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iPad Pro Pencil in a Haystack....

T

thedon1

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2010
529
73
I'm hoping the real in store release date is tomorrow and so a bulk of the pencils and keyboards will be in store over the weekend.
 
J

judahde

macrumors member
Apr 14, 2015
92
88
kingjames1970 said:
Instead I phoned, got iPad and pencil put aside and picked both up within the hour (tip: say you are a business customer, did the same thing with iPad 3).
Click to expand...

One would think that would work. I did the same thing. Ordered online at 3am, then showed up at the door before opening. Was the second person through the door. Told the salesperson I was a business customer and was most interested in locking up a Pencil if available. She went back and told me yes they had two, that she had put my name on one of them. So far so good. Then she asks me about my online order, which I show to her. She says I should have gotten an email to come pick it up, goes into the back area and returns. Tells me it should only be a few minutes but it's all good. Forty minutes later I get the "come get your order" email. When they process the order I'm told "sorry but the two Pencils we had have been sold". WTF???? So someone walks in after me and snags the Pencil, as I patiently waited for an email to get the item she tells me is sitting back there?

I would have been fine if they had just said "we don't have any Pencils". Not Apple's most shining moment.
 
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R

richardmu

macrumors 6502a
Oct 10, 2007
582
32
Bristol, UK
Cribbs store near Bristol UK where I tried to buy the 'package' of iPP
plus keyboard and pencil yesterday evening had no accessories.

No problem getting the iPad but they only got six pencils delivered that morning so didn't buy anything. These elusive pencils must be going
for a stash on eBay!

Official launch day is tomorrow and I'm in Bristol so will try the Cabott
store and see what they have. Trouble is it'll be mid afternoon so the
tiny number they may get will be sold out!
 
Brookzy

Brookzy

macrumors 601
May 30, 2010
4,976
5,573
UK
My theory...

Some background facts we know:
  • iPad Pro and accessories were announced in early September and we were told they would start shipping in November.
  • We had no indication of the female-to-female adapter that would ship with the Pencil for charging - that came to light about a week ago after 9to5Mac reported it.
  • The press release regarding availability seemed like it would never come, and then finally arrived on Monday.
My interpretation of the above facts:
  • The Pencil was not originally going to ship with the adapter because
    • They would have mentioned it in the Keynote or on the website (every other Apple product lists the accessories it comes with on the website)
    • No journalists at the announcement were told it would come with an adapter when they mentioned that it looked like it could easily snap during charging.
  • This change, and probably other factors, meant it took longer to make the Pencils than Apple expected.
  • The press release was probably late because Apple were considering delaying the whole launch until they had a better supply of Pencils.
  • They decided that it was better to release the iPad Pro than to delay it (something I'm happy about!)
This isn't some grand conspiracy of incompetence. Apple has to guess a ship date before they enter mass production. So many things can go wrong!

Also worth pointing out that if you were that desperate for a Pencil, if you ordered as soon as the store went live you would have got a ship date of 5-7 business days like I have, which you will realise is still November.

Just my thoughts. No evidence. But it shows how a different perspective can paint a far different picture of what's going on behind the scenes.

Rant over.
 
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SparkFlash

SparkFlash

macrumors 6502
Feb 15, 2013
368
131
Michigan
I too am just waiting in hopes local stores get some in stock. I am highly considering returning mine and would like a pencil sooner to make a final decision.
 
Brookzy

Brookzy

macrumors 601
May 30, 2010
4,976
5,573
UK
Atomic Walrus said:
It's a definite possibility, but what does this say about the keyboards? Would they hold one accessory just so that both are available at the same time?
Click to expand...
Was expecting that. I don't care about the keyboard personally as I won't be buying one, so I haven't given it much thought.

But the same sort of thing applies. I don't think it's a coincidence that it's the two entirely new accessories* that are backordered. There could have been hiccups with the keyboard too - especially since they decided only to ship in a US layout (a fact which unsurprisingly doesn't get much traction on this predominantly American forum but is a big deal!).

*i.e. not the Smart Cover or Smart Case.
 
J

judas731

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2007
31
6
ahipoke said:
I successfully pre-ordered (3am Eastern) one 128gb IPP, smart keyboard, and pencil for in store pickup at an Apple Store in the Washington DC area. Picked up everything at about 10:30am. The smart keyboard and pencil I received were in plain white boxes and had stickers that read "DEMO ONLY - NOT FOR RESALE." I asked about this and the guy said there was some stock mixup and sold them to me anyways. About 1:30pm I get a call from the store manager - she wants the accessories back. She said there were only two sets available and they were not meant for sale. She offered a refund plus a pretty significant discount off the iPad Pro if I were to return the items within a day or two. I returned them to the store yesterday...

...and then I realized how just about no one in America had them yet. Doh, Face palm.

Some thoughts:

The pencil was fun to use but I didn't discover that I had a need for it. I am no artist and so my awful drawings in Notes were still awful. I couldn't figure out how to change the line thickness. It doesn't do handwriting recognition. It does, however, recognize written my stoopid Chinese School Calligraphy. There is no charge indicator so I basically counted out 15 seconds (that's what the ad materials say) and trusted it would work for awhile. It never died on me, so whatever. The grip was nice, though it would be difficult to use the pencil with sweaty or greasy paws. The weighted roll was, cute.

The keyboard was meh. It's fine on a desk but it makes the ipad Pro feel unbalanced when you use it on your lap when sitting, or on your chest when laying down. The keys have a good press (no click or crunch), and I think I could type out a report on it. The thing that bothered me the most was how clumsy it was to flip out the keyboard from the cover and then to set up the triangle support. I didn't get a lot of time to figure out what the deal was, but it just felt like there was one magnet too many. The cover doesn't close flat either. Because the keyboard only takes up one part of the cover, there is a dip where the keyboard isn't. The asymmetry kills me (IMHO it's as bad as the Nissan Cube).

So now that I don't have the accessories, I don't really miss not having the pencil. Maybe down the road I'll figure out some need for it, and I'm sure the price will be the same. I ordered the keyboard again, and while I'm waiting for that, I decided to try out the Logitech CREATE (which apparently is in stock at the local Apple Store for $20 less than the Apple). I'll get it later today.
Click to expand...



By any chance was that the Montgomery Mall store? I have the pencil and got the same call. They just offered me a free pencil in 4-5 weeks when it's available. I've been pretty busy with work but I haven't returned it yet.
 
J

JT2002TJ

macrumors 68000
Nov 7, 2013
1,825
1,154
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