Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Pencil USB-C. I don’t get it….
- Thread starter Southernguy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Wrong move. We need a better pencil that brings us closer to Wacom feeling in retouching and closer to Remarkable feeling when writing, not a pared-down version. Since when is Apple about «not as good» products. The iPad Line is super-diluted and now they start doing the same with the Keyboards and Pencils? Plus, the cool thing about Pencil 2 is that it loads «magically» while attached to the device. Who does NOT want this for a few € less?
Nevermind, I misread the table on the Apple Pencil page.
It was already strange that the Pencil 1 and 2 weren’t mutually compatible, or at least in one direction. The fact that the new Pencil works both on iPads where previously only the Pencil 1 or the Pencil 2 worked, shows that this was at least partly an artificial restriction. And the new Pencil being restricted to USB-C iPads would likewise seem to be an artificial restriction.
Last edited:
I strongly suspect we’re moving to a position where pressure sensitivity is only available on the Pro models
I could see them dropping it from the regular iPad, but the Air and mini will likely retain compatibility wih the Pencil 2.
Heck, we can go so far as to say this whole iPad saga is strange. No updates this year, 10th generation received the highly requested landscape camera hardware change (not the iPad Pros) and now this.
They could have, but then there wouldn’t be an $80 Pencil option, as opposed to the current $100 Pencil 1. It’s basically $20 off for people who don’t need pressure sensitivity.
The bad thing of course is that it will be the only option for entry level iPads going forward. Unless hopefully Pencil 3 will be have USBC so that entry level iPad users will have a pressure sensitive option.
Obviously Pencil 2 only has wireless connection hardware so it can’t connect to older iPads—so do you mean Pencil 1 should have been able to connect to newer USBC iPads with an adapter? Or do you mean Pencil 2 should have had both wireless and Lightning hardware?
The former, or for Pencils that were already paired using the same Apple ID, you wouldn’t need to re-pair them on a new device with that ID. Both Pencil 1 and 2 work with Bluetooth (they are listed in Settings under Bluetooth when connected), so it seems like it should have been possible to also make the Pencil 2 work with the older iPads.
PS: There are third-party pencils that work with all iPad models, so one would assume that Apple should manage to do the same (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9HZMMVM/).
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm just disappointed I cannot buy all three and use with a single iPad just to cover all my basis's. 
They should have just lowered the price of the Apple Pencil 2 and called it a day. It's 5-year-old hardware, there's no way it couldn't be done. Keep the first pencil around for existing iPads that need it and phase it out over time, put the magnetic charging stuff in all future iPads.
But they gotta find ways to upsell, even if it's bad for consumers, makes for a confusing lineup, and worse for the environment.
But they gotta find ways to upsell, even if it's bad for consumers, makes for a confusing lineup, and worse for the environment.
Yeah, I don't fully get this move either. It's both an improvement and a regression from the Apple 1st gen Pencil.
A Macworld article nicely sums up the confusing Pencil and iPad lineups:
The new USB-C Apple Pencil is now available for purchase
The new $79 model adds variety—and some confusion—to the Apple Pencil range.www.macworld.com
Choice is a good thing until it becomes overwhelming, contradictory, and confusing. The iPad line is hard enough to delineate without needing to also figure out which Apple Pencil to buy.
It's time that Apple reduce their cluttered iPad line and reduce it to about 4 items:
- iPad Pro (2 sizes)
- iPad mini
- regular iPad (or call it iPad Air, whatever)
And one Pencil that works across all of them.
Apple sees long term, not just today. My guess is that Apple perceives future need and product positioning that we do not know enough to even speculate about.
I can agree with that.
But, I also see utility for having 2 pencils (but not 3): one that is more expensive, and another that is less expensive and has fewer functions.
I'm betting the drop production of one when they drop the other. Doesn't make financial sense to keep production tied up in the First Gen when the last device using it is out of production. If you need a replacement for one on your 8th/9th/10th iPad, there are plenty of resellers on Amazon with a stockpile. Apple doesn't need to keep producing them. As soon as they drop sales of the last Lightning port iPad, I bet the First Gen goes with it.
I assume they're going to drop the original pencil soon. I get the benefit of a cheaper and more expensive option, but they should still be cross-compatible. People with a fancy iPad might still only want a cheap pencil, while people with cheaper iPads should be able to pay for if they want things like pressure sensitivity.
Realistically though, I still think the better option would be to just make one good pencil and make it as affordable as possible (and drop the price or upgrade it when it's five years old). There's not enough feature-differentiation to really justify the separation Apple is doing here.
This is just prioritising profit over the product and the user-experience. The new one isn't even that cheap, and the experience is still bad compared to 2nd-gen pencil, and it's arguably even worse than the 1st-gen.
Folks, this is all about Apple’s tutti-fruitti, phoney baloney, plastic banana, good time rock-n-roll PR need to say “ALL NEW” and “LOWER PRICE,” to get people to buy something more, so they can expand their profit per sale.
I totally agree. It feels like nickle and dime-ing here when that shouldn't be.
Reminds me of current passenger flying experience. Do you remember when US domestic flights allowed for at least 1 checked bag for free? In the past 2 decades, they started monetizing various bits of services without actually addding improvement to passenger experience or progress. So for example, they:
1. started charging for checked bags for domestic flights
2. created a Basic Economy tier in which you CANNOT select your seat without paying additional money
3. started charging for food on domestic flights
4. started charging for food on some international flights (e.g., to Canada and Mexico)
5. started charging for checked bags for some international flights (e.g., going to Europe they will charge, but going to Asia they won't).
It's really nutty. The latest that I know of, although it does not involve a US airline, is that cabin bags are weighed and anything over x kg will have to be a checked baggage FOR A FEE: that's, TAP Portgual with 8kg as the max weight for a cabin bag. Wow.
Pretty sure the eu mandate only applies to devices with a charging port so the gen 2 is exempt. Why not continue like that?
We shall see, but I highly doubt Apple's going to not sell you a pencil for an iPad that was sold under 5 years ago.
Because lightning is proprietary garbage, and wireless charging wastes energy.