Rumor: Apple Pencil 2 coming this spring with magnets to attach to iPad, plus pocket clip
Alongside new iPad Pro models, Apple is also rumored to be working on a second-generation Apple Pencil, one that could potentially solve where to put the input device when it's not being held in your hand.
Citing a source on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, Letem svetem Applem reported on Wednesday that a so-called "Apple Pencil 2" will arrive this spring, featuring a new magnetic system that will allow it to temporarily attach to an iPad. This would allow users to place the Apple Pencil on the iPad securely when not in use, allowing it to attach magnetically just like the iPad Smart Cover.
Apple has filed patents that showed interest in allowing users to attach the Apple Pencil to the bezel or side of an iPad. And there are third-party Apple Pencil sleeves on the market that accomplish the same --?such as the Moxiware Apple Pencil Magnet, which AppleInsider reviewed favorably last year.
In addition, Wednesday's report suggested that the "Apple Pencil 2" could also include a standard pen clip, allowing users to clip the Apple Pencil to their pocket for easy access. Clips commonly found on pens also prevent them from rolling away on a desk.
The Apple Pencil first launched in the fall of 2015 alongside the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and support was later added by the debut of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro in the spring of 2016. Both models are expected to be updated this spring, which would make an opportune time to debut the second-generation Apple Pencil as well.
Both new iPad Pro models are rumored to feature a next-generation A10X processor. The smaller Pro model is also expected to sport a slightly larger display sized at 10.5 inches, which would allow it to pack in a 326-pixel-per-inch density, matching the pixel density of the 7.9-inch iPad mini. Currently, both the 9.7- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros have a lower pixel density of 264 pixels per inch.
The $99 Apple Pencil is intended to serve primarily as a drawing and writing tool. It features advanced sensors for tilt and pressure sensitivity, allowing greater precision than a typical stylus.
Citing a source on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, Letem svetem Applem reported on Wednesday that a so-called "Apple Pencil 2" will arrive this spring, featuring a new magnetic system that will allow it to temporarily attach to an iPad. This would allow users to place the Apple Pencil on the iPad securely when not in use, allowing it to attach magnetically just like the iPad Smart Cover.
Apple has filed patents that showed interest in allowing users to attach the Apple Pencil to the bezel or side of an iPad. And there are third-party Apple Pencil sleeves on the market that accomplish the same --?such as the Moxiware Apple Pencil Magnet, which AppleInsider reviewed favorably last year.
In addition, Wednesday's report suggested that the "Apple Pencil 2" could also include a standard pen clip, allowing users to clip the Apple Pencil to their pocket for easy access. Clips commonly found on pens also prevent them from rolling away on a desk.
The Apple Pencil first launched in the fall of 2015 alongside the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and support was later added by the debut of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro in the spring of 2016. Both models are expected to be updated this spring, which would make an opportune time to debut the second-generation Apple Pencil as well.
Both new iPad Pro models are rumored to feature a next-generation A10X processor. The smaller Pro model is also expected to sport a slightly larger display sized at 10.5 inches, which would allow it to pack in a 326-pixel-per-inch density, matching the pixel density of the 7.9-inch iPad mini. Currently, both the 9.7- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros have a lower pixel density of 264 pixels per inch.
The $99 Apple Pencil is intended to serve primarily as a drawing and writing tool. It features advanced sensors for tilt and pressure sensitivity, allowing greater precision than a typical stylus.
Comments
The Apple Pencil uses the same precision tip for erasing as it does for drawing. Hello digital.
Having a pencil magnetically attached to an iPad Pro as in the picture above is moronic beyond belief. Still people will get excited about it before it is sold then bitch that it was a piss poor design and implementation.
I have noticed with the current pencil, when I place the pencil at the top of the iPad Pro, the pencil is magnetically attached to the iPad Pro. The attachment is not strong though.
I know people with little experience in product design think these things pop out of a sea shell fully formed like Venus, but the reality is build shit is complicated and evolution is the name of the game. Ideas are the easy part, good implementation is the hard part.
As the owner of an iPad "Pro", I would like to know why I do not get the USB C power adapter and pencil
Yes, eraser. It is very useful.
in this case, it's a complex piece of equipment. And while we all wish it would cost less, that's the price for being the best stylus out there, which it is. Maybe they could reduce the price in the series 2 model, but just to $79, or so. Asking for it to be halved isn't thinking about what the R&D and costs are.
if you're buying this for fun, then it's expensive. But if you're a real professional, it's cheap. In addition, if you're a real professional, meaning that you derive most, or much of your regular income on the work derived from these devices, then your accountant will be able to depreciate it as with all of your other equipment you buy for your professional usage. Of course, if you're a hobbyist, and get a bit of money now and then, you can't do that.
Switching between writing and erasing is possibly the most important mode changes there is for the pencil. It might make sense to have the UI for that mode change be on the pencil itself, and certainly the eraser metaphor would be one way to do that.
I think it's noteworthy that there are other mode changes that occur on the pencil itself -- for example, the angle at which one presses the pencil against the iPad and the intensity of pressure change what's written. That's clearly easier than having to tap on an on-screen palette of different writing modes. And it is a metaphor tied to actual pencils, because such metaphors are useful to people with experience using regular pencils (in other words, everybody).
So I see the appeal of an eraser and, if not an eraser, then some other way of changing to erase mode through direct interaction with the pencil itself as opposed to having to tap on some mode-changing-palette on the screen.