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Webcat86

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 7, 2022
241
84
I got my iPad Air for a bargain on eBay, and the seller had a generic Pencil from Amazon.

It does work fine for writing and scrolling etc, but I've always wondered if the Apple Pencil 2 is legitimately better and worth buying, or not?

for £120 it's something 'd be happy to get if it offered something worthwhile, but money I'd save if the difference is just for, say, giving artists better shading options.
 

LibbyLA

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2017
795
830
If you want to do anything that requires pressure sensitivity (e.g., some apps have a wider stroke weight if you use more pressure), you’ll want the Apple brand pencil. Otherwise, the generic one is fine. If I were you, I’d use the generic one for a while and see if you get frustrated with not having pressure sensitivity. If you don’t, then you won’t need the Apple one.

(I have two iPad Pro 11 and a Mini 6. I have to Apple pencils, one for the iPP 11 that I use most and the other for the Mini 6. For me, it’s worth the cost and I like having two because I want to have one with each iPad since I’m often only have one or the other with me. That’s not the case for most people, though.)
 
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Channan

macrumors 68030
Mar 7, 2012
2,866
3,051
New Orleans
I just bought a stylus (don’t know the brand) on Amazon for about $30 that looks very similar to the Apple Pencil, has palm rejection and tilt sensitivity, and even attaches to my iPad magnetically. It doesn’t charge from the iPad, though. I have to charge it via USB-C, which isn’t a huge deal since it’s the same connector my iPad uses. It also doesn’t have pressure sensitivity, though that doesn’t matter for me because I only bought it for taking notes and the occasional times I have to sign documents.

Even though I could have afforded the Apple Pencil, it didn’t seem worth it for 4x the price just for a little more convenient charging option and pressure sensitivity that I don’t need.
 
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