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New Apple Pencil Announced With Hidden USB-C Port and More for $79
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Neither can you store the Apple Pencil (1st Gen) with the 9th Gen iPad anyway, so I don't see a huge loss for 9th Gen iPad users if Apple had them switch to Apple Pencil (USB-C) instead.
Yes the 3 people trying to do serious artwork on 9th-10th gen iPad are left out in the cold today.
Not too terribly different to the MacBook lineup as well….very bloated. Three 13 inch laptops, two of which are called MacBook Air but look different, and two that have the exact same SOC but have different names.
This is the new Pencil “SE” if you will.
Pencil 2 is the current “flagship”.
Pencil 1 is the old flagship still being sold for compatibility with Lightning iPads.
I’m pretty sure Pencil 1 will be discontinued soon, maybe within up to a couple years, leaving just one “flagship” Pencil and the “affordable Apple Pencil”. Apple should probably do something with the names to differentiate them.
The next Pencil 3 will probably replace Pencil 2 (discontinued) UNLESS Pencil 3 offers some crazy new feature that will drive up the price, then Apple may keep Pencil 2 around as a middle price option, OR unless Pencil 3 isn’t backwards compatible, then Apple will keep Pencil 2 around for compatibility. That’s my take anyway.
The sliding cap is a nice touch.
Pencil 2 is the current “flagship”.
Pencil 1 is the old flagship still being sold for compatibility with Lightning iPads.
I’m pretty sure Pencil 1 will be discontinued soon, maybe within up to a couple years, leaving just one “flagship” Pencil and the “affordable Apple Pencil”. Apple should probably do something with the names to differentiate them.
The next Pencil 3 will probably replace Pencil 2 (discontinued) UNLESS Pencil 3 offers some crazy new feature that will drive up the price, then Apple may keep Pencil 2 around as a middle price option, OR unless Pencil 3 isn’t backwards compatible, then Apple will keep Pencil 2 around for compatibility. That’s my take anyway.
The sliding cap is a nice touch.
I'm happy with the Pencil 2 I use with my iPad Pro & Mini. But I'm wondering what it would be like to live with this new USB-C Pencil.
Could I live without the pressure sensitivity feature? I honestly don't know if I use it. I should try turning it off and seeing if it affects my experience.
But I use wireless charging on the Pencil 2 and not sure I would go without. I can't see charging the new pencil by plugging it into my iPad and having it stick out the side, or plugging it directly into a USB-C wall charger and having it stick out. Otherwise, I could get a charging cable with male on one end and female on the other. Not sure I'd want to buy a new cable just for that.
Maybe this new Pencil is designed to replace the original (and very old) Apple Pencil for people who buy the entry-level iPad. With the Pencil 1, charging and pairing with the entry iPad requires the special cabl and seems pretty awkward.
Could I live without the pressure sensitivity feature? I honestly don't know if I use it. I should try turning it off and seeing if it affects my experience.
But I use wireless charging on the Pencil 2 and not sure I would go without. I can't see charging the new pencil by plugging it into my iPad and having it stick out the side, or plugging it directly into a USB-C wall charger and having it stick out. Otherwise, I could get a charging cable with male on one end and female on the other. Not sure I'd want to buy a new cable just for that.
Maybe this new Pencil is designed to replace the original (and very old) Apple Pencil for people who buy the entry-level iPad. With the Pencil 1, charging and pairing with the entry iPad requires the special cabl and seems pretty awkward.
They should have discontinued the Apple Pencil (1st gen) and made Apple Pencil (USB-C) work with all iPads that support Apple Pencil.
It works with all iPads that have a USB-C port, but there’s no reason why older iPads couldn’t use a USB-C to Lightning cable for pairing.
It works with all iPads that have a USB-C port, but there’s no reason why older iPads couldn’t use a USB-C to Lightning cable for pairing.
This is a high margin item just in time for Black Friday. Every retailer puts iPads on sale next month.
I think "upgrade" is subjective. Some would argue that the loss of pressure sensitivity is a huge downgrade.
I'm actually curious if it works, but apple hid it in the compatibility sheet so that people buy the $20 more one
I don't understand what's so different about this. The Lightning port on the 1st gen Pencil was hidden. It was hiddle by a cap just like this new USB-C Pencil hides the port with a cap.
Lacks Pressure sensitivity though 🫠 and the OG Apple Pencil has that feature. That’s a big loss
If people want cheaper, they get less features. That's life.
On the first gen the cap comes off completely and can then be lost.
It seems like the issue with this announcement is simply a marketing one. If they just called it the Pencil SE it would have avoided all of the confusion in this feed. If I had no idea what I was doing, went into Apple and wanted to buy the latest and greatest iPad, I'd get the latest generation iPad Pro or Mini and pick up the newest (in age and namesake) Pencil 3, but I wouldn't be getting best quality/feature set for my purchase. By putting the 3 in the name it makes the 2 seem old and lesser, when in reality this is an upgrade to the lesser model and the 2 is still the Top.
So what will you say when this one goes on sale regularly?
If anything, this branding is alluding to in the future Apple shipping two versions of Apple Pencil. This cheap version and a Pro version. They can now justify adding more features and increasing the price of the Pro version because they have an even cheaper offering now.
I see. Then it's not the design of the hidden port so much as it is an issue with the design of the cap or how it's integrated into the Pencil. Noted.
Or it is just 1 year late. This product would have made a lot more sense to be introduced alongside the iPad 10th gen (instead of yet another dongle being the only option.).
Decent chance Apple needed more time to flush more of the Pencil 1 out of the retail system and likely would have been more cloudy they could push price point down much further and still keep margins ( logistics chain was recovering from Covid shock). This is mainly a replacement for Pencil 1, but Apple is still selling the iPad 9th gen (and have a ton of legacy iPad 8,7,6 floating out there. )
Decent chance there is a replacement for Pencil 2 that is coupled to the iPad Pro update (or iPad Air if that comes first).
The iPad 10th gen came last year and didn't displace the iPad 9th gen . The lower end hasn't been 'running right' for over a year.
Not exactly. It claims to work with any USB-C ipad. so Gen 1 and Gen 2 ipads of all models if that ANY USB-C ipad claim holds true............