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iPad Pro Anyone want to test something on their new iPad Pro?

WolfSnap

WolfSnap

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 18, 2012
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So, if anyone has a USB-C to Lightning cable, knowns where their lightning <-> Pencil adapter is, and has the new iPad Pro -- I'm super curious if you can pair the old pencil with the new iPad Pro by connecting it to the new iPad Pro using a USB-C to lighting cable, and plugging the pencil into that cable using the female/female lightning connector that the old Pencil included in the box.

Anyone feeling adventurous? :)
 
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I'll do it when I pick it up in the morning but I'm in the US. I'm sure someone in Europe/Asia will beat me to it
 
Hoping someone would like to test this out? Just curious is the pencils are actually compatible..
 
I’ve been wondering the same. I don’t think Apple have said it absolutely is not compatible have they in this manner?

There’s no reason for it not to work other than Apple intentionally blocking it from working so we upgrade.
 
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KesterK said:
I’ve been wondering the same. I don’t think Apple have said it absolutely is not compatible have they in this manner?

There’s no reason for it not to work other than Apple intentionally blocking it from working so we upgrade.
Click to expand...
On their page they state that the first gen pencil is only compatible with 1st and 2nd Gen ipads pro
 
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abn5x said:
On their page they state that the first gen pencil is only compatible with 1st and 2nd Gen ipads pro
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Yea I know about that, probably worded my post completely wrong. They haven’t addressed why it won’t work using the method above. The only reason why it won’t be compatible is if Apple have specifically blocked it from working.
 
KesterK said:
Yea I know about that, probably worded my post completely wrong. They haven’t addressed why it won’t work using the method above. The only reason why it won’t be compatible is if Apple have specifically blocked it from working.
Click to expand...

Which they have. You think they want people carrying a bunch of daisy-chained dongles around just to use their Pencil? It makes the iPad Pro look like a terrible product to anyone at the coffee shop.
 
I'd be heckuva surprised if it works, but I've got my adapter and necessary cables so it'll be the first thing I try for you when my iPad gets here...... Eventually. Although if it's on time it should be within the hour.
 
omgitscro said:
Which they have. You think they want people carrying a bunch of daisy-chained dongles around just to use their Pencil? It makes the iPad Pro look like a terrible product to anyone at the coffee shop.
Click to expand...

I’m not saying they shouldn’t have released the gen 2, but would have been nice to have the option to still use the old one.
 
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I have a sneaking suspicion that it will work. It’s just not directly compatible so apple doesn’t advertise it as such. I can’t imagine they would want to say it’s compatible have people jump through hoops to get it to work.
 
macdaddy1991 said:
I have a sneaking suspicion that it will work. It’s just not directly compatible so apple doesn’t advertise it as such. I can’t imagine they would want to say it’s compatible have people jump through hoops to get it to work.
Click to expand...

This is what I’m hoping for, not advertised as compatible, cause it isn’t directly. But there’s a good chance they will just block it from working.
 
Unfortunately doesn’t appear to do anything when connected...
 

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KesterK said:
I’m not saying they shouldn’t have released the gen 2, but would have been nice to have the option to still use the old one.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that's what you said. They would simply never allow people to use three dongles to retain compatibility with the old Pencil. Could you imagine the flak they would get if they did? "Apple Pencil uses three dongles to connect to new iPads", people won't know or care that it's the old Pencil.

This is Apple. They will never choose to save you money on buying a new accessory over having a better user experience.
 
omgitscro said:
I'm not saying that's what you said. They would simply never allow people to use three dongles to retain compatibility with the old Pencil. Could you imagine the flak they would get if they did? "Apple Pencil uses three dongles to connect to new iPads", people won't know or care that it's the old Pencil.
Click to expand...

It wouldn’t need 3 dongles. The original Pencil comes with a female to female lightning adaptor, and would plug in to a USB-C to lightening cable, just in the same manner it was originally designed to charge (when not charging in the iPad).
 
KesterK said:
It wouldn’t need 3 dongles. The original Pencil comes with a female to female lightning adaptor, and would plug in to a USB-C to lightening cable, just in the same manner it was originally designed to charge (when not charging in the iPad).
Click to expand...

Or, more likely, a USB-C to USB-A dongle and a USB-A to Lightning cable, which is what nearly everyone has—I have the USB-C to Lightning cable as well, but we're in the vast minority. In any case, zero dongles are necessary when using the original iPad Pro with the Pencil. That's a lot fewer than two or three.
 
omgitscro said:
Or, more likely, a USB-C to USB-A dongle and a USB-A to Lightning cable, which is what nearly everyone has—I have the USB-C to Lightning cable as well, but we're in the vast minority. In any case, zero dongles are necessary when using the original iPad Pro with the Pencil. That's a lot fewer than two or three.
Click to expand...

It’s probably a moot issue anyway. I seriously doubt it’ll work. Apple will have thought of that and blocked it.

I’ll still try it, but I’m not expecting favourable results.
 
Nozuka said:
Are you guys ignoring the guy who already tested it on purpose? (post #17)
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Lol, no, sorry #17, just completely forgot. Well we have our answer folks, time to accept the facts.
[doublepost=1541593902][/doublepost]So, we know (to no surprise whatsoever) that the first generation Pencil will not pair to the 2018 iPad Pro. Something which I can backup #17 on.

But I have to say this about the new Pencil. Almost every review I have read states you must tap the flat edge of the pencil to switch between its actions. This is utter nonsense, double-tapping anywhere on the lower third(ish) will work, it's a cylindrical sensor, it doesn't need to be the flat side at all.
 
Having both 2017 and 2018 iPad Pros now

Apparently the 2018 iPad Pros will still help charge your Apple Pencil 1. But during charging in this manner, the Apple Pencil cannot be used
 
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