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All replies
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Helpful answers
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Nov 16, 2015 6:11 PM in response to lrwaltonby MichelPM,I tried the Apple Pencil at my Local Apple store on an iPad Air 2. It only works as a basic stylus on the iPad Air 2.
No advanced functionalities! No pressure. No tilt sensing. No palm rejection.
Why pay $100 dollars for just "normal, run of the mill" basic stylus functionality, from an exclusively produced Apple stylus, when there better options out there that work with the iPad Air 2
The Apple Pencil ONLY FULLY FUNCTIONS WITH THE IPAD PRO ONLY!
It is designed to interact with the brand new screen technology that only the iPad Pro has.
See Bluetooth, smart styluses from Adonit, Wacom, Adobe, Pencil by 53, Pogo and other smart stylii that make the claim that they are fully compatible with the iPad Air 2.
Good Luck!
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Nov 16, 2015 6:14 PM in response to MichelPMby deggie,So it works exactly like the name and Apple's description. Why are you shouting at us?
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Nov 16, 2015 6:29 PM in response to deggieby MichelPM,Because many wanting an Apple Pencil posting in here are stubborn!
They want the Apple pencil sooo bad to work on other newer iPad model like it does on the iPad Pro, but this is simply NOT the case.
If some users want to spend their money on an Apple Pencil just to get basic stylus functionality, then, they can go ahead and do just that.
Just don't expect it to work as it does on the iPad Pro.
None of the Bluetooth functionality works on an iPad Air 2.
Seems to me there are better, cheaper basic or smart Bluetooth stylus alternatives that will work much better on an iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 4.
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Nov 17, 2015 9:29 AM in response to MichelPMby BobFrankly,What you view as "stubborn" is also known as optimism. So Apple screwed the pooch and hard coded iOS to prevent pairing outside of the iPad Pro. This is something they can also reverse after they achieve the sales goals they are after for the iPad Pro. Obviously not all the features of the Pencil will ever work with the older iPads (tilt being the obvious one) but you've been just as "stubborn" in saying it will never work. You just had the fortuity of being correct in your guesses thus far.
Yes, there are other options, but better? I've got the Adjonit Touch, and at times it loses Bluetooth connection with the iPad, even fresh off the charger. And when it does it, it does it repeatedly, sometimes once every minutes or two. It's a frustrating experience, but we're the stubborn ones for hoping for a better option?
When you next feel the need to disparage others, recall this: https://xkcd.com/386/
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Nov 17, 2015 9:36 AM in response to BobFranklyby deggie,Apple did not "screw the pooch" nor did they hard code the iOS to prevent pairing. They designed the Apple Pencil to work with the screen technology on the iPad Pro. Perhaps the iPad Air 3 will have the same screen technology and the iPad Pencil will work with it, or some version of it, but for now it is called iPad Pencil for iPad Pro for a reason.
If your Touch is dropping the BT connection there may be a problem with either the Touch or your iPad. Or you have interference that is interfering with the signal. Take the Touch to a store that sells iPads and try it with an iPad Air there and see if the signal drops. If yes it is your stylus, if no it is probably your iPad. Get one or the other serviced.
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Nov 17, 2015 10:18 AM in response to deggieby BobFrankly,Bet you dollars to donuts that the Pencil communicates with the iPad Pro via good old bluetooth (easy test, turn off the bluetooth connection and try using the pressure and tilt functionalities) . Also that the pressure sensor is in the Pencil, not the screen. That the position is detected the same way your finger is. These are not new technologies of the screen, these are common approaches used in every other stylus out there.
I strongly suspect that tilt detection is done by a sensor/transponder part way up the pencil, that transmits/measures a signal to or from the screen. THIS would be something specific to the new screen technology.
If what I've guessed at is true, then there's no reason the Pencil can't join to older iPads (obviously not so old that they don't have a thunderbolt port) outside of the iOS having a hardware check that prevents joining it.
Even if my guesses are way off, iOS9 has support for the Apple Pencil built in. iOS9 is on the older iPads. Inserting a Pencil into the Thunderbolt on a non iPad Pro doesn't display a joining notice, therefore Apple hard coded the iOS to prevent even attempts at pairing the Pencil with models that do not match a preset list. That's how code works. If Apple DIDN'T code that check in there, it would attempt to join the Pencil, regardless of model. So your guess of them not hard coding the iOS to prevent pairing fails the litmus test.
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Nov 17, 2015 10:26 AM in response to BobFranklyby ChitlinsCC,[thinking outside the box]
What if the complexity of the communication of the "orientation in 3-D space" of BOTH the iPad (Pro or not) AND the Pencil is so processor intensive that it requires the Pro's speed/power to do the job?
just sayin'
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Nov 17, 2015 10:32 AM in response to BobFranklyby deggie,Not saying it doesn't use Bluetooth but I'm saying Apple already explained how it works in conjunction with the new screen technology in this years introduction of the product. Did you watch it? If you do then you won't have to guess.
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Nov 17, 2015 11:04 AM in response to BobFranklyby MichelPM,Apple made the ApplePencil to connect/pairing to Bluetooth by plugging its lightning connector into the lightning connector of the iPad Pro.
Apple didn't make the Bluetooth connnection to the iPad Pro by simply activating the Bluetooth on the IPad Pro and touch the screen on the iPad Pro.
If it loses the Bluetooth connection to the iPad Pro ( which it did twice to me) you had to plug it into the iPad Pro's lightning connector.
That I think that is why it is impossible to pair with Bluetooth on any other new iPad model.
I tried this on the iPad Air 2. I activated Bluetooth on the Air 2 and plugged the Apple pencil into the lightning port and nothing happened.
There was no Bluetooth pairing of both devices.
So, what do you think that means?
BTW, I have been an Apple user for a very long time and I have come to know that when Apple introduces a new accessory for their products and it is specifically mentions that it only works with certain hardware devices, they MEAN it will ONLY work with those devices.
Apple did this ALL the time with certain accessories or peripherals that only worked with certain Mac computer models, but wouldn't work with others even though other model Macs clearly looked as if they could've supported that peripheral device on Macs that had similar specs, but may have had some other lesser hardware issue.
The newest instance of this? The notorius stand alone enclosed Apple USB optical SuperDrive. That drive was coded to only work with Macs that did NOT come with a built-in SuperDrive. Why??. There is absolutely no reason in the world that this device shouldn't work on older Macs that still have built-in optical drives. It's an external drive for crying out loud!!!
Apple put code into OS X for newer Mac models so that drive would work fine, but crippled that drive from functioning on older model Macs.
Apple placed an "artificial" restriction by leaving code out for that drive to work across ALL Mac models. Stupid as this is simply an external USB connected peripheral device.
But users needing a new external optical drive for their older Macs, becuase their internal optical drives died, still purchase this drive expecting it to work with no issues, only to find out that a simple external USB device thst should work, has always worked in the past, suddenly, no longer works!
Users immediiately, if not sooner, found a way to hack a preference file in OS X to allow that drive to work with ANY Mac and this hack and its procedures are well documented online.
So, that is why my insight wasn't a guess, it was entirely based on Apple's previous selling and marketing behaviours!
Also, still proving my previous reply...stubborn!
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Nov 17, 2015 11:06 AM in response to ChitlinsCCby BobFrankly,That would relate to the tilt functionality, which I don't doubt is specifically related to the screen tech. Once you mark off the Tilt box, I don't see how the tracking the Pencil would require much/any more processing power then tracking any other stylus.
If you're talking about the accelerated polling of position advertised on the iPad Pro, I don't have any guesses regarding the capability of non-pro iPads to duplicate this functionality, as there is likely a few pieces in the chain there that I'm not familiar with, not limited to the processor, the controller that reads screen input, and the bus used to connect them.
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Nov 17, 2015 11:14 AM in response to deggieby BobFrankly,The level of explanation in that video of "how it works" is akin to saying "You turn the key in the ignition and the car starts." This ignores that it closes a circuit, triggers a relay, provides power to a starter and a fuel pump, activates a computer that controls fuel and air mixture while monitoring a number of other things. Obviously the level of explanation that satisfies you doesn't satisfy me, and that's ok. Some of us are more curious and like to dig deeper, even stubbornly so as MichelPM likes to state
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Nov 17, 2015 11:18 AM in response to MichelPMby ChitlinsCC,Your "trend" observation(s) are borne out with the new Magic Mouse 2 - seems to require El Cap
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Nov 17, 2015 11:28 AM in response to MichelPMby BobFrankly,MichelPM wrote:
Apple made the ApplePencil to connect/pairing to Bluetooth by plugging its lightning connector into the lightning connector of the iPad Pro.
Apple didn't make the Bluetooth connnection to the iPad Pro by simply activating the Bluetooth on the IPad Pro and touch the screen on the iPad Pro.
If it loses the Bluetooth connection to the iPad Pro ( which it did twice to me) you had to plug it into the iPad Pro's lightning connector.
That I think that is why it is impossible to pair with Bluetooth on any other new iPad model.
I tried this on the iPad Air 2. I activated Bluetooth on the Air 2 and plugged the Apple pencil into the lightning port and nothing happened.
There was no Bluetooth pairing of both devices.
So, what do you think that means?
I think it means you misunderstood my comment. I said the easy test on the iPad Pro would be to turn off Bluetooth and see if the Pencil still functions. You tested on the iPad Air 2, which we already have established Apple banned linking the Pencil on. You need a working test case (iPad Pro) and to disable Bluetooth in that working test case to establish if the Pencil is indeed using Bluetooth.
MichelPM wrote:
BTW, I have been an Apple user for a very long time and I have come to know that when Apple introduces a new accessory for their products and it is specifically mentions that it only works with certain hardware devices, they MEAN it will ONLY work with those devices.
Apple did this ALL the time with certain accessories or peripherals that only worked with certain Mac computer models, but wouldn't work with others even though other model Macs clearly looked as if they could've supported that peripheral device on Macs that had similar specs, but may have had some other lesser hardware issue.
The newest instance of this? The notorius stand alone enclosed Apple USB optical SuperDrive. That drive was coded to only work with Macs that did NOT come with a built-in SuperDrive. Why??. There is absolutely no reason in the world that this device shouldn't work on older Macs that still have built-in optical drives. It's an external drive for crying out loud!!!
Apple put code into OS X for newer Mac models so that drive would work fine, but crippled that drive from functioning on older model Macs.
Apple placed an "artificial" restriction by leaving code out for that drive to work across ALL Mac models. Stupid as this is simply an external USB connected peripheral device.
But users needing a new external optical drive for their older Macs, becuase their internal optical drives died, still purchase this drive expecting it to work with no issues, only to find out that a simple external USB device thst should work, has always worked in the past, suddenly, no longer works!
Users immediiately, if not sooner, found a way to hack a preference file in OS X to allow that drive to work with ANY Mac and this hack and its procedures are well documented online.
So, that is why my insight wasn't a guess, it was entirely based on Apple's previous selling and marketing behaviours!
I have also been an Apple user for a long time, and have also supported Apple devices in an enterprise environment. I have much more experience with Apple products then I care to have, and eagerly run to the sanity of PC's outside of having an iPad Air as a drawing tablet and news reader. I've seen the "why isn't this working when it obviously should" cases, and on the flip side I've seen the "how is this working when it shouldn't" cases. Apple does both, sometimes without rhyme or reason, and it's those unreliable uncertainties that have caused many workplaces to revert back to PC where they used to tolerate Apple's software/hardware.
MichelPM wrote:
Also, still proving my previous reply...stubborn!
Me? Stubborn? You betcha. My earlier comment was regarding the rest of the people in your previous blanket statement.
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Nov 17, 2015 11:30 AM in response to BobFranklyby ChitlinsCC,see my 'disclaiming' statement " [thinking outside the box] " - by which I meant I have NO CLUE as to the ACTUAL inner workings of any of the devices - only that "it MUST be working thus" because of the real world 'possibilities' on HOW they MIGHT be used.
For example...
- One could place the iPad on a flat surface like a desk, then use the Pencil as if drawing on a sheet of paper. (requiring 'initial' orientation only)
OR - one could cradle the iPad in one arm, then use the Pencil as if drawing on a sheet of paper clipped to a clipboard (requiring 'constant' orientation as one moved about)
*I did BOTH as a Land Surveyor making 'field notes and drawings' - with the paper, of course. Though not "art", per se, I made every effort to make these neat, understandable & 'close to scale'
- One could place the iPad on a flat surface like a desk, then use the Pencil as if drawing on a sheet of paper. (requiring 'initial' orientation only)
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Nov 17, 2015 11:33 AM in response to BobFranklyby deggie,No, it is actually quite a bit beyond that but it clearly indicates for the Apple Pencil for IPAD PRO [my emphasis] to work completely it requires the screen that is in the iPad Pro. Now you can be optimistic that Apple will have some kind of program to install the new screen and circuitry in all previous iPads. Or you can be optimistic that Apple will release an Apple Pencil for ALL OTHER IPADS. But the one they have released is clearly designed for the iPad Pro (hence the name) and will not fully work with other models.
While you are at it you can also be optimistic that Live Photo and 3D Touch will come to earlier models of the iPhone, Airdrop with iOS devices will become compatible with pre 2012 built Apple computers, etc.