Hands-On With the iPad Pro Apple Pencil

The Apple Pencil has technically been available for purchase since last week, but supplies of the iPad Pro accessory have been tight. Orders placed on launch day, November 11, are just starting to arrive to customers this week, and retail stores only began receiving reliable shipments starting yesterday.

We picked up an Apple Pencil yesterday afternoon and did a hands-on video to give MacRumors readers a look at the highly sought iPad Pro accessory.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

The Apple Pencil is an accessory that's unique to the iPad Pro and was built from the ground up alongside the tablet. It's aimed at creative professionals who need a more precise tool for sketching, drawing, writing, and other tasks where accuracy is imperative.

Pressure and positioning sensors built into the Apple Pencil let it detect a range of forces, enabling pressure sensitive writing and drawing. When used with the iPad Pro, the tablet scans the signal coming from the device more than 240 times per second, resulting in the low latency levels seen in the video.

Tilt sensors in the tip of the Apple Pencil determine the orientation and the angle of the hand holding it, so it's possible to do things like shading by using the side of the tip. Apple has designed the Apple Pencil to work alongside a finger, so it can be used simultaneously with touch gestures. It also has palm rejection technology, so you can rest your hand on the iPad Pro screen when drawing or writing.

There's a Lightning connector at the bottom of the Apple Pencil that's used for charging. It has a 12 hour battery life but can also charge enough for a half hour of use in 15 seconds, so it will never be non-functional in a pinch.

The Apple Pencil can be purchased from the online Apple Store for $99. Orders placed now won't arrive until December, so customers seeking an Apple Pencil may have better luck in retail Apple Stores.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer's Guide: iPad Pro (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iPad Accessories

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...

Top Rated Comments

HiRez Avatar
126 months ago
100 dollars....hahahahaha...to this day that joke still kills me. What a terrible product.
If you're a professional artist it's not at all stupid, nor expensive. People pay thousands of dollars for Wacom Cintiqs, which are basically big iPads with pressure-sensitive styli.

That's like saying a monitor calibration device is "terrible". If you don't know what to do with it, it's a stupid purchase. If you know how to use it and have a need for it, it's not.
Score: 64 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamneer Avatar
126 months ago
100 dollars....hahahahaha...to this day that joke still kills me. What a terrible product.
The Wacom Classic Pen that I use costs around $70, is made of cheap rubberized plastic, has no internal battery and uses replaceable "nibs" that wear down very quickly, requiring constant replacement. It only works with 2 models of Wacom products, which at minimum cost $250 for a small slab of plastic with 8 buttons, no screen, and a usable surface about as big as the iPad mini. The drivers for these Wacom products are so poorly maintained, that for over 2 years now, scrollbars in photoshop and keyframes in After Effects get "stuck" to the cursor, require multiple clicks and redos on a consistent basis. Wacom recently introduced an accessory remote with 17 blank, user defineable buttons, for the low price of $100. What you see as overpriced, I see as Wacom finally having some competition to drive their miserable prices down and their poor quality up.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
6836838 Avatar
126 months ago
Question: Has anyone ACTUALLY tried to use the Apple Pencil AT ALL with an iPad OTHER THAN the iPad Pro?
Why would anyone do that? Has anyone tried using a car on a canal?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rdlink Avatar
126 months ago
Please don't compare it to Wacom. Wacom's sensitivity is million times better, and it has pen incline detection, which really makes it a professional product. And Wacom pens start from $30, up to $70 for advanced models. Apple pencil is a toy
So would you be willing to submit your extensive evaluation of the Apple Pencil for all of us to read/watch? Since you've obviously used it extensively in order to come to this conclusion.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
santaliqueur Avatar
126 months ago
Question: Has anyone ACTUALLY tried to use the Apple Pencil AT ALL with an iPad OTHER THAN the iPad Pro?
I have. It randomly capitalizes my words whilst typing.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DCYorke Avatar
126 months ago
It is available from Apple right now.
I don't think that means what you think it means.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)