In both Evernote and OneNote, the Pencil let me take extremely small, detailed notes with perfect palm rejection (which is important on this large a surface), and its balance meant that my hand didn't get tired. While the Pencil is a no-brainer for artists, it's also worth buying if you intend to take notes on your iPad. It also feels much better balanced and more comfortable to hold than the Microsoft Surface Pen. In Procreate, Evernote, and Sketches, the Apple Pencil proved to be more accurate than the FiftyThree Pencil, most notably in making more precise, detailed edits and changes. That worked very well in the sketch app Procreate. The Pencil isn't just pressure sensitive, it's also tilt sensitive, so you can make broad strokes the way you would with an actual pencil. I also wish the back end of the Pencil worked as an eraser, the way the FiftyThree Pencil does. In an ideal world, you'd have different tips with different amounts of drag. The matte tip has a little bit of drag over the iPad's screen, but not much. Unlike with third-party styli, you don't have to set up the apps or dig into settings menus, either: It just works. Pretty much every major creative and note-taking app for the iPad works with the Pencil now, including Apple's suite of iWork apps. I got to a full charge in about 25 minutes.Īs a bonafide Apple accessory, the Pencil's broad compatibility is one of its great strengths. In testing, a 5-minute charge took me to about 25 percent.

There is, however, nowhere to store the cap from the back of the Pencil while it's charging, which makes it too easy to lose.Īpple says you can get 15 minutes of use with 30 seconds of charge, and 12 hours of use out of a full charge. Fortunately, you can also use the included adapter to charge it with a standard Lightning cable. This creates a very awkward scene, with the Pencil sticking out of the iPad at a right angle. To charge the Pencil, you remove the back cap and stick it into the Lightning port on the bottom of your iPad. The Pencil itself has no battery-life indicators you'll find that information on your iPad's screen. It has to be paired to work it isn't a standard capacitive stylus. Pairing is effortless: Just plug the Pencil briefly into your iPad's Lightning port, and it's paired.

Using apple pencil in evernote ipad pro