If you’ve been longing for one of Apple’s fancy pencils to pair with your best iPad but were turned away by the $129/ Priced at £119 / AU$219, you’re in luck. In the US, Apple just launched a $79 Apple Pencil that works with all iPads that support the digital stylus. However, that price comes at a price.
This is the first Apple Pencil to support USB-C charging. Don’t worry, there’s no ridiculous USB-C plug sticking out of the back of the pencil (see the original drawing instrument). Instead, this port is hidden inside the pencil and you slide the cap to reveal it. You can then charge the Pencil by running a USB-C to USB-C cable from your iPad to the Pencil or, ostensibly, to a USB-C charger.
This appears to be the only way you can charge this cheaper Apple Pencil. Yes, it still magnetically sticks to your iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad Mini (generations with the flat edge and contact charger), but instead of charging, the Pencil automatically goes into sleep mode to save power.
The new Pencil won’t work with iPads that still have Apple’s classic Lightning port.
The Apple Pencil (USB-C) looks exactly like the Apple Pencil (2nd generation), but doesn’t have all the best features of the drawing tool. Most importantly, it lacks pressure sensitivity – an exclusion that may make this cheaper pencil a no-go for most artists. As someone who often draws on an iPad, I can’t imagine being without pressure sensitivity to vary my line thickness without accessing, say, a Procreate menu.
It also lacks the double-tap tool-switching functionality found on the Apple Pencil (2nd generation). This is a feature I won’t miss as I often forget it exists, but more expert artists can get frustrated.
On the plus side, this is a much cheaper Apple Pencil that ticks most boxes (including tilt sensitivity) and could put the tool in the hands of people who wanted a decent digital drawing tool but weren’t willing to spend more than $100 for this privilege of drawing on their iPad. On the other hand, they can also just opt for one $69.99 Logitech Crayon Digital Pencil. Buyers for the education sector can get the new pencil for $69.
The new Apple Pencil USB-C will be the first to come to the US in November. No word yet on availability outside the US, but Apple would be missing a trick if the Pencil wasn’t available in the UK and Australia before the Black Friday deal period.
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