and the persistence of the first gen Pencil. They should reduce the offering to only two of the Apple pencils.. the newly released version and Apple Pencil 2

Id imagine the lightening pencil is "while supplies last" but apple cant really market their lightening products as "old stock"