iPad Pro owners thread (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

Demoed the Pro today at Best Buy.

Wow, that's a giant piece of handheld glass! I'm amazed and impressed. But I'm also pretty sure this is not a travel companion for me.

I'm not sure if it's something I'd want for home use to complement my Air. Probably not since I'd still need a desktop for things still not easily done on an iPad.

 

[Sam Posten]

No pencils anywhere in DE or central NJ, checked a dozen Aple Stores and best buys via phone on my way through. Tried one today and can't wait for mine.

 

[Nelson Au]

Sam, I stopped by the flagship Apple Store in Palo Alto on my way home from work. They had no pencils, but they did have one keyboard, which surprised the guy I asked.

Well, hope you guys have a very nice Thanksgiving!

 

[Tino]

Got both delivered by BB.com on Black Friday. Love em both. The pencil is very cool. So sensitive and easy to use. Love the big size of the pro tho a bit disappointed as I don't think vudu iTunes Disney anywhere stream in HD. Only Flixter ([emoji13]) does. Am I right?

 

[Nelson Au]

Tino,

You have my congrats and my envy! Enjoy it.

 

[Tino]

It's soooooo fast. Big bright and beautiful. Love it. Hope you get yours soon Nelson.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'm beginning to think that the scarcity of the Pencil is such that we're not going to get the Pencils we preordered until mid December. I keep checking Apple's stock via the web or Apple Store app and I've never seen the option to pick-up in store. Only option is order and wait 4-5 weeks.

 

[Sam Posten]

Good question!

http://www.speirs.org/blog/2015/11/30/can-the-macbook-pro-replace-your-ipad

 

[DaveF]

That essay has been in my RSS feed for a week. I just read it before finding you'd posted it. That's good satire.

 

[Nelson Au]

An unexpected surprise today. My good friend who works at a local University was able to buy an Apple Pencil for me when he learned they were in stock at the campus bookstore. So I have it now and I've taken about a half an hour to experiment with it in procreate and Sketchbook.

I mostly use Sketchbook, but I'm finding that with the Pencil, procreate is a much better experience. Regarding the feel of the Pencil, the tip is actually much better then I expected. Of course everyone's experiences and expectations will be different. But to me, the material the tip is made of has a nice amount of resistance as it slides on the glass. The harder I press, the greater the resistance too.

Palm rejection was working pretty well. Hope to have a sketch to post soon. I can't believe it, I actually got one!

 

[Nelson Au]

By the way, I forgot to mention. I was surprised that the Apple Pencil just works with Sketchbook and procreate after pairing with the iPad Pro. When using the Wacom and Adonit Bluetooth styluses in the past, I have to tell the app what stylus I'm using yo enable its functions. With the Apple Pencil, it just knows in procreate and Sketchbook that it has pressure sensitivity. That was cool.

While in procreate, when I tilt the pencil, I can get the shading effects of a pencil tilted. But I noticed it's not perfect. If I tilt the pencil while drawing a line, I expected a gradual width change. It worked up to a point and then as the pencil past a certain angle of tilt, the line width suddenly increased like an on/off switch.

Plus Palm rejection isn't 100%. But if I learn how to time it, how to place my hand against the glass and pencil, it works.

I'm sure the iPad Pro 2 and next Pencil iteration should improve in these areas. It's a great start!

I'll practice this weekend. Still amazed I have it! [emoji3]

 

[Tino]

quote:



"I'm sure the iPad Pro 2 and next Pencil iteration should improve in these areas. It's a great start!"​


I'm hoping a software update will address these issues.

 

[Sam Posten]

Confirmed: the iPad Pro has faster connectivity lightning than any other device, has double the number of pin outs and supports USB3.

 

[DaveF]

Confirmed: the iPad Pro has faster connectivity lightning than any other device, has double the number of pin outs and supports USB3.

Neat, if I had an iPad pro that would be awesome with my USB3 iMac. If I had an iMac with USB 3.

Hrmmm, I may be falling behind on my technology.

 

[Nelson Au]

I spent about 4 hours, 3 hours almost straight, drawing and sketching with the iPad Pro and Pencil yesterday. I checked the battery level at start, Pencil was 100% but was charged the night before. After 4 hours, battery was down to 59% on the Pencil. The iPad pro was still at near 80% battery, but I didn't make a note of the exact figure. I'll continue to use the Pencil today and I didn't top off the charge to see how the pencil does, but I may charge it now as I have another 4 hours or more I want to spend on a rendering.

Tino, you may be right about software improving palm rejection. I found that Palm rejection was nearly perfect with procreate. With Sketchbook, Palm rejection wasn't as reliable. But I think I figured out with the timing and positioning of the pencil, I can almost reliably avoid Palm rejection issues.

After using the Adonit Jot Pixel Point stylus ($100) and the Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 1 ($100) and the Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus 2 ($80), the $100 Apple Pencil is the superior tool. None of those of course can tilt and shade with procreate. But the just works and doesn't have glitches that pop up all the time. One is the constant pressure sensitivity cutting out on the Wacom. Both the Wacom and Adonit has an unfortunate limitation when you stroke a line at a 45 degree angle, the line will be jaggy as if it can't make up its mind when you stroke slowly. If you stroke fast, it's okay. The Apple Pencil doesn't suffer from that problem. Also the Palm rejection never fully worked out on those styluses.

I'm pushing to finish my yearly holiday card with the iPad Pro today, so I still have some drawing to do to finish the art. So I might not have anything to show of art I've created on the iPad Pro with Pencil today. But I hope to.

One thing I was surprised by. I do draw with traditional pencIls, pens on paper. But I haven't spent a lot of hours lately. At work I do use a Wacom Cintiq, but I don't do a ton of sketches. But recently I have and its at about a 20 degree tilt. With the iPad Pro, I was using it flat on the table and my neck was killing me after three hours! So I'll try it at a tilt with the cover tilting it up. If I use it a lot more, and I have neck issues, I might have to find a way to better position it.

I'm really happy with the Apple Pencil! And the larger screen makes drawing and painting a great experience!

 

[Tino]

How do I check battery level on the pencil? Can't figure it out.

 

[Nelson Au]

Tino,

Just reach up to the top of the screen of the iPad Pro and pull down the notifications window. On the right, there will be widgets and notification tab. Tap the widgets tab if it's not selected. If the Battery widget is there, that will show the iPad and any Bluetooth device connected' battery levels. If it's not there, look to the lower left for a "edit" tab. Tap is and you'll see a bunch widgets you can add to view. Just look for the battery widget and tap it to add to view.

I discovered after I paired the pencil, that widget was already on. But it didn't show the Pencil until after I looked at the edit section. Anyway, it's viewable now. Good luck Tino, let us know if that worked for you.

At first I had hoped Apple would provide some visual feedback the pencil was charging or charged with an LED like everyone else does. But the widget makes sense. You'd only look for the charge because you're using it with the iPad Pro. The Apple Watch also has a battery widget you see on the iPhone.

 

[Tino]

Ahh. Thanks Nelson!

 

[Nelson Au]

You're welcome. [emoji4].

 

[Sam Posten]

My pencil shipped