I was extremely fortunate to have gotten my hands on an Apple Pencil on Nov. 12th. No trick or secret, I was just one of the many people who experienced the day one 'glitch' in Apple's inventory system the day before.
The next day, I got that email for both the pencil and my smart keyboard.
After using the pencil for the past couple of days (and having some basic experience with other stylus-enabled devices), I can say that from an input perspective, this is the real deal.
It's what you expect from Apple after all. It just works. Pressure and angular sensitivity are on point. Latency is nearly indistinguishable. And for someone using this primarily for note taking and minimal sketching (I'm a marketing director working with a lot of print and web media), it's been well worth the $99 price tag.
Here's my sole complaint so far: It's nice while using it, its awkward when you're not.
It's a slick little pen with no means of securing to the iPad Pro (which, admittedly, I don't mind). However, I can't find a great way to carry it with me. It's just slightly too long to comfortably fit in my pocket (and I worry about breaking the tip when I sit), and this morning it slid stealthily out of my jacket pocket. When I'm at my desk, it sits still on the flat surface or even along the tip row of the smart keyboard, but when I'm on the go, I haven't quite figured it out.
A clip would have been nice, but that really messes with the aesthetics. Plus, have you ever used a pen with a clip you really like and don't fear will wear or break over time?
Overall, I really like it. And I feel really luck to have mine. Once it's more widely available, I may see about picking up another (if two or more can pair) to keep one in the office and one in my crumpler messenger where i stow the pro when I'm on the move.

The next day, I got that email for both the pencil and my smart keyboard.
After using the pencil for the past couple of days (and having some basic experience with other stylus-enabled devices), I can say that from an input perspective, this is the real deal.
It's what you expect from Apple after all. It just works. Pressure and angular sensitivity are on point. Latency is nearly indistinguishable. And for someone using this primarily for note taking and minimal sketching (I'm a marketing director working with a lot of print and web media), it's been well worth the $99 price tag.
Here's my sole complaint so far: It's nice while using it, its awkward when you're not.
It's a slick little pen with no means of securing to the iPad Pro (which, admittedly, I don't mind). However, I can't find a great way to carry it with me. It's just slightly too long to comfortably fit in my pocket (and I worry about breaking the tip when I sit), and this morning it slid stealthily out of my jacket pocket. When I'm at my desk, it sits still on the flat surface or even along the tip row of the smart keyboard, but when I'm on the go, I haven't quite figured it out.
A clip would have been nice, but that really messes with the aesthetics. Plus, have you ever used a pen with a clip you really like and don't fear will wear or break over time?
Overall, I really like it. And I feel really luck to have mine. Once it's more widely available, I may see about picking up another (if two or more can pair) to keep one in the office and one in my crumpler messenger where i stow the pro when I'm on the move.



