“Sources familiar with the iPad Pro’s Apple Pencil accessory say that the company has come up with a secondary solution to charging the stylus,” Mark Gurman reports for 9to5Mac.
“As Apple demonstrated on stage in September, the default way of charging the Apple Pencil is to insert its Lightning connector into the bottom of the iPad Pro,” Gurman reports. “Some users have wondered if this would open up the tip of the stylus’s Lightning connector to bends and breaks, and Apple’s solution will be an adapter that comes with the stylus.”
“The adapter will allow users to charge the accessory with a standard USB Lightning cable,” Gurman reports. “This means that users will be able to charge the Apple Pencil via a wall adapter, computer’s USB port, or any other power source that can be used to charge up an iPhone or iPad.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Seems like a kludge. Yet another thing to lose. We’ll stick to charging Apple Pencil (which gets 12 hours of continuous use on a full charge or 30 minutes by charging for only 15 seconds) via our iPad Pro’s Lightning port, thanks.
The whole concept is inelegant, with design exceeding function rather than being in harmony with it. The cap will get lost quickly, as will the adapter, leaving the lightning connector exposed. The pencil will always be trying to roll away. This is a good opportunity for third parties to come up with a decent solution (cap, adapter and/or keeper) to make up for the design flaws.
Not everyone is that irresponsible. I won’t lose anything, and it will all remain in perfect condition. I respect my technology, and don’t carelessly treat it like Samsung garbage.
I appreciate that there will be people like you that have not ever and will never ever lose anything, or have your pencil roll off the table, or inadvertently break something, valuable or otherwise. But there will also be many normal people for whom this will be an issue, whether they will admit to it or not.
This gives folks another option for charging Apple Pencil.
Difficult to see how this is a bad idea.
It’s not a bad idea. It’s a necessary one.
The next iPad Pro will have a Pencil holder, with a built-in charger. No need for a male connector and cap on the Pencil. It will be female, and than that also means no need for a “lesbian” connector.
The big pen has become iconic anyways and now we all get a little extra, why not?
Although ≠ anymore.
Somebody told me their products have gotten so gay, you get a double female charger to make your big pen straight again. At no extra charge of course.
Is that true or not?
I find the whole concept to be kinky. How did it ever pass Apple censorship? 😉
The iPad Pro keyboard/cover should have included a pouch or pocket to store the Pencil, and now this adapter. Crazy not to provide a convenient way to keep it with the iPad safe and securely.
Apple always leaves accessory categories open to third party suppliers – it’s good business to allow other companies to share the profits.
All profits come out of your pocket.
I wish Apple hated adapters as much as they hate ports.
Apple’s power cords are also seriously flawed in design. My MacBook Air MagSafe connector is fraying right at the connector that attaches to the laptop, yet I need to replace the whole thing for $99?
Yeh, thats a really stupid thing and ecologically unsound! And before the whole thing totally gives up on you theres an extended period that youve taped up the chord and it just looks awful, not an esthetic apple would like for its users to show and live with.
Charger replacement on all mac is $79 not $99. Many macs, many years, never needed to replace one. Take reasonable acre of stuff it don’t break.
If folks would not try to stretch a 3 foot cord from a phone in their easy chair to a charger plugged in at the floor those would nit break either.
One of my four chargers broke under warranty back in 2002. Since then, I’ve had no problems. My oldest MBP charger is almost six years old. There are also third-party solutions.
On topic: I’m glad Apple’s doing this adaptor. Just keep it plugged into a Lightning cord, and it’ll be harder to lose. I’m going to get an iPad Pro once I’ve saved up for it. I wonder how much that Autodesk app is and whether it’s self-contained. That is, no need for a companion application on OS X.
I’ll hold off on my criticism till I actually see one.
He said “female to female”
http://www.stussy.com/beavis-and-butthead-quotes
I like this solution
When the pencil was announced I actually wished that Apple had chosen a female connector on the pencil to automatically mate with the iPad lightning cord.
Then the adapter would be to connect the pencil to the iPad port.
With a female connector on the pencil, loosing the cap is no big deal. Plus the adapter to connect to the iPad could be made to swivel so as to not break off any parts if bumped.
Maybe the idea is to leave the Pencil connected to the iPad Pro all the time so you don’t lose it. Like those pens at the bank. 😉
You actually have a good point. A short cable, male at one end, female at the other, and that way the Pencil can stay tethered to the iPad, both to charge and to not get lost. Brilliant! 😀
I can not wait to get my hands on a new iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil. That said, I was immediately concerned about what to do with the pencil when it is not in my hand, working in the iPP. I will wait to get them to come up with a solution. I will probably go shopping for pens/pencils with removable pocket clips that will fit the Apple Pencil. I sure wish the design team at Apple had provided an elegant solution for me, as they normally do.
I strongly suspect that iPad Pro cases will include a slot or two for Apple pencils.
I like it. It’s a good idea. Apple realizes that charging from the iPad Pro may not always be convenient. I can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with this.
The thing is, when you’re using a male-female connector there’s not really a way around this if you want to be able to charge it from both an iPad and charger cable.
Already lost that female to female dongle. Not irresponsible, just travel 200,000 miles a year. I’ve donated a lot of my miscellaneous gear over the years.
anyone know where one may buy another female to female dongle?