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New Apple Pencil's Hidden USB-C Port Demonstrated in Hands-On Video
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This is aimed at the education market to complete with the Logitech offering (which also lacks pressure sensitivity). Education buyers are not willing to pay Apple Pencil 2 money.
Yes but aiming that complaint at the USBC Pencil is misdirected. The pressure sensitive option removal happened a year or more ago when Apple made Pencil 2 with no USBC support and made the 10th gen base iPad with no wireless Pencil support. The key to remember is the USBC Pencil does not replace Pencil 1–Pencil 2 replaced Pencil 1 (and slightly increased the price because of added technology). Pencil 1 has since been on its way out but has only stuck around because of the 9th gen base iPad and other older Lightning iPads. But it was never supposed to be the cheaper option. This USBC Pencil is the real cheaper option (although in my opinion it could stand to be a bit cheaper considering the third party competition). If you want to be mad at the loss of pressure sensitivity, be mad about Pencil 2 not having USBC.
The ZAGG Pro Stylus has had a hidden USB-C port for YEARS!! It also works with pretty much any recent iPad.
eu.zagg.com
ZAGG Pro Stylus
Make the most of your tablet with the dual-tip, capacitive Pro Stylus. Compatible with apps that support Apple Pencil.
eu.zagg.com
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The issue is that the Pencil 2 doesn’t work on the iPads that support the Pencil 1, and can't be charged. I hope the Pencil 1 will be sold for years to come (so that lost ones and ones with a degrading battery can be replaced), as long as the compatible iPads can be expected to work.
And the 10th-gen iPad is in a weird place, because owners have to choose between pressure sensitivity and magnetic attachment with dongleless charging. While choice is good, this is a particularly awkward one, and also a completely artificial one from Apple's side.
I’m just going to say it given the usability hassle of this product this is an un-Apple device, just like the lightning pencil. Given the projected lifespan of the product cycle this is going to look even more ridiculous as time goes on. They should at least match the magnetic charging feature to keep the functionality seamless.
Yeah giving excess of choice is a stupid thing to do for a company, especially when the price difference is not big enough to justify the lack of features. If it costed $49 maybe it would have made some sort of sense, but for $79 it just makes the lineup messy for no reason.
Yeah. Only $10 cheaper.The ZAGG Pro Stylus has had a hidden USB-C port for YEARS!! It also works with pretty much any recent iPad.
ZAGG Pro Stylus
Make the most of your tablet with the dual-tip, capacitive Pro Stylus. Compatible with apps that support Apple Pencil.
Everybody that writes this " most people don't need "..
It is always NONSENSE.. stop doing this. No pressure sensitivity is downright idiotic. It's just Apple trying to catch some suckers like they always do.
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Three models of Apple Pencil all being available for sale is, frankly, ludicrous. Talk about fragmentation.
I would like my pencil to have a USB-C port, and the features of the most expensive model. I don't want to have to choose. Utter madness for the sake of a few dollars.
Make two models at most - one lightning, for recent lightning and legacy devices. One USB-C for everything post 2021.
I would like my pencil to have a USB-C port, and the features of the most expensive model. I don't want to have to choose. Utter madness for the sake of a few dollars.
Make two models at most - one lightning, for recent lightning and legacy devices. One USB-C for everything post 2021.
This is $13.79 right now and has magnetic charging. I own it and it works and feels exactly like Apple Pencil 2 but without pressure sensitivity.
Apple’s version is literally worse and costs over 5x more.
Apple’s version is literally worse and costs over 5x more.
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I bought this Logitech one for my son to use at School because I didn't want him loosing our good Apple Pencil 1. I didn't realize when I ordered it that it didn't have pressure sensitivity. He said it was fine and actually liked it better because it didn't roll away.
Then I upgraded my iPad to a new Air(not compatible) and needed to borrow his Logitech for a day, so we traded. I asked him how he liked it, compared to the Logitech and he said it was SOOO much better, the pressure sensitivity made all the difference, made it feel like writing with a real pencil, he doesn't draw, just takes notes and does math problems. I now wish I could return the Logitech.
I guess my point is...if I have one... Apple should have put in the pressure sensitive, and let out the hover capability, since that only works on the Pro iPads anyway, and not a lot of those going into the education market.
"hadn’t have bought"? You may had have answered your own question.
A lot of these complaint posts stem from a misunderstanding—that the USBC Pencil replaces Pencil 1.
No, Pencil 1 is a legacy device, replaced by Pencil 2, and is only still available to serve legacy iPads (it will be gone once older Lightning iPads are gone). Pencil 1 was never supposed to be the “cheap” option—it’s only there for compatibility and happens to be slightly cheaper because Pencil 2 added wireless tech. So the USBC Pencil does not replace Pencil 1. The USBC Pencil is its own thing.
So Complaint 1–it’s a confusing lineup:
Only until the Pencil 1 is gone. After that, there will just be an expensive and cheap option—simple enough. Just like for anything, a shopper will realize there is a reason for the price difference between the two models and will look to see the feature difference and will decide whether or not they need those features for the higher price.
Complaint 2–Apple took away a pressure sensitive option for the base iPad with the introduction of the USBC Pencil:
No, again, the USBC Pencil doesn’t replace Pencil 1; Pencil 2 replaced Pencil 1. So Apple took away the pressure sensitive option when they made Pencil 2 with no USBC/10th gen ipad with no wireless Pencil support (which is also why it has landscape camera unlike all the other iPads). Pencil 1 has always been on its way out, the 10th gen has just been holding onto it for as long as it can using an adapter.
I can’t help with the price complaints.
No, Pencil 1 is a legacy device, replaced by Pencil 2, and is only still available to serve legacy iPads (it will be gone once older Lightning iPads are gone). Pencil 1 was never supposed to be the “cheap” option—it’s only there for compatibility and happens to be slightly cheaper because Pencil 2 added wireless tech. So the USBC Pencil does not replace Pencil 1. The USBC Pencil is its own thing.
So Complaint 1–it’s a confusing lineup:
Only until the Pencil 1 is gone. After that, there will just be an expensive and cheap option—simple enough. Just like for anything, a shopper will realize there is a reason for the price difference between the two models and will look to see the feature difference and will decide whether or not they need those features for the higher price.
Complaint 2–Apple took away a pressure sensitive option for the base iPad with the introduction of the USBC Pencil:
No, again, the USBC Pencil doesn’t replace Pencil 1; Pencil 2 replaced Pencil 1. So Apple took away the pressure sensitive option when they made Pencil 2 with no USBC/10th gen ipad with no wireless Pencil support (which is also why it has landscape camera unlike all the other iPads). Pencil 1 has always been on its way out, the 10th gen has just been holding onto it for as long as it can using an adapter.
I can’t help with the price complaints.
Isn’t this essentially what I said? Pencil 1 only still exists because of compatibility issues that Pencil 2 created.
Same. It’s unfortunate its existence confuses people, but better that than people not being able to have a Pencil for their iPad.
Not sure what you mean by artificial. It’s pretty natural and common to offer multiple tiers of products. And to decrease price, features naturally have to be taken out.
I agree it’s an unfortunate choice/situation, but it’s due to Pencil 2 not having USBC.
Think of (1) the education discount and (2) the discounts that Apple and Apple stockists negotiate quietly with the education market, then it makes more sense.
The hover functionality emanates from the specific iPad (M2 iPad Pro) that has this functionality and not the Pencil. It works by detecting where the bluetooth radio is located on the Gen2 or USB-C Pencil and using computation to interact with the screen.
If Apple wanted to leave this feature off of the USB-C Pencil, it would actually add cost to the Pencil as they would need to redesign the device in such a way, so that on the Pencil's end something was preventing the iPad's hover feature from working.