Okay, so that’s hyperbole, but seriously, this thing has changed my life. I am a writer and I’m old school, so I still write my first drafts by hand (in handwriting, you know, the stuff they no longer teach in school...). The Apple Pencil is perfect for this, and now my iPAD has finally successfully replaced my hard bound moleskines, a feat that I’ve been attempting for years but was unable to accomplish due to the lack of adequate handwriting ability with other styluses. There are abundant apps for this type of task, I.e. note taking/writing, and my favorite is Notability, with which theApple Pencil operates 100% seamlessly. I also use it to sketch on “Sketches Pro”, another excellent app for the Pencil. This thing is pressure sensitive and includes the capability to utilize the side of the pencil, as you would if you were lightly shading with a graphite pencil on regular drawing paper. I’m a little annoyed with the need for the adapter for charging, although you technically could (and I have) charge it through your iPAD lightning receptacle, but then you are using your IPAD power and can’t charge it while charging the pencil.....you see the problem. But it charges FAST, like I drive to work with it plugged into a charger in the car and it is 100% when I get there. So that’s awesome. And the charge lasts, sometimes for days, depending on use. I perceive (although I may be totally wrong) that it uses more charge on drawing apps than just writing notes. Anyway, I lost mine and had to immediately replace it, because the day I spent without it was completely disruptive to my work. I did add a silicone sleeve and a replacement lightning connector cap that functions as a regular stylus (the standard cap does NOT work as a stylus), which you can see in the photo (the sleeve is glow-in-the-dark...a great feature when I throw it in my bag and can’t find it later....). Got those through a certain online mega-retailer for next to nothing. If you think you want it, get the Apple Pencil. You won’t regret it.

I tried all of the other competitors, from Wacom to Paper, none of them worked as well or were integrated as well as the Apple Pencil. This integration, however, comes at a premium price since the Apple device is almost 2x the price of the other stylii. Pros: well designed, same size as real pencil, charges quickly, weighted-side reduces rolling off the table, good OS integration with palm rejection. Cons: pricey, slippery to grip (I use a pen grip to combat this), charging requires separate adapter (included) which is very small and easy to lose, can roll off of table due to perfectly round outer surface.

Okay, so $100 for a stylus is a little ridiculous, but I'm a professional illustrator and I can tell you that this works like a dream with the iPad Pro. Being able to draw directly on the screen rather than paper + scanner cut my work time in half. In the Procreate app I can't even believe how much this works like a real pencil (and I really like traditional media). Has made my work 100% portable - no more bottles of ink to carry around! It would be nice if the eraser end of the pencil was programmed to work like an eraser, but maybe in the next generation. Oh, and remember to turn off your bluetooth when you're not using the pencil, otherwise the pencil battery will drain overnight. But if that happens it's not a huge deal because charging for 15 seconds = 30 minutes of battery life!

So far this pen is lovely! It charges quickly, it’s sleek and lightweight and I enjoy drawing on procreate with it. The bottom cap is magnetic so you have to be careful about dropping it (I admit I dropped mine twice and both times the cap came off). Very good calibration and much easier to pinpoint small links and buttons on browsers.

This is an excellent input device for the Apple iPad Pro. It is not perfect in some ways but it is very good at drawing, writing and touch control of the tablet. Here are the pros and cons as I have seen them since my use of the pencil: • Excellent for drawing or writing • Excellent for reworking photos and doing graphic arts • When used as a touch control it is very precise when using the tip. I even like using it to read with and highlighting text in a book. • It comes with a spare tip that can be replaced. • It comes with a lightning adapter that lets you use a lighting cable to charge the pencil. • It charges quickly • You can vary the pressure or the slope of the pencil tip to adjust the darkness or the width of a stoke of a bush while coloring a drawing for example. • You can see the charge level of the pencil by pulling down on the daily window shade at the top of the screen and touching widgets. The charge level of your iPad and the pencil will be displayed.