The New Apple Pencil

A phone, a laptop, a tablet and now a pencil? Apple has made many astonishing products, but nothing like the new Apple Pencil.

8th grader Bella Pacheco uses her Apple Pencil during advisory to draw a robot. Photo by Gabe Kotick.
8th grader Bella Pacheco uses her Apple Pencil during advisory to draw a robot. Photo by Gabe Kotick.

The Apple Pencil© is not a stylus–it is a virtual pencil that has absolutely no lag at all. The Pencil works seamlessly with an array of iOS apps, allowing you to draw on apps and unlock other functions using the iPad Pro.

When Steve Jobs first introduced the iPhone, he said that nobody wanted a stylus, and that the best pointing device is our finger. And yet, a stylus is a much more precise device that makes a lot of sense when it comes to graphic design, photo editing and other cases.

The Apple Pencil has no buttons. In addition to detecting pressure, it can also detect angle and orientation, allowing it to perform as more than just a simple stylus. It can more closely emulate the behaviors of a pencil, charcoal or brush. The Apple Pencil has a very smart pressure-sensitive system that has pressure sensors in the screen, as the carefully positioned sensor determines precisely how hard the tip of Apple Pencil is being pressed down. That’s likely why Apple selected the name Pencil rather than a pen or stylus, both of which evoke an earlier generation of touch-devices.

Another difference in Apple’s Pencil is that it uses a Lightning connector to plug into the iPad Pro, once for an automatic Bluetooth setup, and then recharging. Apple says it only takes 15 seconds to charge the Pencil for 30 minutes of use, while a full charge lasts for 12 hours.

Adobe, Autodesk, and even Microsoft all demonstrated iPad Pro apps taking special advantage of the Apple Pencil. These apps are very helpful when you are either drawing, graphing, writing, or even crafting blueprints.

“The Apple Pencil is a great revolution to new apple products,” said 7th grader Alex Lu. The real wonder of this revolutionary device is how successful it will be to Apple’s economy and high the stocks will be uplifted.