Apple introduced a giant 12.9-inch iPad Pro on Wednesday and along with it the Apple Pencil, the company's reinvention of the stylus.
Not only is it $99 (the Surface Pro 3's Digital Pen is half as much at $50), but it only works with the iPad Pro.
Despite the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus having a pressure-sensitive display layer to enable 3D Touch, the pricey stylus won't work with them or any iOS device that isn't the iPad Pro.
For starters, the Apple Pencil needs to be paired with the iPad Pro via Bluetooth. MashableSenior Tech Correspondent Christina Warren, who is reporting from the event, says the tip of the Apple Pencil is plastic and houses the sensors. It's not capacitive, so it won't work as a regular stylus on other iOS devices.
That's too bad. On the bright side, third-party companies that make capacitive styluses live another day. Artists and creatives looking for a pressure-sensitive stylus that will work with smaller iPads and iPhones should consider FiftyThree's own $50 Pencil stylus for the Paper sketchpad app. It's not as elegant as the Apple Pencil, but it's capacitive, has an "eraser" tip on the other end, pairs with a simple press of the tip to the screen, and a has full-size USB port for recharging.
The Apple Pencil charges via Lightning port. FiftyThree's Pencil also comes in two finishes walnut wood and aluminum, whereas Apple's Pencil only comes in plastic.
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