Key Takeaways
- Apple introduces new Apple Pencil Pro with squeezing feature and haptic engine.
- Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro now thinner and lighter with new features.
- Find My network support added to Apple Pencil Pro for easy tracking when lost.
Along with its two brand-new tablets, the iPad Air and OLED-based iPad Pro with the Apple M4 chip, Apple today introduced the new Apple Pencil Pro along with a new Magic Keyboard designed for the iPad Pro. The new Apple Pencil Pro is the biggest news here, introducing a lot of new features like the ability to squeeze the pen and vibration support.
The new Magic Keyboard is also thinner and lighter, to go along with the thinner iPad Pro, along with some brand-new features.
Related
Apple debuts new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro with M4 chip and thinnest design ever
The new iPad Pro has an incredibly thin design, a new tandem OLED display panel, and more.
Apple Pencil Pro now supports squeezing
Image credit: Apple
The Apple Pencil Pro is the headlining accessory here, and it packs some big improvements. The new model of the Apple Pencil introduces a sensor that can recognize squeezes, and you can squeeze the stylus to bring up a suite of tools on screen, allowing you to take quick actions without having to fumble around the menus. On top of that, the Apple Pencil can also be rolled, which changes the orientation of shaped brushes when drawing, plus you can hover the pen above the screen to see a preview of the orientation of the tool you’re using before actually using it.
Another new addition with the Apple Pencil Pro is the haptic engine, which provides vibrating feedback for actions like squeezing and double tapping the pen. A vibration engine is something Microsoft has included with the Surface Slim Pen 2 for a couple of eyars, but on that model, the vibrations are also designed to simulate the feeling of pen on paper while drawing or writing, which doesn’t seem to be the case here.
The Apple Pencil Pro also adds support for Apple’s Find My network, so if you lose the pen, you can now find it using the Find My app, just like an iPhone or Mac. All of that costs $129.
The Magic Keyboard gets a function row
Image credit: Apple
In addition to the Apple Pencil Pro, we also got the new Magic Keyboard accessory, redesigned for the new iPad Pro. The new Magic Keyboard is thinner and lighter, which helps make the iPad Pro more suitable as a laptop replacement, especially with the tablet itself also being lighter.
Apple has added a function row to the Magic Keyboard, so you can more easily change things like the screen brightness or volume, plus there’s a larger touchpad with haptic feedback support, bringing it closer to a MacBook. Design-wise, you still get the same floating design with the Smart Connector delivering power and data to the iPad thanks to the built-in USB-C port on the metal hinge.
Apple also introduced the Smart Folio for iPad Pro, now featuring multiple viewing angles. It comes in white-black, or denim colorways, while the Magic Keyboard is available in either black or white.
The Magic Keyboard will cost $299 for the 11-inch model and $349 for the 13-inch version. Meanwhile, the Smart Folio costs $79 for the 11-inch version and $99 for the 13-inch model.