If you’re used to a Stylus without batteries like the Surface Pro pen or Wacom Pen, then you probably think it’s inconvenient that the Apple Pencil needs to be charged.
But there are reasons for this, which have to do with features Apple put in their stylus compared to the competition, for example the Wacom Pen uses a proprietary Technology based on magnets, it’s powered by an electromagnetic field generated by a sensor under the tablet’s surface, this allows for a wireless experience without the need to charge, but there are limitations, the components needed to power this technology take up quite a bit of space, not only in the pen itself, also in the tablet, which results in a fairly bulky design.
Also the latency, or lag when using these electromagnetic pens is quite significant.
Both of those factors result in a drawing experience that doesn’t feel very natural since a pen and paper is much more compact and responsive.
And that’s a problem for Apple who need their products to feel as natural as possible, so they took a completely different approach with the apple pencil, which connects to an iPad via Bluetooth instead of magnets, that means a battery is necessary which requires charging. But Apple felt the compromise was worth it.
If they could make the Apple Pencil more compact than its competition, mimicking the feel of an actual pencil.
Also, Bluetooth combined with Apple’s software optimization allowed for ultra-low latency, giving users a digital drawing experience as similar to pencil and paper as possible.But Apple didn’t stop there, they knew manually charging the Apple Pencil through an iPad’s lightning port was less than ideal, so they created a solution with the second-generation model. It featured a new wireless charging coil that allowed the Pencil to charge while attached to an iPad, so that users wouldn’t even have to think about keeping the pencil topped up, so while it’s inconvenient that Apple’s stylus needs to be charged it’s battery-powered technology offers several benefits that aren’t found in its competition.
This article is inspired by a video in Apple Explained YouTube channel.
