I purchased a IPad Pro 12.9" and Apple Pencil about 2 weeks ago. Both work great. However it would be nice if the pencil would work on my iPhone 6s+ and older iPad 4. I tried a Adonit pixel point touch stylus. I worked on the older iPad and the iPhone 6s+ but lines were way off on the IPad Pro 12.9. I have been sketching for years and if you look in my art box you will find a collection of old pens and pencils I have liked and still use when needed. It would be nice to have a choices in tools. One is not enough.
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Will we have options for the Apple Pencil?
- Thread starter rjtiedeman
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You make an interesting point about choice of tools but it's pretty different talking about digital and physical ones.
Many different styluses should work perfectly on the pro. My Jot Touch 4 and Wacom Creative Stylus (1) do. My Jot Touch Pixelpoint works as badly on the pro as it did on every other device. They all suck somewhat compared to the Apple Pencil anyway though. Not sure why you'd want to use them as on a software level none of them offer the precision or features of the Apple Pencil? (I miss the side buttons but oh well!)
And the Apple Pencil only works with the new type of screen, so it can't be made to run on the older devices sadly.
Many different styluses should work perfectly on the pro. My Jot Touch 4 and Wacom Creative Stylus (1) do. My Jot Touch Pixelpoint works as badly on the pro as it did on every other device. They all suck somewhat compared to the Apple Pencil anyway though. Not sure why you'd want to use them as on a software level none of them offer the precision or features of the Apple Pencil? (I miss the side buttons but oh well!)
And the Apple Pencil only works with the new type of screen, so it can't be made to run on the older devices sadly.
I agree the Apple pencil works fine and I have not lost the cap yet. What if I don't like white, want buttons, black knurled finish, a pocket clip or an eraser on the other end. I have a LAMY palm stylus that retracted, became a pen and mechanical pencil. all in a machined aluminum shaft. Very cool but no longer working for either but was fun and useful while it lasted.
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I think that more color options, and possibly support for the pencil may be coming for the largest iPhone sizes. Some type of charge indicator and an "eraser" function would be great too.
I'm sure Apple could have added all of this from the beginning, but of course they will hold back for future updates.
I'm sure Apple could have added all of this from the beginning, but of course they will hold back for future updates.
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I would be surprised if the iPhone supports the pencil. Pretty pointless on a screen that size, plus the fact that there is no demand for it.
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Not necessarily. Perhaps not to draw, but to take a quick note. The Plus size is practically the same size as a small notepad.
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To my knowledge the Samsung Galaxy Note phones have always come with a stylus all be it not as sophisticated as the Apple Pencil. If they can come with a stylus as standard and have a use for it then there is no reason why the iPhone Plus model phones can't either.
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I had a note 4. Hardly ever used the stylus. Just not that great on a small screen. My point is there is no demand for a stylus on an iPhone so why would Apple just throw it in there for. Apart from the note what other phone has the stylus? If it was such a wanted feature, others on the android side would have followed suit. We are talking Apple here, Apple does not chase features. As we speak not a single Apple computer even has a touch screen.
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I'm not saying there is but how do you know there isn't demand for something that works as well as the Apple Pencil. Whilst I've not owned a Note or used it's stylus I suspect it's not as advanced as an Apple Pencil. I do disagree with you that it's not useful on a large size phone because in my opinion it would be for note taking, annotating and even drawing to a certain extent not to mention navigating and clicking on links many of which are hard to click on accurately with a finger.
I agree Apple may well think differently but I suspect your argument that no other phones have offered it is more to do with the limitations of a regular stylus then anything else. I think something like the Apple Pencil would solve that. If there was software to support it on the Plus size iPhone and I'm sure there would be then the Apple Pencil would certainly be useful.
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Another thing is it would make the iPhone even more expensive that it already is. Maybe $100 more expensive as we have seen with the 9.7 iPad Pro when compared to the air 2. What does it add to the phone functionality? Not much.
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How do you know it will make it more expensive. Do you work for Apple ? The technology is new with the iPad Pros but like with all technology it gets cheaper over time. Besides it doesn't preclude them from offering both Apple Pencil compatible and and ones that aren't. They could have an iPhone Pro as well as a regular iPhone just like they do with the iPads. Plus iPhones being what they are are typically subsidised using contracts so the increase in cost may not make as big an impact.
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Because it will cost more money to manufacture a glass screen that supports pen input. Example iPad airs were released at $500 while the iPad Pro 9.7 is released at $600. Apple will not cut its profits margin to make a screen that most people won't use.
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I have been using the Pixel Point Touch stylus on my new IPhone 6S+ with Sketchbook. It's both fun and useful when out and about with out the IPad Pro. A non bluetooth rubber tipped stylus will not work (not well) on the 6S+. What happened to the other suppliers who make powered pens? Have they given up on the IPad Pro and iPhone?
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