New Apple Pencil USB-C Gives iPad A Third Stylus Option
Apple has just introduced a new stylus, and its biggest achievement is finally leaving behind the widely ridiculed and embarrassingly inconvenient charging situation of the first Apple Pencil. The company is calling it Apple Pencil (USB-C), fitting into the theme of Apple's newfound love for the reversible port that is now mainstream on iPhones.
The asking price is $79, which is a healthy bargain compared to the $129 second-generation Apple Pencil. The new Apple Pencil falls squarely in the same price bracket as third-party Apple stylus alternatives. It will go on sale in "early November," according to Apple's press release. Unfortunately, despite rumors of some new peppy colors, Apple is once again offering the stylus in a single white tone.
The design is identical to the top-end Apple Pencil 2, down to its rounded top and flattened grip line running across the vertical axis. It even attaches magnetically to the iPad. Fittingly for its lower asking price, a few bargains have been made. First, despite its magnetic attachment convenience, it won't charge magnetically. For that, you have to slide off the top cap to reveal the USB-C port and let it juice up via a cable. On the first generation Apple Pencil, the stylus became useless and had to be plugged into a charging port before it could be used again since it had a male Lightning port.
What are you willing to sacrifice?
Apple Pencil (USB-C), despite its status as an affordable option, offers all the core niceties such as the same low latency as its pricier sibling. It also borrows other benefits like tilt sensitivity and the same level of pixel precision control on the screen. It is compatible with all iPads that come with a USB-C port, including the 6th-gen iPad Mini, 10th-gen iPad, iPad Air (4th-gen or later), iPad Pro 11-inch, and iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd-gen or later).
Apple is making it no secret that the new Apple Pencil is for stylus enthusiasts with a non-Pro iPad in their hands, and not for creative folks deep into sketching and designing-related workflows. As such, some crucial capabilities have been omitted. The Apple Pencil (USB-C) misses out on pressure sensitivity and double-tap gesture support for switching between drawing tools. Also, Apple won't be offering its free engraving service for the latest stylus. What you get in the name of creative-centric capability is support for hover detection, but that would only work if you have the latest iPad Pro models with the M2 chip inside.