The New Apple Pencil: A Premium Option with Some Surprising Features

I'm going to start by saying that the new Apple Pencil is definitely a premium option, and it's only $79 compared to the $129 price tag of the Apple Pencil 2. This makes it an attractive option for those who want the best writing experience without breaking the bank. However, as I'll show you in this article, there are some surprising features and limitations that come with this new pencil.

First of all, let's talk about compatibility. The new Apple Pencil is compatible with iPad Pros 12.9-inch and later models, as well as the iPad Air 4 and 5, and the 10th-generation iPad and the iPad Mini 6. This means it will work seamlessly with these devices, providing a top-notch writing experience.

One of the most interesting features of this new Apple Pencil is its charging mechanism. Unlike the Apple Pencil 2, which charges wirelessly, this one requires a USB-C cable to charge. To use it, you'll need to plug in your iPad and then insert the pencil into a docked space on top of the device. This can be a bit inconvenient, but it's still a great way to keep your pencil charged and ready to go.

Another feature that sets this new Apple Pencil apart is its "Apple Pencil Hover" mode. This allows you to hover over text on your screen with your pencil, which is a great way to navigate and select specific words or phrases. It's a premium feature that only exists on the M2 iPads and the Apple Pencil 2, but now it's available on this new, lower-cost model.

When it comes to writing and drawing, the new Apple Pencil feels like any normal pencil from Apple. The writing experience is smooth and responsive, with no double-tapping required to switch between tools. However, there is one important limitation: pressure sensitivity is not an option. If you're someone who relies on pressure sensitivity for their artwork or writing, this might be a deal-breaker.

On the other hand, tilt sensitivity is available, which means that if you draw with your pencil at an angle, the strokes will change thickness and density accordingly. This can be very useful for certain types of drawing or illustration work.

One thing I did notice during my testing was that the new Apple Pencil has slightly larger dimensions than the Apple Pencil 2. However, this is likely due to the fact that it requires a docked space on top of your iPad to charge.

Overall, the new Apple Pencil is definitely worth considering for those who want a premium writing experience without breaking the bank. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of its more expensive counterpart, it still offers a great deal of functionality and quality at an affordable price point.

If you're someone who wants to use this pencil regularly, I'd recommend investing in a USB-C cable that will make charging and pairing a breeze. And if you're looking for a more ergonomic design or premium materials, the Apple Pencil 2 might still be worth considering.

But for those on a budget or just starting out with digital drawing and writing, the new Apple Pencil is definitely worth checking out. It's a great option that offers a lot of value at an affordable price point.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso a few weeks ago Apple announced this weird apple pencil USBC version that sits in between the first gen and the second gen this doesn't have a generation attached to it it's just called apple pencil with USBC uh and so let's get an idea of what it's like how to pair it and all of that and see what features you get uh with this brand new lower cost apple pencil so the unboxing experience is going to be really quick cuz there's not a whole lot to it but let's go ahead and jump right into it here you have pull tabs easy to take off and get out in theory of course that didn't actually work as well as I would like um but yeah inside I'm just doing a terrible job unboxing this but here's the pencil it feels almost identical to the second gen apple pencil it's wrapped there there is no USBC Cable in the box which means I'm going to have to get up and get one in order to pair it uh but yeah so inside we have the pencil itself and we have some guides here nothing crazy so so this is that new apple pencil and here is the second gen didn't realize it was actually going to be pretty significantly shorter like there's a good amount of space here in which this uh the second gen apple pencil is a lot bigger than this newer one um but otherwise it feels pretty much the same you've kind of got this one kind of squared off line down here for a little bit better Comfort uh and Contour to your hands um of course on the second gen apple pencil this is where you would kind of double tap to switch tools uh you do not have that capability on this pencil you're probably going to want to do that and it's not going to do anything the other thing you'll notice here at the top there is a little line and that's because this is actually got a cap to it but unlike the first generation apple pencil where the cap comes off and you can easily lose it uh this does not happen so what you can do is you just pull this up and it stops right there and you got just enough space to uh use an a USBC Cable in order to pair and charge the pencil and then when you're done you just close it up and it's all set so I have absolutely love this design element in terms of getting USBC on here of course you would have just loved to have seen uh wireless charging and wireless pairing but you don't get that that is a more premium option for the more premium and more expensive apple pencil 2 so for reference real quick second gen apple pencil it sits perfectly up top it charges and it pairs uh with this it can fit at the top magnetically and just kind of stay there docked but as you see nothing happens it does not pair so what we need to do is get out a USBC cable again any USBC cable will work just fine uh apple does not give you one in the box but that's okay uh and so you plug it into the bottom of your iPad and then that little area here where you have that cap you pull up and you put your cable in and then you should see right here that it is now paired and we probably don't have much of a charge maybe okay we got 47% so what makes this apple pencil weird is just the compatibility and then the features that you do get and don't get so uh this pencil is compatible with iPad Pros 12.9 in from the third gen all the way up to the current one uh with the 11th generation it's all of them I believe I'm going to throw up the actual compatibility I'm just doing this off the top of my head but I'm pretty sure uh that it'll be iPad Air 4 and five and then the 10th generation iPad and the iPad Mini 6 so um it's compatible with a lot of the newer ones obviously uh but then it it kind of has some newer features and then it kind of has some features that you would think would be included but it's not so uh when it comes to um like charging again we talked about you can't charge it magnetically but you can dock it magnetically uh but also this does have apple pencil hover which is a premium feature that only exists for the M2 iPads and the apple pencil 2 but now is on this newer lower cost one so apple pencil hover I just hover over the screen and it highlights and and then if you're in drawing or writing tools you'll have apple pencil hover to your advantage to kind of see where you're at here uh on the page which is nice um so yeah I mean it's going to behave I'm guessing I have not drawn or written anything with it but let's see here uh hello yeah I mean this feels a lot like any normal pencil um that comes from Apple just same writing experience feels great again no double no double tap here to switch between tools uh which is kind of a bummer I can double tap it's not going to do anything it's still going to be here when it comes to features for writing and drawing you do not get pressure sensitivity so I'm pressing pretty hard here and now I'm lighting lightening up and it's pretty much the same um but you do get tilt sensitivity so if I was to draw up and down like this but then kind of go from a sideways point of view as you can see those Strokes are a lot thicker than when you're going up and down um so yeah if you're someone who draws uh the Tilt sensitivity is probably going to be helpful for you uh but if you really rely on pressure sensitivity then that's going to be kind of a kind of an issue for you but for me and for students out there who just want to write notes or whatever this is going to be perfectly fine um if you don't need to switch between tools I mean it would be nice to have the ability to erase but you can't do that so yeah that's really the biggest difference between this apple pencil and this one it's going to be the size just slightly bigger it charges via USBC it pairs via USBC uh the apple pencil 2 does all of that wirelessly um and then of course uh it's just not going to have some of those writing uh features like pressure sensitivity and uh the ability to change between those tools this is going to be probably my go-to maybe I'll give it to my kids to use feel a little bit better about them using this cheaper apple pencil it is only $79 compared to I believe the 129 for the apple pencil 2 um and it's got that mod design and it just has better ergonomics in my opinion than at least the first gen uh that we're hopefully phasing out and getting rid of because that is a lightening product but I would love to hear from you in the comments down below what do you think about this new apple pencil is this something you're going to pick up or do you think you might spend the extra 50 or so dollars to pick up the apple pencil 2 go ahead and let me know down in those comments this is mam with Mac Rumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next videoso a few weeks ago Apple announced this weird apple pencil USBC version that sits in between the first gen and the second gen this doesn't have a generation attached to it it's just called apple pencil with USBC uh and so let's get an idea of what it's like how to pair it and all of that and see what features you get uh with this brand new lower cost apple pencil so the unboxing experience is going to be really quick cuz there's not a whole lot to it but let's go ahead and jump right into it here you have pull tabs easy to take off and get out in theory of course that didn't actually work as well as I would like um but yeah inside I'm just doing a terrible job unboxing this but here's the pencil it feels almost identical to the second gen apple pencil it's wrapped there there is no USBC Cable in the box which means I'm going to have to get up and get one in order to pair it uh but yeah so inside we have the pencil itself and we have some guides here nothing crazy so so this is that new apple pencil and here is the second gen didn't realize it was actually going to be pretty significantly shorter like there's a good amount of space here in which this uh the second gen apple pencil is a lot bigger than this newer one um but otherwise it feels pretty much the same you've kind of got this one kind of squared off line down here for a little bit better Comfort uh and Contour to your hands um of course on the second gen apple pencil this is where you would kind of double tap to switch tools uh you do not have that capability on this pencil you're probably going to want to do that and it's not going to do anything the other thing you'll notice here at the top there is a little line and that's because this is actually got a cap to it but unlike the first generation apple pencil where the cap comes off and you can easily lose it uh this does not happen so what you can do is you just pull this up and it stops right there and you got just enough space to uh use an a USBC Cable in order to pair and charge the pencil and then when you're done you just close it up and it's all set so I have absolutely love this design element in terms of getting USBC on here of course you would have just loved to have seen uh wireless charging and wireless pairing but you don't get that that is a more premium option for the more premium and more expensive apple pencil 2 so for reference real quick second gen apple pencil it sits perfectly up top it charges and it pairs uh with this it can fit at the top magnetically and just kind of stay there docked but as you see nothing happens it does not pair so what we need to do is get out a USBC cable again any USBC cable will work just fine uh apple does not give you one in the box but that's okay uh and so you plug it into the bottom of your iPad and then that little area here where you have that cap you pull up and you put your cable in and then you should see right here that it is now paired and we probably don't have much of a charge maybe okay we got 47% so what makes this apple pencil weird is just the compatibility and then the features that you do get and don't get so uh this pencil is compatible with iPad Pros 12.9 in from the third gen all the way up to the current one uh with the 11th generation it's all of them I believe I'm going to throw up the actual compatibility I'm just doing this off the top of my head but I'm pretty sure uh that it'll be iPad Air 4 and five and then the 10th generation iPad and the iPad Mini 6 so um it's compatible with a lot of the newer ones obviously uh but then it it kind of has some newer features and then it kind of has some features that you would think would be included but it's not so uh when it comes to um like charging again we talked about you can't charge it magnetically but you can dock it magnetically uh but also this does have apple pencil hover which is a premium feature that only exists for the M2 iPads and the apple pencil 2 but now is on this newer lower cost one so apple pencil hover I just hover over the screen and it highlights and and then if you're in drawing or writing tools you'll have apple pencil hover to your advantage to kind of see where you're at here uh on the page which is nice um so yeah I mean it's going to behave I'm guessing I have not drawn or written anything with it but let's see here uh hello yeah I mean this feels a lot like any normal pencil um that comes from Apple just same writing experience feels great again no double no double tap here to switch between tools uh which is kind of a bummer I can double tap it's not going to do anything it's still going to be here when it comes to features for writing and drawing you do not get pressure sensitivity so I'm pressing pretty hard here and now I'm lighting lightening up and it's pretty much the same um but you do get tilt sensitivity so if I was to draw up and down like this but then kind of go from a sideways point of view as you can see those Strokes are a lot thicker than when you're going up and down um so yeah if you're someone who draws uh the Tilt sensitivity is probably going to be helpful for you uh but if you really rely on pressure sensitivity then that's going to be kind of a kind of an issue for you but for me and for students out there who just want to write notes or whatever this is going to be perfectly fine um if you don't need to switch between tools I mean it would be nice to have the ability to erase but you can't do that so yeah that's really the biggest difference between this apple pencil and this one it's going to be the size just slightly bigger it charges via USBC it pairs via USBC uh the apple pencil 2 does all of that wirelessly um and then of course uh it's just not going to have some of those writing uh features like pressure sensitivity and uh the ability to change between those tools this is going to be probably my go-to maybe I'll give it to my kids to use feel a little bit better about them using this cheaper apple pencil it is only $79 compared to I believe the 129 for the apple pencil 2 um and it's got that mod design and it just has better ergonomics in my opinion than at least the first gen uh that we're hopefully phasing out and getting rid of because that is a lightening product but I would love to hear from you in the comments down below what do you think about this new apple pencil is this something you're going to pick up or do you think you might spend the extra 50 or so dollars to pick up the apple pencil 2 go ahead and let me know down in those comments this is mam with Mac Rumors thanks so much for watching and I hope to see you around in the next video\n"