{"id":330,"date":"2015-09-14T10:13:17","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T14:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/altimac.com\/?p=330"},"modified":"2019-07-26T07:48:09","modified_gmt":"2019-07-26T11:48:09","slug":"pencil-me-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/2015\/09\/14\/pencil-me-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Pencil me in"},"content":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S BEEN nearly a week since last Wednesday’s announcements<\/span><\/a><\/span>,<\/span> and despite all the attention the media is lavishing on new iPhones w\/3D touch, gigantic iPads and a pretty remarkable upgrade to the Apple TV, I remain enthralled by the introduction of a $99 iPad accessory<\/i> whose appearance truly came as a complete surprise to everybody (more on the surprising aspect later). <\/span><\/p>\n

I refer of course to the new Apple Pencil<\/span><\/a><\/span> which, though it assumes the moniker of its patently analog ancestor, shares precious little with its wood and graphite counterparts beyond their dimensions. Unlike other tablet stylii, Apple\u2019s version approximates the size and weight of an actual pencil, making it quite comfortable and natural to hold and to use. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, at a $99 price point, we\u2019re not seriously comparing Apple\u2019s device to a $1.79 12-pack of yellow No. 2s from Staples. No, the real, er, point<\/i> of the Apple Pencil is that it harbors powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal fingers<\/i> when it comes to interacting with the new 12.9\u02d8 iPad Pro. And there are quite a few compelling arguments the new Pencil makes in that regard.<\/span><\/p>\n

FOR ONE, it\u2019s incredibly precise when stacked up against our own comparatively clumsy digits. How precise? According to Apple\u2019s specs, it can select an individual pixel<\/i> on the Pro\u2019s display (as in one discrete pixel out of the new iPad Pro\u2019s 5.6 million). And since the iPad itself scans the Pencil\u2019s tip 240 times per second<\/i>, you can be sure it\u2019s going to be pretty accurate in terms of your input. <\/span><\/p>\n

As with many third-party iPad stylii<\/span><\/a>, pressing down firmly on the Pencil draws thicker lines, while a lighter touch gives you thinner strokes. But unlike those others, Apple\u2019s offering sports two<\/i> tilt sensors within the tip which, along with the iPad Pro\u2019s multi-touch display, calculate its precise angle and position. That means you can create shading effects simply by tilting the Apple Pencil sideways, just as you could with old-school charcoal pencils, chalk or pastels. <\/span><\/p>\n

And yes, there are other high-end graphics tablets out there (the Wacom Cintiq<\/span><\/a> comes to mind) offering similar capabilities, but for me what sets the Apple Pencil\/iPad Pro combo apart from the pack is that instead of rejecting<\/i> accidental input from your palm, it graciously invites you to use your fingers at the same time<\/i>. This opens up entirely new vistas of options, like repositioning or rotating your workspace with your left thumb and forefinger, while drawing\/sketching with your right.<\/span><\/p>\n

THAT\u2019S ALL well and good, I hear you saying, but this \u201cPencil\u201d needs to be charged up in order to let me do all this amazing stuff, whereas my $6.99 Amazon Basics stylus<\/span><\/a> will never run out of juice. Well, Apple has addressed this concern by enabling the Pencil\u2014courtesy of the magnetically-capped Lightning connector on its \u201ceraser\u201d end\u2014to be jacked directly into the iPad for high-speed charging. <\/span><\/p>\n

And by \u201chigh-speed,\u201d how does 15 seconds<\/i> of charging in exchange for 30 minutes<\/i> of use sound? I think it\u2019s safe to say that would probably exceed even the most jaded tablet user’s definition of \u201chigh-speed.\u201d Apple claims you\u2019ll get approximately 12 hours of tapping, sketching and\/or pointing on a full charge. <\/span><\/p>\n

So why was this announcement so surprising? For one thing\u2014unlike the iPhone 6s\/6s+, the iPad Pro and the overhauled Apple TV\u2014it was very low on the list of predicted product announcements, with only a smattering of prognosticators (<\/span>KGI Securities’ Ming Chi-Kuo was one of the few<\/a>) <\/span>even bothering to afford it a mention. <\/span><\/p>\n

THERE\u2019S A good reason for that, of course, given that Apple\u2014and by \u201cApple\u201d I mean Steve Jobs personally<\/i>\u2014made it pointedly clear that a stylus was not even on the radar when it came to Apple\u2019s iDevices. As in:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWho wants a stylus? You have to get \u2018em, put \u2018em away. You lose them. Yuck.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

and<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIf you see a stylus, they blew it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But here\u2019s the thing. Steve was specifically referring to devices that require<\/i> stylii for everyday functionality, whereas Apple\u2019s iDevices\u2014and in particular the new iPad Pro\u2014have always been remarkably functional and versatile sans<\/i> stylus. In the case of the Pro, the Pencil just sets it that much further above and beyond the competition. <\/span><\/p>\n

And speaking of competition, Microsoft\u2014makers of the \u201ciPad killer\u201d Surface 3 tablet<\/span><\/a>\u2014 were enthusiastic participants in the iPad Pro segment of the event, showing off their latest updates to Word, Excel and PowerPoint that enable them to integrate seamlessly with the Pencil. <\/span>Apple\u2019s Pages\/Numbers\/Keynote triumvirate were nowhere to be seen, perhaps so as not to steal any thunder from Microsoft\u2019s demo. <\/span><\/p>\n

OR FROM Adobe, who introduced three brand-new, iPad-only apps<\/span><\/a> that all take unique advantage of the iPad Pro\/Apple Pencil\u2019s capabilities: Adobe Comp CC<\/strong>, Adobe Photoshop Sketch<\/strong>, and Photoshop Fix<\/strong>. Fix in particular is worth a look, if only for its wow factor in terms of how far we’ve come in the realm of image retouching; you can judge for yourself whether the demo was \u201csexist<\/span><\/a>\u201d on Adobe and Apple\u2019s parts.<\/span><\/p>\n

In any case, I think I\u2019ve made my point about the Pencil, even at the risk of giving short shrift to the remainder of the announcements. So let\u2019s address them briefly here while space permits:<\/span><\/p>\n

New iPhones<\/a>\u2014As predicted, the 6s\/6s+ offer faster processors and \u201c3D touch,\u201d which provides added\/alternate functionality based on how hard you tap or press on the screen. Oh, and a 12MP camera along with 4K video capture. <\/span><\/p>\n

New Apple TV<\/a>\u2014Looks just like the current model, albeit a shade taller. But with a dedicated App Store, a new Siri remote that allows you to voice-search content across multiple providers (Netflix, Hulu, iTunes Store, HBO & Showtime), plus Wii-like gameplay, it\u2019s anything but the incremental 2nd to 3rd gen Apple TV upgrade we saw in early 2012. <\/span><\/p>\n

iOS 9<\/a><\/span>\u2014Coming September 16 to an iDevice near you. Enough said (for now, anyway).<\/span><\/p>\n

Mac OS X 10.11, aka \u201cEl Capitan<\/a><\/span>\u201d: Apple managed to make a molehill out of this mountain by completely ignoring it<\/i> throughout the course of the proceedings. We only learned from a press release issued later in the day that El Capitan\u2019s scheduled release date is September 30. <\/span><\/p>\n

WHILE I freely concede that OS X 10.11 may represent the most underwhelming upgrade to an operating system since OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was released back in 2009, I thought it merited at least a few moments of attention, given that it will be upon us in just over two weeks. <\/span><\/p>\n

But if Mohammed won\u2019t come to the mountain\u2026 well, then I\u2019ll just have to blog about it next time around \ud83d\ude09<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IT\u2019S BEEN nearly a week since last Wednesday’s announcements, and despite all the attention the media is lavishing on new iPhones w\/3D touch, gigantic iPads and a pretty remarkable upgrade to the Apple TV, I remain enthralled by the introduction of a $99 iPad accessory whose appearance truly came as a complete surprise to everybody (more on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altimac.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}