iPad Pro Pencil 2 will it be 2016 or 2017?

[subjonas]

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This is my only complaint, even tho I can understand why it doesn't have one, it's just after using a Cintiq for so long, not being able to flip the stylus and erase is so weird.

I have actually found that it is generally more convenient to tap the eraser button on my toolbar than it is to flip the pencil over twice to make a small correction.

Also a long time Cintiq user myself. I always found flipping over the Wacom pen (to use the eraser) very cumbersome so I never did. Of course on desktop applications I use the eraser keyboard shortcut, which is ideal, but when keyboard shortcuts are not available I still find it much quicker and easier to tap the app's eraser tool button than flipping the pen back and forth, assuming the app is well designed and the eraser button is always readily available.

I would like to see some options for different tips, however.

Me too..

I'm happy to hit a button for an eraser or if they did ad a button to erase on the pen, but moved it up away from where people naturally hold the Apple Pencil to write or draw.

I would also like a side button on the Pencil, especially programmable, not necessarily for an eraser. And I agree it should be slightly high up. On my Wacom pen I constantly hit the lower button by accident, but never had a problem with the upper button--so I disabled the lower one and only used the upper one. I really miss it on the Pencil.

How's this one: make it magnetically clip to the smart connector to charge and transport just like the keyboard that manages to do it and was released at the exact same time.

My thoughts almost exactly. I just probably wouldn't keep it magnetically attached for transport because it could easily get knocked off and lost. For that I would want something more secure like a clip or a pocket/sleeve/loop on the smart (keyboard) cover. But magnetic attachment would be ideal for temporarily keeping the Pencil and iPP together, and charging while doing so.

Inductive charging is extremely slow.

Yes, the power throughput of the smart connector would definitely need to be beefed up somehow.

So what happens if I use a case with my iPad Pro which blocks the smart connector (as pretty much any case with a folding cover will)?

Cases, especially ones like the ASK that use the smart connector, would need a smart connector passthrough.

This means the Apple Pencil needs to sport a smart connector of its own, potentially marring its otherwise smooth surface.

Half the Pencil could twist/elongate to reveal the smart connector, then twist/collapse again to hide the connector (the twisting is to help deter the Pencil from being collapsed accidentally). This elongating/collapsing could additionally serve to turn the Pencil on and off, which is a function I think the Pencil is desperately in need of (for reason, see below).

I agree that it requires a lot of charging, especially if you carry it around in a bag all day where it never gets to go to sleep for very long.

So maybe an "off" button would be a good improvement to add.

YES. As I mentioned above, I think the Pencil desperately needs an off switch, for the very reason zhenya mentioned. My Pencil battery constantly gets depleted because I keep it in my bag all day with my iPP. Recharging is quick, but having to do it so often has become quite a chore.

The awkward quick charge probably wouldn't be as much of a problem if I didn't have to do it so often. But I do, and I find it embarrassing using my iPP in public with the Pencil sticking out the side of it. So much so I actually prefer to get out my cable and plug it into a wall, lol. Not to mention if I'm using it at a small table, someone could walk by and cause a calamity.

 

[doug in albq]

Practically speaking, an artist would want to use high quality erasers that, because of physical properties, such as being soft, don't fit well on the end of a pencil. So no serious art pencil maker would make a pencil with a low quality eraser that would be both shunned and ignored. Actually, even for just writing, my Mom bought me these high quality writing pencils that had no eraser at the end, and separate good quality erasers. I can tell you I could erase a lot faster and cleaner than my friends with their tiny cheap erasers at the ends of their pencils.

This is to say, the reasons why artists pencils don't have erasers on the end have no relevance to the digital realm, where the physical properties of the erasing material isn't a concern. So I don't agree with the view that Apple didn't include an eraser at the end because artists pencils don't have them -- that's a stupid reason for not having an eraser. There could have been a lot of other factors that led to this decision, but just aping the artist pencil would be a stupid way to design a digital instrument.

I am not sure why many do not understand that there is no eraser at the opposite end of your "Inker" because both are on the same end of the hardware these days. THE APP UI HAS THE ERASER, PHYSICALLY FLIPPING THE PEN/PENCIL IS "REAL-WORLD SKEUOMORPHISM"(tm).

 

[gobikerider]

2016 I would not be surprised to see Apple refresh the iPads along with Macs on the 27th.