Apple Pencil celebrates its 10th birthday – The first stylus is still available
Apple is celebrating the anniversary of its iPad stylus together with the iPhone launch next week. The sales strategy is and remains mysterious.
(Image: Screenshot Apple.com via 9to5Mac)
It will soon be ten years since Apple first launched a stylus on the market: The Apple Pencil celebrates a milestone birthday next Tuesday – conveniently on the day of the iPhone 17 keynote. Once ridiculed because Steve Jobs publicly condemned the form of input ("If you need a stylus, you've already failed!"), the peripheral is one of Apple's most popular tablet purchases alongside the Magic Keyboard. However, it is rarely used as an operating aid; instead, it is used for (very precise) drawing, sketching and sometimes even writing. Apple has repeatedly made improvements here in recent years. What hasn't changed is the somewhat complex line-up – and the fact that the very first Apple Pencil is still in the company's product range.
Apple: Pencil is a creative and productive tool
Apple itself writes in a press release that since its introduction, the Pencil has "evolved from a pure 'drawing pencil' to a versatile tool that shapes the digital workflow of millions of users", whether "learning, working or in creative processes". Classic drawing applications such as ProCreate are mentioned, as well as handwritten note-taking, mood boards and "hybrid creative processes" that can be completed with the stylus. Apple recently succeeded in luring the creators of the 3D tool Blender to the iPad – including Pencil support.
For users, it is not easy to decide which Apple Pencil is the right one. It depends on what you want to spend and which iPad you have. This is because there are now no fewer than four different Apple Pencil models. These come with different functions, different charging options plus compatibilities.
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Which Pencil would you like?
This is how the very first Pencil – costs at Apple: 119 euros – with the first and second generation iPad Pro (2015, 2017), the third generation iPad Air (2019), the fourth generation iPad mini (2019) and, now it's getting confusing, all entry-level or standard iPads from 2018 to 2025. The annoying thing about Pencil 1 is that it charges via Lightning with a connector under a removable and therefore easily lost cap. The Pencil 2 (149 euros) charges magnetically, has an additional touch surface, is compatible with the third to sixth generation iPad Pro (2018 to 2022), the iPad Air generation 4 and 5 (2020, 2022), the iPad mini 6 (2021) and not a single standard iPad.
Then there's the Apple Pencil with USB-C, which is available at a bargain price (89 euros). As the name suggests, it charges via USB-C (integrated socket) and is compatible with the current iPads: whether the current iPad Pro (7th generation from 2024 with M4), iPad Air generation 6 and 7 (2024, 2025), the iPad mini 7 (2024) or the standard iPads generation 10 and 11 (2022, 2025) – it works. Older devices are excluded. To complete the set, there is also the Pencil Pro. Among other things, it features pressing ("squeeze") and turning ("roll") gestures and provides haptic feedback. You can also locate it using "Where is?". It has the least compatibility: the Apple Pencil Pro only supports the seventh generation iPad Pro (M4, 2024), the 6th and 7th generation iPad Air (2024, 2025) or the 7th generation iPad mini (2024). Incidentally, Apple has not yet made any attempts to make the Pencil compatible with the iPhone, at least not any known ones.
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