When Steve Jobs announced the original iPhone at Macworld 2007, he famously dismissed the need for a stylus when introducing multi-touch on the device.
“Who wants a stylus? You have to get them, and put them away, and you lose them. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus.”
On Wednesday, Apple ultimately reversed course and introduced the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro, which it refers to as a creative tool for scribbling, sketching, annotating and editing. The Apple Pencil features a pointed tip with highly responsive sensors that allow for precise input down to a single pixel.
Apple engineered the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro display to work together to detect position, force, and tilt.
Apple Pencil has a built-in rechargeable battery that lasts up to 12 hours on a single charge, but more interesting is its ability to gain 30 minutes of battery life from just 15 seconds of charging.
A magnetic cap hides a male Lightning connector that allows the Apple Pencil to be plugged into the iPad Pro to charge.
The Apple Pencil will be available in November for $99 alongside the new Smart Keyboard. While the Apple Pencil is officially compatible with the iPad Pro, it remains to be seen if it will work with older iPads as a traditional stylus.
