[UPDATE: Apple Pencil now supports the 9.7-inch iPad Pro as well.]
Aside from its larger 12.9-inch display and faster A9X processor, the iPad Pro stands out from all other iPads to date thanks primarily to a new accessory: the Apple Pencil. For now, the Apple Pencil can only be used with the iPad Pro, and offers quantifiable differences in both good and bad ways compared with third-party styluses that have previously been sold for iPads.
While Pencil is not required to use the iPad Pro, it’s especially interesting because it’s Apple’s first official solution for handwriting, drawing, and precision input on iPads beyond finger touches and gestures. By contrast, Apple’s Smart Keyboard for iPad Pro is the company’s second or third typing solution for iPads; the company offered an official solution for physical keyboard input on iPads way back when the original iPad launched in 2010 with the short-lived Keyboard Dock, and has sold Wireless/Magic Keyboards as well. What does Apple’s first digital stylus bring to the iPad? Read on…
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Measuring 7 inches in length from the removable cap that covers its Lightning plug to the replaceable tip where the digital ink flows, Apple Pencil is surprisingly longer than most iOS-ready digital styluses that have come before it. Surveying a few pens and pencils around my office, Apple Pencil is also longer than most writing pens and mechanical pencils, but similar to actual pencils which are longer to accommodate more lead.
The impressively simple design is characteristically Apple, and you’ll likely either love it or be frustrated by its few omissions. Unlike some of the Bluetooth styluses released by third party developers, there are no buttons tied to software features, no LED status indicator, and no pen clip for securing it to your shirt or pants pocket.
As a fan of discontinued polycarbonate white MacBooks and stainless steel-backed iPods, I found the almost all-white exterior with metallic accents both refreshing and charming. The shiny plastic shell can be slippery when held loosely, but when gripped normally for writing or drawing, it sits comfortably in the hand without any ergonomic issues despite the lack of rubber for gripping.
And despite not having a pen clip or flat edge, Apple Pencil has an internal weight that keeps it from rolling off level surfaces, though it can slip off an incline. Apple Pencil always comes to rest with its name printed on the metal casing facing up, too, also a nice touch.
At the drawing end is a replaceable light gray rubbery tip that screws off to reveal a gold-colored metallic holder. The other end has a removable plastic cap with a metallic insert that magnetically clips on to cover and protect the integrated Lightning plug that can be used to recharge Apple Pencil. This cap easily slides out of pant pockets and into couch cushions or onto the floor, so bear that in mind when trying not to misplace it.
Inside the box (initial unboxing and hands-on impressions here) you’ll find the Apple Pencil capped with one tip already in place, plus an identical replacement tip and a new female-to-female Lightning port adapter. This part allows you to charge Apple Pencil with any standard Lightning cable or dock. No Lightning cable is included, but the required iPad Pro does come with a lengthy 2-meter one, and you can buy shorter spares for a few bucks.
Interestingly, the safety and handling pamphlet notes that “With use, the tip of Apple Pencil will wear down, and you’ll need to replace it to avoid damaging the iPad Pro screen.” Although the box includes a single spare tip, additional replacement tips aren’t yet available and pricing is unknown. A note on Apple’s support website promises that replacement tips will be available “in the future.”
But aside from the inevitable Apple Pencil replacement tips, I would love to see an Apple version of Microsoft’s $10 Pen tip kit for its Surface Pen, which offers 2H, H, HB, and B tip options. Similarly, some third-party stylus makers have used conductive bristles to successfully recreate the feeling of using a paint brush on iPad with inexpensive solutions.
Apple’s pencil metaphor tends to break down when using software tools that let you paint with splashes of color or even just crank up the brush size. Apple Pencil’s tip doesn’t conduct like a typical rubber dome stylus, but I’d love to see Apple try to expand the writing tip options. For now, it looks and feels like a plastic pencil.Whether Apple offers solutions or others find a way to work around Apple Pencil’s special tip, I’m certain we’ll see a market for alternative tips pop up eventually.
Setting up Apple Pencil is as simple as uncapping it and plugging the Lightning connector into the iPad Pro’s Lightning port. As long as your iPad’s Bluetooth is turned on, an on-screen alert will ask for permission to pair Apple Pencil with iPad Pro, then you’re done. There’s no Apple Pencil app or section within Settings — just an optional battery status widget that you can add in Notification Center.
For creatives, the goal of Apple Pencil plus iPad Pro is to recreate the experience of drawing or painting with traditional tools but in a digital way. You don’t need to be a professional to appreciate just how well Apple Pencil works either. Pencil itself is very easy to learn and Apple’s Notes app is basic enough that you can easily demo Pencil’s features. When you move on to other apps, the programs may present a learning curve up front, but Pencil generally behaves the same in each one.
Apple describes Pencil as highly responsive with virtually no lag. That’s because the iPad Pro display refreshes 240 times per second to detect Apple Pencil, which is twice the refresh rate it uses for touch input with your fingers. As for latency, Apple says it has been reduced to an “almost imperceptible level” of milliseconds, but your mileage may vary depending on which app you’re using.
For now, Apple Notes is easily the best demo when testing how low the latency can be. You can intentionally race Pencil’s top across the iPad’s display to see the delay, but at realistic handwriting and sketching speeds it’s impressive enough to not be a distraction. You feel in full control of what you’re placing on screen. Other apps that have been updated to support Apple Pencil could stand to improve as the lag is more visible at fast speeds, but even now, it’s nothing embarrassing or show-stopping.
Where Apple Pencil really impresses in my testing is palm rejection. iPad Pro is a giant canvas, and that means you’re likely going to want to rest your hand on the display when sketching intently. I’ve tested other digital styluses that promise palm rejection but struggle with dealing with iPad’s multitasking gestures and deciphering stylus input from light palm touches. Without good palm rejection, you might as well be using pen and paper instead, avoiding the hassle of trying to recreate an analog experience with a digital solution. Because I can trust Apple Pencil’s palm rejection, I can comfortably draw and focus on the activity and not worry about holding it right, which is a very big deal.
Apple says iOS won’t activate Notification Center, Control Center, or Multitasking when drawing with Apple Pencil, so there’s no need to disable these features when sketching or taking notes. (It’s actually quite pleasant to push content around the screen using Apple Pencil where you might normally use your fingers, avoiding leaving finger prints, but you cannot swipe off-screen even from the Home screen.)
Apple Pencil also features pressure sensitivity and side detection to mimic drawing or painting with traditional tools. This allows you to press harder to draw darker lines, or hold the tip of Pencil at an angle against the display to widen your brush or shade an area. Both work well, but I found shading to be very impressive when using pencil tools within Notes and other apps. The size and shape of Apple Pencil plus the curve of its tip makes for a very realistic experience for anyone with experience sketching with pencil and paper.
Interestingly, and despite its name, Apple Pencil doesn’t have an eraser opposite its drawing tip. Pencil by 53, a predecessor to Apple Pencil at half the price, does feature an eraser end like basic pencils, but apps have to include special instructions to talk to 53’s Pencil for the eraser end to work as such, otherwise it’s just a dual-sided stylus.
My guess is Apple opted not to include an eraser end for Apple Pencil 1 to avoid having a fragmented experience for a non-essential feature. Future Apple Pencils could quite possibly feature a special eraser end while maintaining the Lightning connector underneath for charging. But how important is having an eraser on a pencil? Any good drawing app will thoughtfully place both undo buttons and eraser tools alongside pencils, pens, and brushes, so I haven’t found it to be a worthy critique.
Apple Pencil promises 12 hours of battery life and 30 minutes of usage after a 15 second quick charge by plugging it into the iPad Pro. Optionally, you can charge Apple Pencil with the included Apple Pencil Charging Adapter and a self-supplied Lightning cable like the one that came with the iPad Pro.
iPad Pro gets 9 hours of battery life on cellular and 10 hours on Wi-Fi, so Apple Pencil will likely outlive iPad on a single charge if both start at 100%. Realistically, Apple Pencil and iPad will likely have varying battery levels, and in testing I never found Pencil to drain excessively fast during use. Mine arrived completely drained but charged to double digit levels in a matter of seconds. My drained Apple Pencil may be an outlier, however, as another 9to5Mac editor discovered a fully charged Apple Pencil upon unboxing.
Whether you’re charging Apple Pencil with iPad Pro, with your iPhone’s Lightning port (this works), or the Apple Pencil Charging Adapter, checking the battery widget in the paired iPad Pro is the only way to monitor Pencil’s charge levels. The paired iPad will display an alert when Apple Pencil reaches 5%.
If Apple Pencil dies, the battery widget goes away (unless other supported devices are listed) and all Pencil input totally stops working as if it was never paired. My first thought during testing was that Apple could handle this more gracefully, but super fast charge times alleviate any lasting usability issues once you’re familiar with managing battery life.
And while I did not notice any excessive drain during use, I did observe consistent Pencil battery life drain when using iPad Pro while Pencil was in my pocket. My guess is Pencil detected enough motion that it remained active, and that’s a necessary side effect of not having an on/off switch of any sort.
Finally, just how long does it take to recharge Apple Pencil in iPad Pro’s Lightning port and how much energy does Pencil borrow from iPad? Apple claims 15 seconds of charge to a dead Pencil gives you 30 minutes of usage with iPad Pro is at 100%. I tested that claim (it’s surprisingly hard to run a Pencil battery down) and found nothing to dispute. A charge of 15 seconds gave me 2%, 30 seconds 4%, and a full minute 7%. Pencil reached 50% after 10 minutes and 30 seconds, then 100% in 22 minutes. Meanwhile, iPad Pro dipped from 100% to 97% with the display continually on to monitor the battery widget. More detailed testing is required to determine detailed usage times, but general use shows that Apple Pencil battery life likely meets what is claimed.
Because Apple Pencil is just generally pleasant to use, I find myself wishing I could sketch over anything on iOS, or at least easily markup any photo or screenshot without installing third-party apps. For now, Pencil support with stock iOS 9 is mostly limited to Apple’s overhauled Notes app, which supports creating sketches and hand-written notes as embedded images alongside text. Drawing and writing tools within Notes include a pen, highlighter, pencil, ruler, and erase, plus 24 color options including 8 in grayscale. Line width is set to a single option, while tilting and applying pressure to Pencil’s tip creates variables with each tool.
Apple’s Mail app also features limited drawing capabilities with the somewhat hidden Markup feature. Include an image in a draft, long press it, and select markup to draw over the screenshot or photo. Choose between 8 colors and 3 line widths, then use Pencil’s pressure detection to further manipulate how much ink appears. There’s also a handy signature-writing feature here. My signature was originally synced over iCloud from my MacBook where I drew it with a finger and trackpad; I then created a totally accurate signature on the iPad Pro, which syncs back to the Mac and can be found in Preview.
I’d love to be able to mark up any photo or screenshot in Messages or Photos with Apple Pencil, and it’s possible for third-party apps to create extensions to enable this, but out-of-the-box Pencil is just a pointer stylus in these apps.
Once you graduate from Apple Notes and want to see what else you can do with Apple Pencil, I recommend a few apps that have already updated with optimizations for it.
Paper by 53 is free, has a low learning curve, and can even import images you create in other apps for enhancing.
Featured in Apple’s first iPad Pro ad, Procreate ($5.99) requires some time to learn and hides more advanced features out of sight from beginners. I’ve specifically used it to easily layer a blank canvas over a downloaded image, enabling digital tracing. You can even export a short clip of your work to share with others afterwards.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch (free) offers much more robust versions of the same tools offered in Apple Notes for drawing. It also talks to Adobe’s Creative Cloud for backing up your projects, and I like the app’s approach to creating projects made of multiple sketches.
Pixelmator ($4.99) offers both photo editing and drawing features that work with Apple Pencil. Photoshop Mix (free) uses Apple Pencil for precision input when making selections. And even apps like Photoshop Fix (free) that don’t optimize for Apple Pencil still benefit from precision input and selection when editing. Microsoft’s Office apps even take advantage of Apple Pencil for markup features and more if you’re an Office 365 subscriber.
Apple clearly worked with a healthy set of developers to enable Pencil support in popular App Store apps, and Pencil interest on iPad Pro is high enough at launch that additional developers are continually optimizing their apps for it as well.
At launch, Apple Pencil’s biggest fault (aside from sparse retail availability) is that it only works with a single iPad model, the new iPad Pro, which may be too big for a lot of potential Pencil users. You can charge Pencil in other Lightning-equipped iPads, but iOS won’t offer to pair with it, and unpaired Pencils don’t even offer basic touch input on touch displays.
The larger 12.9-inch display is excellent for sketching with plenty of room for context and little need to zoom into detailed areas, but 9.7-inch iPads have been popular with creatives since their debut in 2010, and 7.9-inch iPad minis are highly portable and bigger than even Plus-model iPhones. For those reasons, I would bet that future models of non-Pro iPads ship with Apple Pencil support (even if the current paperwork in the box explicitly references iPad Pro only).
If you’re an iPad Pro owner and plan to sketch on it, Apple Pencil is easy to recommend. It features reliable palm rejection, realistic pressure and side detection, and it’s convenient to pair and charge, and a growing number of apps are being optimized for it. But if you find the nearly 13-inch screen too unwieldy to be your personal iPad and want to have a near-Apple Pencil experience on your non-Pro iPad, there’s already a healthy variety of digital styluses for iPads already available and at more competitive prices. Fans of the pencil metaphor can pick up the eraser-equipped Pencil by 53 from $50–$60 for use in Paper and a small list of other apps, while Adonit’s $50 Jot Dash provides a nifty writing tool minus palm rejection. Apple has created the ultimate iPad writing tool at a high price point, leaving plenty of room for other options if you don’t need the specific features it offers.
| Manufacturer: Apple |
MSRP: $100 |
Compatibility: iPad Pro |
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Many terrible amateur drawings will come out of this, but for serious art students and professionals, it’s absolutely amazing.
Your headline suggests IPad Pro’s size is it’s weakness, yet for a graphic canvas this is a strength.
My philosophy (and I think Apple’s) is that of a user having a number of devices of which they utilize the lightest possible device to accomplish a task.
In my personal situation iOS has made my MacBook Pro unnecessary. Seriously… There is no Mac App that I need to have, nothing a Mac does for me that iOS can’t do. My personal matrix of devices would be a 4″ iPhone (which I hope will be an iPhone Air rather than a budget phone). Yes, I want a phone that will disappear into my pocket. An iPad Mini in order to be able to do more on the move, such as reading and sharing videos. An iPad Pro for studying, creating and editing. Our iPad Pro is a shared device and will probably remain that way. An alternative would be to have a MacBook instead of the iPad Pro, but it is less powerful and doesn’t run certain iOS apps that I need. For my top level device the iPad Pro screen size is appropriate.
The Pencil is Apple at it’s best. To add another sensor as an eraser would not be very Apple-like. It’s unecessay! For artists the precision of an eraser tool is sometimes just as important as the precision of the drawing tool. So as an eraser the Pencil benefits from all the sensors and emitter that make it such a precise drawing implement.
“My philosophy (and I think Apple’s) is that of a user having a number of devices of which they utilize the lightest possible device to accomplish a task.”
– Apple could have made an iPad Air 3 compatible with the Pencil and Smart Keyboard, but they intentionally chose not to do so to boost sales of this heavier, larger, and more expensive iPad Pro. So no, it is not their philosophy to “utilize the lightest possible device to accomplish a task”.
Despite the hardware improvements and the extra (wasted) screen space, there is no substantial difference between the iPad Pro and the iPad Air. Once Apple finally updates the iPad Air 2 and gives it all the same goodies that the iPad Pro has, I think it will be easier to see how much of a wasteful product this is. It seems Apple has gotten way too lazy and content with their position at the top. If we ignore the iOS/OSX hybrid topic for a second, you’ll see that they didn’t even optimize iOS for the larger screen. It’s really disappointing.
I completely disagree that the screen space is wasted. The iPad Air feels cramped when sketching. The Pro feels just right. I wish it was even bigger. I have no delusions that the Pro is a mobile device. It’s definitely a desktop computer that’s easy to move around. They don’t need to optimize iOS for a larger screen as long as the apps that matter take advantage of it.
I thought there was little difference as well, until I got my iPad Pro. SIZE DO MATTER. Now I usually don’t bring my MacBook Pro out again, and it make my life much lighter & easier~
iPad Pro’s screen has an additional pressure layer to ensure the performance of pencil.
I want it implemented on all ipads!!!
But i know it wont happen all that soon for marketing reasons:(
I think Apple should make the Pencil available to all versions of iPhone and iPad with the corresponding software. It’s a dumb decision letting competitors capture this market. it’s not the tail that moves the dog!!!
A hybrid notebook/iPad is the way to go as far as I’m concerned. I understand that selling separate notebooks and iPads is Apple’s short term strategy to maximize profits, but it will back fire if Apple refuses to see what customers want. I’m already taking a better look at Microsoft Surface Book and Windows 10. Being a loyal Apple fan, I can’t believe I’m saying this. This is a very difficult decision but I’ll take it if Apple puts profits ahead of customers needs.
I was looking forward to buying an iPad Air 3 and an Apple Pencil this year. What I’m not going to do though, is be fooled to thinking that I need a 12.9 inch screen to use a stylus. I’m getting tired of these games they’re playing as well.
You don’t need it, but I just got mine and I’m enjoying that extra space. Makes a Hell of a difference, for me, at least
Interesting perspective. While you wait out Apple’s game playing, I’ll be enjoying the iPad Pro/Pencil combo. In six weeks I’ve found absolutely no need — as was the case on iPads 1 (original) through Air 2 — for an external keyboard. In fact, I’m so happy with the iOS keyboard they’ve built into the iPP, I can imagine needing one unless one’s primary mission was text input.
It’s already perfectly fine and easy to hit 50-60wpm to any decent typist and the extra bulk would get it my way. Others, I’ll bet feel 180° different then I. No need for pencil, absolute need for the keyboard. Then the group that finds with the extreme shortage of both post launch, they’ll need neither! Why? Cause it’s the perfect ‘large format’ iPad. If you’ve enjoyed the iPad since 2010, it’s near 10″ version, it’s near 8″ mini sibling, the retina Renaissance and evolution of SoCs — there’s a reason. Maybe you’re a photographer and have found a perfect workflow the the ten hour slab gets ya. A videographer that’s able to make cuts in the field or a private/commercial pilot that enjoys leaving a 50lb. Flight bag in the rear view in lieu of an 8 oz. Mini 2, 3, 4 or… Pardon the pun, one’s favorite model of ‘Air’ in their cockpit. Maybe they’ve grown with the iPad through a couple years of high school and a year of college watching the tablet mature as the student’s needs do the same or you’re just a plain lazy SOB that enjoys media; magazines about stuff you’ll never own, adventures you’re never going to participate in and cars you’ll never drive — movies a month ahead of their BluRay counterpart’s release date through iTunes Store or an app you’ll NEVER see on Android — & of you do, even on their flagship hardware, it’s playability and fluency will never be matched, even by a three year old iOS device ;)
My point is if you’ve waited to buy an iPad Air 3 then
A) you’re silly!
B) you’re interested in something the very fastest iOS device to date can’t do, but that’s impossible ’cause it can do everything. Literally. As all developers are releasing their apps aimed at the A5-6/7 entries to 64bit right now. The A8x in the Air 2 is still a stick of dynamite and it’ll BLOW through ANY worlflow you throw at it. There’s a legitimate reason to upgrade from the iPad 2 —> iPad Air 1 to the second generation BUT there’s NO Reason, at all, period for waiting and ‘looking forward to buying an iPad Air 3 and Apple Pencil this year!’
Why? Cause Pencil wasn’t invented until iPad Pro was. iPad Promwas released along side an extremely well updated Mini 4, with ZERO mention of an update ‘3’ Air version with pencil! How could you look forward to something that doesn’t, didn’t, nor was rumored to exist in the first place? & if it’s a bad ass, powerful 9.7″ iPad (.8″?) there’s nothing on the PLANET, even in iOS world that bests the Air 2!
Anyway, my point pre diatribe was while you continue to wait out the games I’ll continue enjoying and bending minds with the iPad Pro/Pencil combo of incredible engineering…at well under the price I’ve paid for simple Photo Shop and After Effect peripherals themselves in the past. Some in the present. Look at Wacom and a Clintiq –> then realize you’ve got to ‘add a computer’ to make it work
…then, ask yourself WHY Adobe, MS, Autodesk and the big dogs of Cisco, IBM (w/Apple) even Google themselves are spending as much Money, resources and in some cases MORE of both on mobile, specifically iOS development then their decades long, historically proven desk/laptop “software”. — vs the tie in today to that same software at a bargain basement price per month with a terabyte of ‘cloud’ (read; file system storage for that app) storage to boot. Typically ten bucks a month when it was $2,800/year just three ago for the entire suite. A grand a year to update. ALL Specifically geared to aggregate and integrate with the user and their tablet/phone/laptop or desktop — or ALL of them with the continuity Apple so well showed off, then backed up with Handoff of iOS/OS X.
Sorry dude, but if it’s an Air 3 ya want, best take advantage of the phenomenal sales on the Air2 across the world right now …enjoy it like I’ve done the past 15 months and when the iPad Air 3 drops. Sell yours, take a 10/15% hit (remember, you’re gonna save a 150 – two hundred clams right now with the holidays, it’s age and it’s decreased demand) — then get your ‘Air 3/Pencil’ you’re so desperately missing right now!
Or, better yet, Merry Christmas to you. Go BUY The Pro iPad with 128GB LTE/Cellular version, in gold and order the Pencil AND K/B and join us! The ridiculous 12.9″ HiDPI Apple display cult — cause we are happily accepting newcomers, naysayers, ‘in the beginning haters, non-believers and critics’ as maybe you’ll find yourself like me …dismissing it on its introduction, embracing it on its inception and release (it’s already replaced a ½ dozen computers at my business, seriously!). That was me and I’m happy to say my days of replacing MacBook Pros due to spilled drinks, ‘small drops’, and other unseen abuses, the iPP fits squarely into a position, at least for me …and as always, your mileage may vary …that I’m SHOCKED @ its value to what I do to pay my mortgage.
Folks like you get my ire, if only because it’s so VERY obvious how oblivious and ignorant you’re to the power, speed, updates and all around incredible update the Air 2 was to each and every iPad before it through the fourth model iPad. If for only doubling its RAM & greatly increasing the speed of its internal NAND (storage reading and writing ((updating or file transferring etc…)), the SoC’s phenomenal graphic and computational leap in performance (doubling that of the first generation A7 64bit processor and adding a ‘third GPU’ core =A8X) all while keeping the package size the same, battery life the same, increasing LTE & WiFi/BlueTooth radio strengths and internal antenna structure as well as the continued refinement of iOS and developers following — there may be a new King of the Hill iPad when it comes to size (iPad Air Pro) and power (A9) BUT Air 2 doesn’t ‘need’ the power to achieve the SAME options the Air 2 and Mini 4/6S models do with spilt screen and video overlay and options not offered on the A7 and earlier devices
If anything …the non release of the iPad Air 3 makes the Air 2 THAT MUCH More of a device ‘worth it’, either to those of us that jumped at its release or those of you considering an upgrade now at discounts approaching 30-40%**
Off my Soapbox
Excellent Well Done article on the pencil …its pros, cons and future improvements. It’s the one ‘killer’ instrument though that IMHO truly makes the iPP the iPad to beat at this time. Especially if you’ve got the room to stretch out or work within. While the Air 2 and Mini series are hard to beat when pressed for space. That said, I’ve found room in my life for the three of them, and while silly sounding — the sea change its created for the business I’ve run for nearly three decades (as a hobby and as a a way to take care of my family) is astounding. Along with other electronic improvements made to sound, video/still capture and playback as well as ‘control’ — I no longer have to plan entire days to load gear into venues, hire massive X NFL players to load said gear in, and tote milk crates of vinyl around the country side!
Life. Is. Good. And if you’re having a hard time figuring out what you’d use the iPP for given the option to have and enjoy one — you’re really reaching for a life if you can’t find anything interesting in the world of the never ending App Store.
Again, I did at one time agree …in part, with you. “Where’s my Air 3? Not sure I’ll need a pencil, definitely not sure I need to double my display real estate or add a ½ pound …” – But people change. As do our opinions once we’ve used something, seen something actually …and not just read about its merits or ‘de’merits. As there shouldn’t be any of the latter. It’s a 1.0 product that doesn’t compare to any other OEM’s current line of products …Including the Surface line of laptops, one of which I own as Windows is a must for our accountant and Quickbooks — and I’ve found to be ½ okay at ½ of everything. The Windows store is Terrible as far as ANY sort of ‘depth’ of choice and it’s lower powered processing without discreet graphic power chokes on tougher X86 legacy software and current 64bit ‘needy’ apps like After Effects or Media Processing, rendering, transcoding or just coloring finalization can bring it to its knees! This is the area I believe iOS has excelled in, and Apple with its choice of keeping iOS and OS X separate and developers abreast with Xcode and it’s amazing capacity to simulate both/all resolution environments so easily! Windows really ‘should’ be there, looks like they’re on the right track and WILL be the one to dethrone Android as the next best mobile operating system …again IMHO. As its got vertical and horizontal aggregation and integration with ‘home base’, the company’s main frame or just your home iMac for pictures and video repository. No ones going home to transcode their footage, edit it, drop some effects, animate a few titles and color their motion projects, then finalizing on their Chromebooks.
This is possible on a Windows rig though (just painful on the SP3 or 4 and I’m gonna pay as much for a ‘Book’ decked out as the 4980HQ quad core i7 2.8GHz Broadwell, 16GB RAM/1 TB PCIe 4 lane SSD on the 15″ 4.5lb.) The Retina MacBook Pro will actually substitute for a desktop — and wipe the floor with many desktops — making the SP3, 4 or MS Book at $3,200 with same options, just lesser power due to thermals a boutique computer today but tomorrow, if they can penetrate the mobile/cellular markets, it could defitekh defeat and decimate the higher end and flagship Android market like Apple has managed SOLELY because of the the iPhone and it’s MASSIVE growth, contribution to the bottom line and in turn …the ability to devote more to R&D, experiment with excellent products like the iPP & Apple Watch (love mine, was t sure at first again …but I’m 44, worn a watch my entire life and the Apple Watch has become an extension of my iPhone that makes tasks about a dozen times a day, maybe 20 times a day just more convenient — from responses without retrieving my phone, to calculations …again, without the iPhone, to controlling Apple TV and paying for my dinner or groceries with my watch. Too. Cool.
Apple may not be first to most things — I think anymore other OEM’s catch word or rumor of a new Apple product they jump all over it, release half baked alpha then beta platforms while Apple waits those two years out to get their product right and drop theirs only to wax the floor with the last 30 months of sales in total from all OEM stabs in the dark …ala Apple Watch as a Wearable and if getting the iPP Pencil and Keyboard is any indicator at this time of the year (Christmas, Hannukah, Ramadan, or whatever it is YOU do/don’t celebrate — others are and buying a LOT of retail product) — the iPad Pro is going to go down as another Home Run, thanks to Cupertino
By the way, if you’ve not yet (not the fella/gal I’m responding to …anyone in general that made it this far in my post) played with an iPad Pro or had a chance to fiddle for a while …do yourself a favor and do. They’re speakers alone are worth opening the video app and playing two or three minutes of whatever Best Buy, Target or your local Apple Store has loaded in videos. Four speakers, all three times the wattage (power) of the Air 2’s speakers — are mounted in each of the four corners. They’re ‘smart’ speakers and work with the accelerometer and other sensors to figure positioning and sound octaves to play– & from which speaker the way you’re holding the iPad — for the optimum sonic experience
It’s the first iPad you’re easily able to enjoy and get the full experience of a movie, you tube video or trailer without a pair of cans or ear buds. The speakers, new keyboard, phenomenal colors and display properties; brightness, uniformity, a gazillion pixels without a dead one (excellent app, called Spotter, weighs about 350KB in App Store and uses full brightness red, green, blue, white, black and several shades of gray to determine whether you’ve got a burnt or stuck pixel) – to me, magic in engineering as its …what — nearly 10/12 million pixels? That’s knowing what you’re doing, putting your money where your mouth is and designing, distributing and supporting such amazing products
Not everyone will end up needing all of them, most will find a single iPad size perfect. Same with the iPhone and iMac or MBP or MBA or the lack do need of a MBP/MBA because iOS does EVERY task instantly, without needing to boot up, wait til the home screen posts on an ancient HDD, then anothe minute and a half to launch Mail or Chrome to check email as iOS is always on instantly, works off solid state memory with brilliant memory management and compression …seemingly knowing when you’ll need to check mail – Fandago show times or your favorite tune on iTunes Spotify or Google Music — lasts all day, fits in her/his purse/murse and never ever runs outta juice!! The perfect iPhone companion to many with faster than their home ISP D/L and Upload speeds on LTE as well as extraordinary back up abilities, cameras that rivaled anything anyone other than a professional owned over a decade ago and video ‘recorders’/motion capture at ultra high resolution to back up the still shots and memories saved
…and, oh, by the way, how about the ability to edit said motion, 4K UltraHD, as that’s what we’re now shooting on our iPhones and instead of just a single 4K steam, let’s allow the power and RAM/SoC to edit simultaneous 4K steams with transitions, effects and audio …on an iPad. So folks don’t have to carry their rMBP with ’em if they don’t want to!
Buy the iPad Air 2. You’ll be happy you did. When the third Gen drops, cool. Sell 2, buy 3. The very cool attribute of the Apple product you choose, regardless of its type or its age, you’ll ALWAYS maintain a ROI. Especially buying this deep into a cycle, you’re gonna lose less, gain more and QUIT whining about what you ‘really wanted but can’t have cause no one in the world builds it, never has and as a figment of your imagination is best filled with a tangible, for sale and available at an incredibly steep discount right now”. The Air 2
Or, better yet (you’ve got 15-45 days to return, pending where you buy, status as a customer, etc) buy the iPP – sit around all day tomorrow (Christmas day, Friday — Saturday and Sunday – hopefully with a Pencil, I got mine from ?Best Buy online ordering in four days, two weeks ago. Apple was backed up 4-6 weeks @ the time) and through the weekend — & Monday, let’s revisit your thoughts on the iPP
You may never admit it, but I’ll guarantee you love the hell out of it. Don’t return it, and perhaps buy your significant other one as well as he/she won’t put yours down;)
If not the case …you can’t stand it, it’s a joke. Buy the A2. Use it for the duration of the return policy (never know – quiet A9 iPad Air3 release could happen anytime. As the Mini 4 was certainly very quiet and a very tiny part of the iPPs introduction to the world along with iPhone 6s, or even the ultra underpowered 4.5w Skylake model MacBooks that you can get in gold, weigh two pounds and cost a fortune — but are incredibly underpowered, fast as hell storage wise, the battery lasts a couple months but that’s probably because anything more than creating a new document on it brings its fanless little two pound retina self to its knees. Cool idea and one helluva deal she is able to utilize the next round of fanless processing but the same thermal limitations to the SP4 are relevant (even though it’s using the next step up in ULV Intel chips) — they’re just glorified ARM competitors unable to do what they’re invented to do well (X86) and unable to do what the SHOULD SMOKE iOS at … ‘Apps – not software’. As the legacy software boxes of disks and hours of install times with hours afterwards of updates are gone
Today we subscribe to the core apps. We then DL mobile apps. Which integrate with the subscribed to suite and it’s ‘home based’ software and machine. Either for later workflow and heavier lifting or just redundancy and saving of data. That’s where I believe MS needs to further steer the SPro, a fine little rig and a tablet with a helluva lot of horsepower without a track to drive it on. Here’s to MS and its development community with the release of the MUCH better MS 10, it’s absolute inclusiveness of all things Windows, from ten year old XP rigs to three year old Windows phones to yesterays Yoda or ?Yoga 2in1 HP/Dell/ASUS HDD SSD or tablets long since packed in the closet — as this is how they win …make it all encompassing – an easy return to home base and easy integration and aggregation with your mobile devices, regardless of their make, brand or age. If it’s Windows, it’s accepted, decrypted from it’s ancient archives and restructured to fit in today’s ‘code’ and ‘age’ of technology
To me it’s funny how much the iPP is ‘lacking or Apple would’ve been better doing ….fill in the blank’ again with the business I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of for the better part of 30 years now. Today, the iPad Pro is truly a $799 computer in every meaning of the word, most with a wifi set up at home would be MORE than fine and happy with as their ONLY computing device. Pencil. Keyboard. Or neither. Add LTE and another hundred and a ¼ and said person is now connected 24/7 with wickedly fast speeds on most carriers and compared to MANY local ISPs and their greed with bandwidth …or kick down another hundred and you’re rocking 128GB of REAL Fast and available storage as iOS is very light compared with Windows 10 iOS @ 4/5GB compared to Win @ 20/30-35 in some cases? That’s a huge difference looking at pricing and true 128/256/512 updates as running real X86 apps on your SP4 will also double of not octuple storage needs in comparison with its mobile sibling ( look at Premier Capture, PS and it’s ½ dozen variants, Sketch, or DC and compare their iOS counterparts at 100-250MB to their OS X 900MB – 2.8GB {Acrobat is big!} and the plethora of incredibly well facilitated Adobe apps that work directly with Creative Cloud! ) — just another benefit to using and conduction of daily workflow on iOS or Android without carrying a laptop around or even depending on one to finalize your project.
Lastly – I promise, I wanted to add medicine. As its what I’m doing with my mid life crisis, finally graduating with my Physician Assitant ‘degree’ (Electrical Engineering and Health Science double major, long story cause I love radio, flying and mobile entertainment nearly as much as …never mind). The opportunities, third parties and cottage industries born out of what Apple, Goog, MS, Cisco …all are doing RIGHT NOW in the world of health. IMHO, wearable technology won’t be obvious sooner than later. You’ll not know the person next to you is diabetic with constant monitoring of their glucose levels being taken care of on their phone but by a wearable possibly implanted, part of a prescription added to the watch able to test sugars. Blood pressure, lipids and cholesterol, cardiology and patterns of sleep, our breathing and apnea or patterns of loss of breathing while sleeping as well as stress monitoring and exercise ….soooo many benefits to these wearables and advancements, doc visits will be as simple as swiping watch or wallet or necklace, earring, belly button ring or wedding ring on the NFC tab while entering and all health over the last thirty, 90, 180 days will dump into their systems showing heart arythmia and pattern or anomalies, sleep disorders or drinking issues, void of exercise or bad eating and bad physical habits, ALL helping motivate us each to be more active, enjoy more fruitful, active and enjoyable lives …hopefully with added longevity as we’ve successfully achieved as humanity with each passing generation. Aside from super bugs or diseases from aliens, study of our neuro systems, treatment of diseases and prevention of disease will benefit greatly from these wearables as they not only transition our personal communications and lives but our physical and well being too.
Agian, back and around circle to the iPad Pro. As a long time enjoyed of drawing and sketching I’ve fallen out of my hobby due to coaching my kids, playing and doing homework with them, my job and marriage and responsibilities we ALL share as adults and parents. The iPad pro has definitely brought with it one passion I’ve missed and will likely pursue again, drawing and pencil sketching/drafting and architecture. I bought a set of nice sketch pencils and pad yesterday, decent eraser and a half dozen sizes of pencils and charcoal. My Christmas present as I take care of the rest, figured I’d splurge when I saw the $79 kit knocked down 50% with another 50% if I purchased the sketch book ;)
This got way too long, for that I’m sorry. It does seem like either there’s much ignorance surrounding the iPP, just plain ‘hate’ (not a fan of the word but it’s what the kids are using, again I’m 44 and it’s a powerful word, one if you’re young you should reserve for very few and far between instances) or complete and utter closed minded sheep like society.
I always get a kick out of folks trying to disrespect iOS or OS X or Apple fans/owners/users in general but specifically the word iSheep. As I feel like we are the shepherds. Not the sheep. Those of us buying iOS and OS X realize two or three or four years (I sold my 2012 15″ rMBP just two months ago for $1680 on Craigslist, about $800 less than I paid for it and updated to the 2015 rMBP 2.8/16/1TB storage at $400 off w/$100 Best Buy card Ina 24 hour sale last week! $500 off essentially on the top of the line computer usually priced @ $3199, with discounts, sale and the few BB awards I had, I paid $1625, actually ‘banking’ $55!!!! After three years, four months of use! Can’t do that, I’ve tried, dos for two and a ½ decades with ANY OEM’s pre owned or used hardware, Especially a used Win rig!
It’s certainly not something we’ve kept secret but if curious, go to eBay, type iPad Min 2 64GB AT&T ‘completed listings, —> this is a two year two month old, middle pack device and it’s fetching routinely 55-65% of its $629 original retail price or 70-80% of its price after the iPad mini 3 dropped with only the additional finger print scanner. Look at iPhone 4s! They’re still fetching cash five years later! I’ve always gotten my subsidy down payment back and 50% when selling iPhones after two years – can’t do it with Android (I’m ambidextrous here too and own both iPhone and S6 Edge). Unless it’s something unique and missing on current flagship releases, aka the Note 5’s ridiculous A) maximum storage of 64GB on board, no 128 option like my S6 and B) losing the option to ‘add storage’ with MicroSD &/or change the battery — the/my as I won’t get rid of it, Note 4 is fetching a decent $275-$325 where as the same years S5 is lucky to get a bid for $90
When it’s all said and done, the iPad Pro is a win. Maybe you don’t think so, but that’s ONLY because you’re ignorant (not a bad thing, it just takes going to play/touch/use or buy one and spend time to figure it out, reading and regurgitation of what you’ve read isn’t doing you or any readers any justice) OR the iPad Pro isn’t for you, just as a 13″ laptop wasn’t for you in the past, different strokes. IF a 13″ laptop was a part of your past life, or you’re currently enjoying a 12/13/14″ laptop, my money is on the VAST majorities picking/choosing the iPad Pro if given 30 days to replace their current rig and a couple hundred to spend on apps in the App Store to fortify the machine and prove to the user how useful and complete the iPad has become in just FIVE YEARS!
J
3 things that they need to change on the Pencil:
#1- Charging and docking to the keyboard magnets on the side. Create an indented groove on one side of the Pencil so it can grip onto the edge of the iPad better.
#2- Make the end of the Pencil an eraser. With #1, there is no reason for a lightning port at that end anymore.
#3- Lower the price to $49.
We should encourage “Many terrible amateur drawings ” that come from this. Great way to get in touch with your inner child. Way better than listening to lying politicians.
Highly relaxing to sketch and color, agree.
1) Unlike the iPP & Pencil user comment bashing on the interwebs.
2) Thanks for this good article, which you’ve stuffed with links too!
3) If these drawings are yours: cool!
I can’t find the levels of pressure sensitivity anywhere, not sure why they haven’t release that information. All I saw was this weird video, so I’m wondering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIQ5SvK0Pw
” I’ve specifically used it to easily layer a blank canvas over a downloaded image, enabling digital tracing.” (which, unless you’re tracing your own photo or drawing, is very likely a copyright violation by the way.)
It’s obvious they had the digital painter/sketcher in mind for this product. Not for everyone, but those who it is for… “DAMN!”
I have a Apple Pencil and really like it. I disliked how I had no place to safety store the pencil, lighting adapter, and the cap luckily I found this great case that holds the cap, the pencil, and the lighting adapter.
https://www.antiquecharacter.biz
apps pencil for ipad pro is the best thing happened