Over the years I have had all manner of tablets and writing devices but I have never come across one that did the trick for me. Most styluses either have a big fat end which is fine for replicating your finger but no good for emulating handwriting. Or there are the more “active” styluses that only work with certain apps, or have calibration issues, or have terrible palm rejection. In most cases they suffered from all three issues.
And then along came the Apple Pencil…
I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical about how accurate the Pencil would be after so many missed attempts in the past and the claims made by Apple were, frankly, ludicrous based on my prior experiences. “Highly responsive. Virtually no lag.”, “Draw lines of any weight. Just apply pressure.” and most unbelievably “Go ahead, rest your palm on the display.”
But it really is all true. The Pencil is super accurate with no discernible lag whatsoever meaning that it is suitable for handwriting and it seems to work in every application so all those notebook apps you have are now properly usable. Better still is that the palm rejection really does work you can lean on the iPad and write and only the writing shows up.
It’s not all sunshine and roses though. You pay a lot for that level of accuracy and whether it is worth it will depend on your workflow. Also you are going to want to find a way of not losing that expensive Pencil because Apple have provided no smart (or dumb for that matter) way of attaching it to the iPad so you need to carry it round in a pocket or get one of these great holders from Quiver. Either way it is an expensive loss so it is slightly disappointing that there isn’t a better solution from Apple themselves.
So, in conclusion, ff you like writing or drawing and are happy to do so on your glassed screen iPad then the Apple Pencil is for you.
Pros
- Very accurate
- no palm rest problems
Cons
- Typical Apple pricing
- No way to attach it to the iPad
- iPad Pro only