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iPad Pro Alternate stylus?
- Thread starter azfalcons
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There are many pens out there that work just fine with the iPad Pro.
It depends on what you want to do with the pen and also on your preferences. Do you like...
... pointy tip / round soft tip
... to have a bluetooth connection (palm rejection)
... a thick or thin pen
and so on.
But why don't you like the Apple Pencil?
If it's the price, I can say that it is absolutely worth the 99$. I tried a few of the cheap ones and none of them were really great. For example, I liked the Bamboo Stylus (I think it was 15€ when I bought it) and I always had to replace the tip every 2-3 weeks of heavy use, because it ripped. The Adonit Jot Pro (fine tip with a plastic disc) scratched the hell out of the screen protector.
It depends on what you want to do with the pen and also on your preferences. Do you like...
... pointy tip / round soft tip
... to have a bluetooth connection (palm rejection)
... a thick or thin pen
and so on.
But why don't you like the Apple Pencil?
If it's the price, I can say that it is absolutely worth the 99$. I tried a few of the cheap ones and none of them were really great. For example, I liked the Bamboo Stylus (I think it was 15€ when I bought it) and I always had to replace the tip every 2-3 weeks of heavy use, because it ripped. The Adonit Jot Pro (fine tip with a plastic disc) scratched the hell out of the screen protector.
sjleworthy
macrumors 68000
if its not the price then nothing comes close to the Pencil in all respects. it's in a class of it's own.
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
nightcap965
macrumors 6502a
The current release is iOS 9.2.1. When 9.3 is released, it will fully support the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.
The Game 161
macrumors Nehalem
I meant in the sense on 9.3 beta you can no longer scroll with the pencil making it only workable if you are using it as a pencil watching sketching or clicking on an app for example.
maflynn
macrumors Broadwell
There's a reason why apple does not recommend using a beta, and that's because its no ready for prime time.
nightcap965
macrumors 6502a
You mean, "If I totally disregard Apple's warnings concerning installing beta software on production systems and decide I really want to be a troubleshooter for Apple I will encounter bugs."
You are clearly a public-spirited computer professional to volunteer to walk through the minefield of unreleased software. Your brave sacrifice will help make the general release better. That you found and reported a bug in a beta (you did report it, didn't you?) means that it will be fixed in the general release.
sjleworthy
macrumors 68000
even then, without general UI scrolling ( i presume it'll still have general UI prodding and tapping), and the smart enabled apps, it's still unbeatable and infinitely more precise and accurate than finger jabbing and other stylus competition. even in it's general capacitive mode it's a non beater 🙂
Timmy D
macrumors 68000
Sadly, I have spent too much $$$ on stylus over the last two years and never found one that was even close to the Apple pencil. I have even spent $99 on one of the Adonit stylus. This Apple pencil is close to perfect for me. I only use it for writing since I don't know the first thing about drawing.
Back to the topic...
For the iPad Pro, no... There really isn't another stylus for it. The issue is that many of the other stylii (which work with varying success on other iPads) don't work on the iPad Pro. None of the "fine point" stylii work at all on the iPP. The 53 Pencil "works" but performance is hampered on the Pro (though it works well on any other iPad).
I have plenty of thoughts on other Stylii for other iPads, but for the Pro there really is only one choice (and it's really the best choice anyway): Apple Pencil.
For the iPad Pro, no... There really isn't another stylus for it. The issue is that many of the other stylii (which work with varying success on other iPads) don't work on the iPad Pro. None of the "fine point" stylii work at all on the iPP. The 53 Pencil "works" but performance is hampered on the Pro (though it works well on any other iPad).
I have plenty of thoughts on other Stylii for other iPads, but for the Pro there really is only one choice (and it's really the best choice anyway): Apple Pencil.
sjleworthy
macrumors 68000
Which other stylii doesnt work? I've tried numerous on the Pro and all work (to varying degrees). Yet to have a regular stylus not work. Surely all capacative normal stylii work?
The fat rubber tip stylii may work okay - the only stylus I have like that is the 53 Pencil and that one worked "okay" (it did not glide across the screen as smoothly as it does on other iPads and seemed to occasionally loose contact).
None of the "fine point" stylii work on the iPad Pro - including, but not limited to: Adobe Ink, Wacom Bamboo Creative 2, Wacom Fineline, Adonit Script (these are the ones I own and have been able to personally test - all worked fine on the Air 2 and the Mini 2/4, but none worked at all on the iPad Pro). At first I thought it was my iPad, but other people have confirmed the same - the Bluetooth/fine point stylii do not work on the iPad Pro.
So, technically, any of the fat rubber tip stylii may yet "work"... Personally, I never thought any of those (with the exception of the 53) were very useful at all - I can't write with any of them (including the 53) and drawing was a "better than nothing" proposition (though, again, the 53 was pretty great on non-pro iPads - I still use it on my Mini, and I use the Fineline if I want to hand write something on the mini).
None of the "fine point" stylii work on the iPad Pro - including, but not limited to: Adobe Ink, Wacom Bamboo Creative 2, Wacom Fineline, Adonit Script (these are the ones I own and have been able to personally test - all worked fine on the Air 2 and the Mini 2/4, but none worked at all on the iPad Pro). At first I thought it was my iPad, but other people have confirmed the same - the Bluetooth/fine point stylii do not work on the iPad Pro.
So, technically, any of the fat rubber tip stylii may yet "work"... Personally, I never thought any of those (with the exception of the 53) were very useful at all - I can't write with any of them (including the 53) and drawing was a "better than nothing" proposition (though, again, the 53 was pretty great on non-pro iPads - I still use it on my Mini, and I use the Fineline if I want to hand write something on the mini).
GoCubsGo
macrumors Nehalem
I haven't gone as far as you have, but I agree. Nothing has come close like the Apple Pencil has. I hate to found like a total fan girl, in fact I don't own one but have used one enough to know. If Apple is going to give us a stylus, this is the one I would have wanted them to design.
Well I just picked the Apple Pencil so I'll play with it as soon as I get home. I also found a case on Amazon that has a pencil holder so I should be good to go
sjleworthy
macrumors 68000
thats most interesting. and concerning. i was thinking of something like this as a spare -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00QHO0A...UTF8&colid=3U46W67AK84N1&coliid=I1QHEABTUGJ8V
but from what you've said it might not work. yet sracer says different with his. so far the concern is pretty much in the grey area.
surely the ipad pro shares the capacitive touch screen facilities all ipads do?
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calden
macrumors member
Grab the Jot Touch, it's a fantastic stylus that works not only within every app but the system as well. The only real advantage of the Pencil is the side shading, so drawing apps. Everything else, especially writing, the Jot Touch is pretty much identical, it's also Bluetooth with palm rejection and pressure sensitivity so you can also use it for drawing if you so wish and it works very good. I use my Pencil for literally 2 apps, the rest of the time it's all about the Jot as the iPad Pro is a finger magnet, so I like using a stylus to navigate the system with. I never bought it into that crap about stylus's should only be used for apps, it was just a way for Apple to save a little face for being so against the stylus all of these years. Using a stylus as a input device for the entire system is actually really useful, esepially when using the keyboard, I would still prefer a mouse but you know.
The listing on Amazon actually said it's not compatible with the Pro.
(Odd that it's not compatible with the Air 2...)
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Your Jot Touch works with the iPad Pro???? That's very surprising because it's not officially supported and I've seen lots of posts saying it doesn't work. It also uses the same PixelPoint tech that's in the Adobe pen and that doesn't work on the Pro.
Did you have to do anything different or unique??
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sjleworthy
macrumors 68000
Yes, which was a bit confusing, but when i asked the question in Amazon he wasnt sure. Yet sracer has one which works fine. As i say, a bit grey area.
calden
macrumors member
Just make sure you're running 9.3, that's all, also turn the pressure sense up. I just upgraded to a Wacom Creative 2 anyway, a better solution.
aevan
macrumors 601
I'm sorry, but nothing could be further from the truth. The real advantage of the Pencil is.... well, everything: precision, low latency, low activation pressure - etc. I have the Jot Touch, before you ask - as well as Wacom's Creative Stylus and the 53's Pencil. Like many here, I bought a lot of styluses trying to find one that allowes me to draw on my iPad. They all ended up on the shelf. Apple Pencil, on the other hand, even surpases professional Wacom styluses found on Intuos and Cintiq tablets - meaning, it's not only best-in-class, it's literaly the best stylus there is.
I understand that for some reason you may find it equal to Jot Touch - everyone is different and maybe you have some special usage case. If you use it just for navigation, I guess it's kind of comparable (not really, but, almost). But for anything else, it's almost like comparing drawing with a piece of coal to drawing with a Rotring technical pen.
I think it's important for people who aren't really technical but want to get a stylus for their iPad Pro to know that nothing comes even close. There are technological reasons for this (all other styluses are capacitive - even those that generate capacitive fields like the Jot Touch, which is a technology that was not designed for such levels of precision) and the Pencil is something different (probably something similar to the tech Wacom uses on their tablets).