The iPad Pro doesn't have 3D Touch, but does it have the ability to tap into (see what I did there?) the Peek/Pop features of iOS using the Apple Pencil's pressure sensitivity?
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Peek and Pop with Pencil
- Thread starter xenocryst78
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There haven't been any rumors about the Apple Pencil's features and support, beyond what Apple showed at the keynote (pressure sensitivity, tilt detection, 12 hour battery life, etc.). Since "peek and pop" rely on pressure detection, it's technically possible for Apple to implement it on the Pro with the Apple Pencil.
I wouldn't expect it, though, for two reasons. The first is practical: Force Touch on the Apple Watch and 3D Touch on the iPhones rely on haptic feedback in the form of small vibrations, to give you feedback on your pressure and to let you know that the system recognized it. The Apple Pencil doesn't have vibratory motors built-in. (For that matter, neither do the iPads - one potential block toward implementing 3D Touch on them.) The second is philosophical. Until the introduction of the iPhone, touchscreen devices were primarily stylus-driven. Steve Jobs' quotes about casting aside styluses dealt with interacting with a device primarily by touch vs. stylus. If Apple implements 3D Touch with the Apple Pencil, it will encourage people to start using the stylus as their primary means of interacting with the iPad Pro, which goes against the philosophy that Apple has been building.
I wouldn't expect it, though, for two reasons. The first is practical: Force Touch on the Apple Watch and 3D Touch on the iPhones rely on haptic feedback in the form of small vibrations, to give you feedback on your pressure and to let you know that the system recognized it. The Apple Pencil doesn't have vibratory motors built-in. (For that matter, neither do the iPads - one potential block toward implementing 3D Touch on them.) The second is philosophical. Until the introduction of the iPhone, touchscreen devices were primarily stylus-driven. Steve Jobs' quotes about casting aside styluses dealt with interacting with a device primarily by touch vs. stylus. If Apple implements 3D Touch with the Apple Pencil, it will encourage people to start using the stylus as their primary means of interacting with the iPad Pro, which goes against the philosophy that Apple has been building.
While 3D touch is a pretty fantastic hardware accomplishment, the actual "Peek" and "Pop" actions are arbitrarily tied into the Force Touch gestures (as opposed to simply allowing a long-press command to universally trigger the same actions on any device)
So if Apple is choosing to make Peek and Pop a selling point then I doubt they'll allow it to be a pencil function because they need to leave an incentive for us to upgrade next year to an iPad Pro2 and a #2 Pencil.