How Good is the Apple Pencil? An Update on the Status of the 10th-Generation iPad and Implications for the Pencils
Maybe this Apple Pencil is a step toward something better. If Apple drops the cheapest iPad from its lineup and lowers the price of the next version of the entry-level USB-C model, then this would all make a lot more sense. You’d still be giving up a lot of the best features, and you’d still be tempted by the alternatives, but at least Apple would be giving iPad owners a clear choice between budget and full-featured. If you want to buy an Apple pencil, you need to look at a diagram.
Apple has been overdue for some iPad updates. It launched the 10th-generation iPad in October 2022, iPad Pros powered by M2 chips that same month, an iPad Air with an M1 chip in March 2022, and the redesigned iPad Mini in September 2021.
The new Apple Pencil also doesn’t have the double tap feature that lets you switch back and forth between tools — I’m giving it a pass here, though. That feature has never been anything other than frustrating and inconsistent for me. At least it has tilt sensitivity?
If you have one of the higher-end iPads, though, some more advanced product features may be important to you — and this new stylus cuts one feature too many.
The scattered state of the iPad makes the Apple Pencil confusion worse. With iPhones, you know what you’re getting — the cheaper models are mostly distinguished by their size, while the pricier ones generally just get some hardware niceties. For the day-to-day, if you buy a regular iPhone, your experience is pretty much the same as on the Pro, just with not-quite-as-good cameras.
The feature decisions here probably are more about market structure than about cutting costs and reaching a price point. I think a lot of people like me are willing to give up pressure sensitive tips and double tap features if it is possible to have convenient wireless charging. Apple, I’m guessing, suspects the same thing.
Not so with the iPads. It is old and cheap to get a six-year-old design without a lot of features, if you really need to save money. The 10th-gen iPad gives you that updated design and a bigger screen… but then it adds over $100 to the price and lacks key features. If you want to enjoy full featured software but don’t need performance, you will have to buy last year’s iPad Air, which starts at $699. Then you get to the Pro models, and you again have to decide if you care more about convenient size or a better screen (the 12.9-inch model gets Mini-LED, while the 11-inch gets boring old LCD tech).
