I'm more or less with you on that. When I got the 9.7" Pro, I just kind of felt like the Apple Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil were two of the big things that made it "Pro" and I just had to have both. I have never regretted the purchase. I did kind of hate having to re-buy the 10.5" keyboard, but it was pretty nice that there was no Pencil upgrade necessary to get the benefits on the new Pro models. (And I got good money for my 9.7" Pro and keyboard on Swappa.)By all means get it - if you spend that much on a Pro, you should. Even if you don't have an immediate need, its great to explore the possiblities.
The Pencil is a bad stylus. In fact, it may be the WORST stylus because it's the ONLY stylus that can't swipe from the edge of the screen, making it unable to bring out Notification Center or Control Center, nor open slide over (iOS 10), nor go backward in Safari.
This is because the Pencil was never designed to be a stylus for navigation. It was designed to be the best drawing and writing tool for the iPad, which it is, hands down. But as we know, the OP wants a stylus to extend his reach for navigation, not to draw or write. So why pay $100 for an accessory that is great at what he doesn't want to do, and poor at what he does want to do, when a $10 stylus would be MORE capable for his uses, PLUS save him $90 on his gift card which could go toward something useful?
I'm sure you're probably referring to the discontinued 9.7" Pro--if that's a blowout price to clear shelves, it's not necessarily relevant to the price of the Apple Pencil. If you're referring to the 9.7" non-Pro, that one is not $350, it's actually $329 and is does not work with the Apple Pencil. Also, there are plenty of chances throughout the year, especially at the holidays, to pick up a Pencil for $80 or sometimes even less. And there is nobody holding a gun to anybody's head. If someone thinks they will find a $100 Apple Pencil useful, then it's worth $100 to that person. If not, then they don't buy it. Simple.Considering BB is selling the iPad for $350, $100 for a pencil is a bit ridiculous now!
I'm sure you're probably referring to the discontinued 9.7" Pro--if that's a blowout price to clear shelves
When the 10.5” was released, Apple stopped offering the 9.7” iPad Pro. There are good deals out there as retailers try to get rid of the old, discontinued stock.When did it get discontinued?
When the 10.5" iPad Pro replaced it.When did it get discontinued?
I think the Pencil works well as a stylus in cases where using my fingers fail because of the lack of pointing granularity - using the pencil in these cases - like moving one object that is close to another in PowerPoint - works quite well in the place of a mouse.
I'm debating... leaning heavily in favor of getting it. Not the keyboard though.
I just love having all my OneNote and Notability notebooks on a device that is as thin and light as an actual paper notebook.I own a MacBook Air which I always use for taking notes and writing at university. I recently bought the new iPad which has pencil support. I don’t really draw so I’m not sure if I should get it or not... would like some opionions!
The promos for Apple Pencil on apples website looks very cool and useful but I’m not sure if I would really use it or if it would be like a gimmick for me.
Can one try out the pencil in the store? I’ve never really seen one lying around next to the ipads...
Save money and get a third-party bluetooth keyboard. There are many that sell for less than 40 dollars on Amazon.Just my preference, but if I'm going to add the Apple smart keyboard, I likely would add the Apple Pencil as well.
Save money and get a third-party bluetooth keyboard. There are many that sell for less than 40 dollars on Amazon.
I've never had a third party Bluetooth keyboard I liked, and I've tried several with various iPads. I know they've gotten better now, but I WAY prefer the Apple Smart Keyboard over anything else. My thing lately has been I don't know how much I even need a keyboard at all anymore with my iPad Pro. I'm getting better at typing on the screen and I often don't need to do long form typing. But I do love having the ASK as an option when I need it.Why do I need to “save money” if I prefer the Apple keyboard ? I would rather take advantage of the smart connector with the iPad, which is fairly seamless. Not to mention, I think the smart keyboard is well-crafted and is a very nice accessory to the iPad as it is. I don’t care for some of the Bluetooth options that are available, although Logitech makes a decent one.
[doublepost=1558381607][/doublepost]Thanks very much for the only response it was the least bit helpful. Just like moving into a cell phone from a 6 tongue, at first I couldn't see the practicality. Not using this at all I can't imagine is it something I actually will use. You gave me some idea of a practical application. Thank youCan I just add my experience here (iPad Pro, 10.5")
I too, debated whether the Pencil was a useful addition, or - frankly - an overpriced gimmick. But for me, I have found a use-case that has opened my eyes to what the combination can do, and I with an (almost) epiphany-like "where have you been all my life" and am loving the setup.
I work as a Security Consultant for a large corporate IT department. This often entails project-based workshops to flesh-out requirements on a whiteboard, where customer-departments sketch out their needs, and then I somehow have to make that work within the guidelines of IT security.
This - usually - used to involve collaborating over a whiteboard, drawing something up, then taking that drawing away and transcribing it by hand in to Visio, then going back to the customer with an "will this work for you?" answer (often: "no, because XXXX"), so, rinse and repeat.
My solution - absurdly simple. Draw up requirement on Whiteboard. Photograph Whiteboard with iPad Pro camera. Go away, review and come up with speculative design, having loaded photograph into "Paper" app (other apps may well be available) and annotated photograph with Apple Pencil, including any notes, questions, "blocking" issues. Send annotated picture via email to customer. Get feedback, review and repeat. Quick, easy, simple.
Once changes are agreed, I then draw up a "formal" Visio diagram.
Using the iPad is frankly saving me about two hours per project-request. And that's brilliant.
(just my use case, and I'm sure someone will pop up and say "ah, but, why didn't you do .. XXXX" but this workflow works for me, it is portable and most of all it is fast. And customers like fast).