Hands-On With the iPad Pro Apple Pencil

[Four oF NINE]

I'd be hugely surprised if the next iPad updates are not compatible with Apple Pencil.

My question is exactly how much of a giant leap forward is Apple Pencil compared to existing products?

 

[astrocramp]

You and everyone else has no idea the levels of pressure sensitivity on the Apple Pencil. But for comparison sake:
Wacom= 2048
Surface=256

Surface Pro 4 is 1024, not 256.

 

[ditzy]

Stephen Jobs was a master at controlling the supply chain. Welcome to the new reality

Actually he was pretty rubbish at controlling the supply chain. Tim Cook on the other hand...

 

[npmacuser5]

In the near future Apple needs to have the Pencil as an option for all iPads. I have a Surface Pro and enjoy the Pencil for many aspect other then drawing. I also have iPads and a Mac, all of which could use the Pencil technology to make the products better for many, I for one.

 

[KPOM]

Stephen Jobs was a master at controlling the supply chain. Welcome to the new reality

Are you kidding? Did you see the massive lines for the iPad 2 because of supply shortages, or the original iPhone, which sold a whopping 1 million in the first 74 days? What about the white iPhone 4, which was delayed for 4 months because Steve Jobs didn't like the original shade of white?

 

[themongooseman]

100 dollars....hahahahaha...to this day that joke still kills me. What a terrible product.

The price doesn't make it a terrible product. Being a terrible product makes it a terrible product.

 

[Arndroid]

SIX POUNDS?!!!! LMAO!!! ACTUAL WORTH: £0.80

In the "olden days" (up to about the late 1990s, I'd guess) before people weren't taught basic life skills by their parents, someone would knock one of these up in 15 mins from some elastic, velcro and a few basic stitches with some thread. Such a lazy, LAZY consumer driven society - people DESERVE to get ripped off.

What if I can spend the time it would take me to do what you want to earn $100?

So now I am up 95.20 over you. Just because you choose to pay to have things made or down for you does not make you lazy, it just means you have other things that you enjoy doing more or are a better use of your time and resources.

Why not build an iPad pro yourself and hook electrodes up to a number two pencil?

One of the only real positive benefits of having money is being able to pay others to do things you do not want to do and/or do not enjoy doing.

I am dictating this post to my admistrstive assistant who makes $27.25 an hour and is currently on over time. I am currently learning how to juggle and because I have the resources and want to learn how to be a proficient juggler I can do that while still replying in this thread.

 

[SuperHamster]

What if I can spend the time it would take me to do what you want to earn $100?

...

I am dictating this post to my admistrstive assistant who makes $27.25 an hour and is currently on over time. I am currently learning how to juggle and because I have the resources and want to learn how to be a proficient juggler I can do that while still replying in this thread.

Dear Arndroid's Administrative Assistant;
You've misspelled your own professional title. Better fix it before your boss comes back from his juggling session and makes a salary deduction from your poor $27.25. I wouldn't put it past him, he doesn't sound like a nice chap to be working for.

 

[Arndroid]

Stephen Jobs was a master at controlling the supply chain. Welcome to the new reality

Actually Steve Jobs would tell you Tim Cook was and is (if you had s seance) the master of the supply chain. I am not aware of any indications that Jobs was ever particularly talented in that area.

Manufacturing hardware is hard. Most of it is done in Asia and there are all sorts of issues which even hinder the most profitable company in the world. These issues are much worse for smaller companies and pretty often death of start ups and crowd funded projects.

This is why Apple continues to increase its direct control of its supply chain on an ongoing basis. Reliable tech manufacturing partners are extremely hard to come by and Apple almost always runs into volume issues because they are selling more identical products in multiple market segment cover anyone else.

It's not the least bit surprising that brand new hardware accessories face supply complaints upon their launch, especially given the interest. Sure Apple could have only made as many pros as they had pencils but that would be horrible business. So some people don't have a pencil for a month, it is a pretty petty and laughable complaint.

Apple has never artificially constrained supply on products and certainly would not do it on an accessory that will increase Ipad sales. Simply a case of limited production due to any number of causes. I can assure you Apple wishes everyone who wanted an apple pencil and iPad pro could have one.

 

[Arndroid]

Dear Arndroid's Administrative Assistant;
You've misspelled your own professional title. Better fix it before your boss comes back from his juggling session and makes a salary deduction from your poor $27.25. I wouldn't put it past him, he doesn't sound like a nice chap to be working for.

Dangling participle agrees.

 

[friedmud]

Please don't compare it to Wacom. Wacom's sensitivity is million times better, and it has pen incline detection, which really makes it a professional product. And Wacom pens start from $30, up to $70 for advanced models. Apple pencil is a toy

I'm sure others have answered you... but the Apple Pencil does pressure and incline.

Before bashing something you should really know what it does.

I have used the Apple Pencil in a store... and it's pretty incredible. Zero lag and extremely accurate. Definitely not a toy.

(Update: I originally said that the Apple Pencil did rotation... a second check makes me not so sure on that, so I've removed it. I could have sworn that I read about that somewhere... but I can't find it)

 

[FieldingMellish]

Can the Apple Pencil's incline detection tell whether or not you're inclined to buy one?

 

[themongooseman]

Yeah, and that's a totally relevant comparison ...sheesh

It's what we in the thinking world call a "joke".

 

[Nausicaa]

Please don't compare it to Wacom. Wacom's sensitivity is million times better, and it has pen incline detection, which really makes it a professional product. And Wacom pens start from $30, up to $70 for advanced models. Apple pencil is a toy

As an owner of a Wacom Cintiq and someone who has used the Apple Pencil, you have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[doelcm82]

Now Apple justified the $100 price tag of the Pencil. Obviously they're harder to make the iPad Pro.

The iPad Pro is the accessory that makes the Apple Pencil worth having.

 

[Precision Gem]

100 dollars....hahahahaha...to this day that joke still kills me. What a terrible product.

Apparently many many people don't think it's a joke as its pretty much sold out all,over and back ordered. People are paying $400 on eBay for them.

 

[ckeck]

I actually think the Pencil is a huge let down compared to the Surface Pro 4/Surface Book pen which sports ~1 year battery and has the eraser. There is also a button but since this is iOS I don't know if that would be useful.

Pressure sensitivity is the same I believe but I noticed that Apple has the problem of the older Surface pen which is the plastic on glass feel. The new SP4 pen has some "drag" to it which makes it feel better for writing/drawing.

Anyhow, the main thing that kills me here is the battery. How could they not pull off something more than that when a comparable (if not better) pen can go orders of magnitude longer...

 

[Prothis]

Just so you guys know, they are getting them in stores, and people are buying them. I went to a store despite the online chat people saying 'none available in stores'. I walked in and they had just gotten a shipment from UPS. They brought out a smart keyboard for me. So i ask the guy what about a pencil. Turns out they are getting them but it seems that a majority of them are going to businesses. The store got 3 in that day, and after hanging around for an hour and a half, the pencil shipment got in and I snatched one up.

You guys just need to try harder.

 

[Precision Gem]

Very nice, looks like it may function better than my SP4 pen. I'd be bummed though that I couldn't run photoshop or other PC programs and put it to use. Will be curious to see what apps companies like Adobe come up with.

I use Pixelmator, does everything I need from Photoshop at a fraction of the price. Has some features not found I photoshop, or are at least easier to use. Too bad they don't make it for Windows machines....

 

[doelcm82]

I actually think the Pencil is a huge let down compared to the Surface Pro 4/Surface Book pen which sports ~1 year battery and has the eraser. There is also a button but since this is iOS I don't know if that would be useful.

Pressure sensitivity is the same I believe but I noticed that Apple has the problem of the older Surface pen which is the plastic on glass feel. The new SP4 pen has some "drag" to it which makes it feel better for writing/drawing.

Anyhow, the main thing that kills me here is the battery. How could they not pull off something more than that when a comparable (if not better) pen can go orders of magnitude longer...

The Pencil has features which the Surface Pro pen doesn't have, and it has better accuracy. These features and accuracy require more constant communication between the Pencil and the iPad Pro. If you are willing to do without those features, and the accuracy is not important to you, and don't mind working in Windows, then the advantages of the Surface Pro pen become more compelling.

If I wanted a Windows notebook, I would certainly think the Surface Pro 4 was worth strong consideration. But I'm happy with my iPad Pro purchase, and I'll be even happier when my Apple Pencil arrives sometime in the first two weeks of December (I waited until morning to place my order).

 

[Mac 128]

The pencil with the lightning adapter cable attached looks like some odd surgical probe...

Ha. I have to say I am stunned that the adapter is rectangular rather than round. I was hoping one could use it as a cap instead of the actual useless cap, and since it never has to be removed to charge under most circumstances, it will likely never get lost. I suppose one still could use it as a cap, it would just look odd.

I wish someone would post some more information about the charger adapter. Does it have to be oriented in a particular direction to work? Does it pass through any other signals, or is it only a charger?

 

[Rogifan]

Serenity Caldwell using the iPad Pro like a Wacom Cintiq:

 

[brewcitywi]

100 dollars....hahahahaha...to this day that joke still kills me. What a terrible product.

For a professional illustrator / designer it's not a lot at all.

 

[iMi]

They are obviously trying to tone down the marketing push behind the pencil and reframe it as a specialty tool. Or maybe they have always meant for it to be perceive as such, who knows. I suspect it has something to do with the whole "who needs a stylus" Steve Job philosophy. I still believe he was right about it and I'm sure Apple does, too. Stylus has a specific purpose. I haven't seen it yet, but it looks like a well designed product and if it functions the way they claim (which I have no reason to doubt) then it's priced fairly.

 

[uid15]

What if I can spend the time it would take me to do what you want to earn $100?

So now I am up 95.20 over you. Just because you choose to pay to have things made or down for you does not make you lazy, it just means you have other things that you enjoy doing more or are a better use of your time and resources.

Why not build an iPad pro yourself and hook electrodes up to a number two pencil?

One of the only real positive benefits of having money is being able to pay others to do things you do not want to do and/or do not enjoy doing.

I am dictating this post to my admistrstive assistant who makes $27.25 an hour and is currently on over time. I am currently learning how to juggle and because I have the resources and want to learn how to be a proficient juggler I can do that while still replying in this thread.

Point = missed. When everything is done FOR you, you miss out on experiences and doing things yourself, so you can say "I made that". Sewing is a skill ANY man should know; it's not exactly complicated unless you're a bumbling buffoon. As for your comment about making an iPad, you're just being ridiculous to add weight to a weak argument.

If all you think about is how much your time is costing you and how much money you can amass, I have deepest sympathy for you - you could make this whilst watching TV or sitting chatting to friends (I take it you don't charge your mates $100 an hour to talk to you? )