Apple just unrolled the curtains on a brand-new product that’s geared towards productivity. It’s the new and more affordable Apple Pencil that we’ve had tons of rumors in the past. With a price tag of $79, the new iPad accessory comes with USB-C.
The new Apple Pencil also features magnets, letting you attach the accessory to the side edge of iPads. Moreover, the new Pencil packs pixel-perfect accuracy, tilt sensitivity, and low latency. But as the price tag is lower than the other options, there are some features missing on the new release.
More About the New Apple Pencil USB-C
Apple Pencil is already known for having high precision and low latency. And the new USB-C version offers the same pixel-perfect accuracy as the old models. In addition, the new accessory works in low latency, offering the users the feeling of using an actual pen on the iPads.
On that note, the new Apple Pencil with USB-C works flawlessly with iPadOS features. That includes Quick Note and Scribble. And when you use it with an M2 iPad Pro model, you get to enjoy the hover feature. It allows the users to illustrate and sketch with even higher precision.
In terms of the design, the new Apple Pencil comes with a sliding cap over the USB-C port. And even though there’s no wireless charging support, it enters into a deep state when magnetically attached to an iPad. This mechanism allows the iPad accessory to preserve battery life.
iPad OS 17 Features for Apple Pencil
When you pair the new Apple Pencil with USB-C with iPadOS 17, you unlock more ways to get tasks done quickly. That includes:
Notes
With Apple Pencil, you can easily organize, annotate, read, and collaborate on PDFs. The new OS also lets users quickly link one note to another.
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Freeform
The Freeform in iPadOS 17 brings new drawing tools. And it also adds a Follow Along feature that guides collaborators around the shared board.
Better Autofill
iPadOS 17 will bring a better AutoFill for Apple Pencil later this year. It will automatically identify and fill the fields in PDF forms. This will make it easier to add details such as emails, addresses, and names.
The Current Apple Pencil Lineup
At the current stage, the Pencil lineup consists of three options. First, you have the 1st Gen Pencil. It came with support for pressure sensitivity, letting the users get a fluid and natural drawing experience. This 1st Gen accessory has support for iPads and comes with the Lightning port for charging. And it’s priced at $99.
Then, you have the Apple Pencil 2nd Gen. It builds on the features that made the 1st Gen accessory great for drawing and writing. The unit came with double-tap gesture support and had the pressure sensitivity support that Apple’s Pencil was known for.
The 2nd Gen is compatible with iPad Mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro models with an M2 chipset. And the current price tag of the 2nd Gen accessory is $129.
Lastly, there’s the new Apple Pencil with USB-C. As you can guess, the USB-C port is one of the main highlights of this accessory. It expands on the charging and pairing features of the previous models.
But as the price tag is much lower than the predecessors, some features are missing. That includes wireless charging, wireless pairing, and support for pressure sensitivity.
However, the important aspect of the release is that it made Apple Pencil more affordable to the masses. It comes with all the essential features, which makes the accessory offer more value than its predecessors.