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Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously dismissed the need for a stylus when introducing Multi-Touch on the original iPhone over eight years ago, touting the finger as the best pointing device in the world.
"Who wants a stylus? You have to get them, and put them away, and you lose them. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus."
Macworld 2007 was quite awhile ago, however, and Apple on Wednesday ultimately reversed course and introduced the Apple Pencil for iPad Pro, which it refers to as a creative tool for scribbling, sketching, annotating and editing.
Apple Pencil features a pointed tip with highly responsive sensors that allow for precise input down to a single pixel. To achieve this, Apple engineered the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro display to work together to detect position, force and tilt.
For example, as seen in the video below, you can press lightly for a thinner stroke, or press harder for a darker, bolder stroke. Likewise, you can draw with the Apple Pencil on an angle to produce broad, shaded strokes.
The iPad Pro's subsystem scans the Apple Pencil's signal 240 times per second, providing the tablet with twice the data points it would normally collect for a finger. This results in the Apple Pencil being very responsive, with almost indistinguishable latency, as seen in TechCrunch's hands-on video below.
Apple Pencil has a built-in rechargeable battery that lasts up to 12 hours on a single charge, but more interesting is its ability to gain 30 minutes of battery life from just 15 seconds of charging. A magnetic cap hides a male Lightning connector that allows the Apple Pencil to be plugged into the iPad Pro to charge.
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Apple Pencil will be available in November for $99 alongside the new Smart Keyboard. While the Apple Pencil is officially compatible with the iPad Pro, it remains to be seen if the tool will work with older iPads as a traditional stylus.
Top Rated Comments
As much as I love to point out Apple's hypocrisies and slacking and whatever else they do wrong, they didn't reverse course.
2007 they presented the iPhone, not the iPad.
The Apple Pencil is for specific applications, not for the general use of the OS.
Glassed Silver:mac
Now Apple did not reverse course here. The issue is that back then you required the stylus for many devices.
With the Pencil, Apple is introducing an additional form of input primarily suited for specific tasks, like drawing.
But the stylus is NOT required for the operation of the device.
Finally, a lot of folks here are getting what they asked for.
I know my daughter will want the (iPad Pro + Pencil) set, for sure.
Is there anything equivalent in the market for other platforms,like the Surface?
Which your finger still is? Speaking to that fact, the stylus is not even included, it's an accessory.
The Jobs reference is totally inaccurate seeing as for both the iPhone and iPad your finger is still the main way for navigating the device (that includes iPad Pro).
Because there's not a single crappy Android tablet that has a pen that's pressure sensitive AND precise (that tip radius) AND tilt sensitive.
Not one single option out there, for any price, from any manufacturer.
And when they come to imitate Apple, it will be typical Android quality: spec sheet marvels that don't work as intended.
LOL.
$100 bucks for a pressure sensitive, small radius, and tilt sensitive stylus is what?
It's the cheapest option on the market.
And it's not from a junky manufacturer.