Apple
Apple unveiled a new USB-C Apple Pencil on Tuesday for $109. It will launch in early November with the other Apple Pencils, which cost $129 and $169. The USB-C Apple Pencil is a cheaper option for iPad users who don’t need all the features of the more expensive models. It has the same low latency and tilt sensitivity as the $169 second-generation Apple Pencil, but it lacks its pressure sensitivity, wireless charging, and double-tap gesture. It also doesn’t offer free engraving.
However, it supports the hover gesture for previewing markups on the iPad Pro and can magnetically attach to compatible iPads. This makes it better than the $129 first-generation Apple Pencil in some ways, but not in others.
The USB-C Apple Pencil works with iPads that have a USB-C port, such as the 10th-gen iPad, the fourth- and fifth-gen iPad Air, the 11-inch iPad Pro, the sixth-gen iPad Mini, and the third-gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later.
Apple’s new Pencil reflects its wider adoption of USB-C in its products, such as the iPhone 15 models that use USB-C instead of Lightning for charging. It also shows Apple’s strategy of offering different price points for its iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch products. And it might be extending that to this iPad accessory, too.