New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Three Things to Know About the New Apple Pencil

Thursday November 8, 2018 7:17 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Last week, Apple introduced a second-generation Apple Pencil that magnetically attaches to the new iPad Pro. It also features automatic pairing, wireless charging, tap to wake, double-tap to switch drawing tools, a more seamless design with no Lightning connector or cap, and a matte rather than glossy finish.


As the new Apple Pencil begins to arrive to customers around the world, we've learned some additional details about the drawing tool:
  1. Unlike the original, the second-generation Apple Pencil does not include an extra tip in the box. Apple sells a four-pack of extra tips online and at many of its retail stores for $19 in the United States.
  2. The new Apple Pencil wirelessly charges when attached to the new iPad Pro, but it is not compatible with Qi-based wireless chargers. Not too much of a surprise there, but good to know.
  3. In a memo shared with its retail stores on Wednesday, seen by MacRumors, Apple said customers "may experience the new Apple Pencil as unresponsive after initial setup" and outlined steps to resolve this.

    First, pair the Apple Pencil to the iPad Pro. Once the iPad Pro has an internet connection, it will download an Apple Pencil firmware update and send it to the Apple Pencil via Bluetooth. The Apple Pencil will continue to work normally during the 10-minute transfer.

    The pairing update will begin the next time the Apple Pencil goes idle for 60 seconds, and will take roughly two minutes. The Apple Pencil will be non-responsive during this time. Once it resets, and the update is complete, it will start working normally again.
The new Apple Pencil is compatible with the latest 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. It retails for $129 in the United States with free custom laser engraving available exclusively for orders placed on Apple.com.

Apple has more details about the new Pencil on its website.

Tag: Apple Pencil
[ 119 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
Khedron
1 week ago
No extra tip. Just how stingy can Tim get.
Rating: 42 Votes
Avatar
Lounge vibes 05
1 week ago
Real Apple fans will buy tuns of them, and stick them all over there refrigerator
Rating: 16 Votes
Avatar
ctg7w6
1 week ago

So you're thinking that Tim Cook was sitting at his desk thinking how he can boost net income beyond the current 80 billion a year, and his solution was to remove a 25 cent piece of plastic from a product that makes up .001% of Apple's revenue? Yeah that's probably it.


If it is 25 cents per tip and they sell 5 million pencils, that is 1.25 million dollars. Even if they sell one pencil, it is 250k saved. I don't know why you think Tim Cook the financial wizard doesn't think of these things. For instance, stopping giving dongles for head phones, requiring the purchase of dongles for USB-C. These things all add up to millions of dollars for Apple.

Obviously they DO think about things like the tip. First it was there, now it's not. Someone made both decisions. This is precisely why you are not a CFO... You clearly don't think of the things that make companies more profitable.
Rating: 14 Votes
Avatar
emulajavi
1 week ago
$129, another %30 price increase
Rating: 12 Votes
Avatar
Khedron
1 week ago

So you're thinking that Tim Cook was sitting at his desk thinking how he can boost net income beyond the current 80 billion a year, and his solution was to remove a 25 cent piece of plastic from a product that makes up .001% of Apple's revenue? Yeah that's probably it.


Tim doesn't see it as removing 25 cents he sees it as getting customers to pay an extra $19

We've seen Apple remove extra tips, headphone adapters, SIM card tools... You think someone is going over Tim's head to force these changes?
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
840quadra
1 week ago
Still dislike that Apple will not let us use the original Apple Pencil on this iPad. Charging it is not a problem.



1. Buy an Apple Lightning to USB-C cable (I already had one)
2. Attach Lightning adapter that ships with the original Apple Pencil to that cable
3. Attach the pencil to cable and adapter.

On my 10.5 I can see that the pencil is actually able to charge when connected to the 11 via this method, so it’s clear that Apple is simply blocking it from pairing via BT.

Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
jsalda
1 week ago
First thing I noticed was no extra tip, $129 and they can't include an extra? However, I have to say that I like the new version much better. It just feels better in my hand and the ability to magnetically stick to the iPad (+charging) without a third party cover is so nice..
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
KeepCalmPeople
1 week ago

You just snap it onto the side of your iPad Pro, which is where you should store it anyway. Why do you want to charge it separately?

I can see a high likelihood of the Apple Pencil being dislodged from the side of the iPad Pro, such as when sliding the device into a bag. If I owned one I would want to keep it in a pen slot or something similar in whatever bag/sleeve I'm using.
Rating: 6 Votes
Avatar
Aston441
1 week ago

If it is 25 cents per tip and they sell 5 million pencils, that is 1.25 million dollars. Even if they sell one pencil, it is 250k saved. I don't know why you think Tim Cook the financial wizard doesn't think of these things. For instance, stopping giving dongles for head phones, requiring the purchase of dongles for USB-C. These things all add up to millions of dollars for Apple.

Obviously they DO think about things like the tip. First it was there, now it's not. Someone made both decisions. This is precisely why you are not a CFO... You clearly don't think of the things that make companies more profitable.


Good Will is a long term indicator of future profit. And something Apple has shown little concern for.

Focusing on short term profit at the expense of good will has destroyed many once great American corporations.

Seems like just a matter of time now...
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
Mac 128
1 week ago

You just snap it onto the side of your iPad Pro, which is where you should store it anyway. Why do you want to charge it separately?


I didn’t necessarily say I do. But again, why would it use a completely different wireless charging method than other Apple devices?

That said, I’m imagining a situation where I’m done drawing at my desk, and want to take the iPad out to my patio and read the news while I have some coffee. I don’t think I’d want my Pencil stuck to it. The Pencil is a tool I use sometimes, not a permanent feature I want to carry around on my iPad.

Anyway I’m still confused why Apple decided to make the Pencils incompatible with each other. If the Pencil charged via Qi, then an old iPad user could charge it using any Qi pad they own, much more convenient than using Lightning. Pairing could be via a simple dongle, which only has to be done once. And of course there’s absolutely the old Pencil should not be compatible with the new iPad via a USB-C adapter, unless there’s a major change in the way they work past the pairing issue.
Rating: 5 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]