New Apple Pencil With Vision Pro Support in Testing Ahead of visionOS 2

[Hobbes42]

Do you know what else can do this?
A pencil.
A. PENCIL.
And a pencil doesn't require $3600 + tax.

Yeah but does the $.75 pencil allow you to more efficiently isolate yourself from the world? Does it show you a lower-quality version of reality? I don’t think so.

Oh I forgot, does it impede your ability to drink a beverage while using it? These are features only Apple Vision Pro offers.

 

[swm]

fellow 40+ year olds from Poland and Hungary will certainly remember this.

so we're halfway there.

 

[SoldOnApple]

Hard to say whether they’d expand Pencil’s capability like that. Wouldn’t it represent a concession that the Vision needs controllers?

Or it could be the start of an ecosystem of objects that fully support Vision even when off camera or behind walls.

 

[Surf Monkey]

Or it could be the start of an ecosystem of objects that fully support Vision even when off camera or behind walls.

One of their primary differentiators is that it doesn’t have or need controllers. All I’m saying is that making the pencil into an ad hoc controller kind of goes against how they’re positioning it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I expect Apple to release a new Apple Pencil Pro when M3 iPads drop within the next two months.

And then, in true Apple fashion, Apple drops another Apple Pencil Pro about a year from now that's 1/1 identical with the Apple Pencil Pro we're getting now.

Only the Apple Pencil Pro dropping in a year has the added support for Apple Vision Pro. No other changes, just added Vision Pro support.

How many different pencil versions have there been since 2015 when it was introduced? One a year? So that’s 9 versions with a 10th due this year?

 

[coffeemilktea]

one possibility is that users would be able to draw with the Apple Pencil on a desk or another flat surface, and the drawing would appear in the open visionOS app. This would essentially turn a person's surroundings into a giant canvas, complete with pressure and tilt sensitivity.

I personally look forward to drawing on every available surface like an out-of-control toddler with a permanent marker. 🤪

 

[deconstruct60]

The same way the iPhone cannibalized iPod sales, despite the cheapest iPod being $49, the iPod touch only being $200 in the iPhone being… Anywhere from $430-$1500.

Fundamentally, flawed on multiple dimensions. First, the general iPod only had limited functionality. So the iPhone subsuming it was relatively easy. the iPad is not highly limited functionality. the iPad and iPhone are about equally as broad ( presuming put a Cellular modem in the iPad). the Vision Pro without a cellular modem already fails in breadth. Battery life VP isn't going to 'cut it' either.

Price isn't the primary point. functionality breadth is the point. If it does a strict superset then can replace. If not, then will have very substantive gaps in replacement. Very rarely was the iPhone refered to as "Just a big iPod". It was a
"phone plus more" not an 'iPod plus more'.

Second, this is a bit of revisionist history. The iPod was successful long before the iPad Touch ever came along.
iPod Touch Sept 2007

iPod Touch - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

iPhone Jan 2007

List of iPhone models - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

the Touch came after the iPhone.

The iPod Touch was in large part just a mechanism to sell more iPhone screens and distribute more copies of iOS (i.e. Apple drive bigger economies of scale). They took the cellphone part out and didn't follow the evolutionary path to better screens. During the release, the tech press knock on the Touch was that is was an "iPhone without the phone" (remember at first there was no app store.). It was a 'cash cow' that Apple milked until killing it off.

The iPad has 'more affordable' iPads in the line up already. the 'plain' iPad is playing the similar role the iPod Touch played. ( primarily gets 'hand me down' parts from the iPhone and other iPads so that Apple can sell mature parts for longer and still make a profit. ). there is no vision is going to cover that. Even if get a "non pro" selling older tech for higher prices , there is no way it is going to limbo down the 'plain' iPad level and cover all of the functionality there.

Maybe it won’t replace the $300 iPad or the iPad mini or even the iPad Air for a really long time, but once the VP is $2000, it really will become a difficult choice between a $1500 iPad plus keyboard case plus pencil and a $2000 VP.

Battery life 10 hrs versus 2-3 hours ... that several hour loss isn't going to be a 'winner'. [ If you think cheaper Vision product is going to get you better battery life you are smoking something strong. It extremely likely won't. ] Works for everyone in the family/group wearing glasses or not. Again ... non 'winner' edge.

The $2000 iPad Pro hasn't killed off the $2000 Mac laptop. Almost same dynamic is going to play out.
Vision Pro doesn't "do" the same set of things. It isn't going to be a better camera/viewfinder/editor then an iPad pro with/without a external storage drive. This "pencil" thing isn't going to be as accurate as the iPad Pro set up. ( higher fidelity tracking on the iPad ) . etc. etc.

 

[Abobrek]

They should make the world a shared Freeform space so that everyone can see each other’s graffiti at any given location. Add switchable private or public shared spaces. Annotate the world.

So you’re one of THOSE people who wears an AVP in public. 🤣🤣🤣

 

[Abobrek]

I personally look forward to drawing on every available surface like an out-of-control toddler with a permanent marker. 🤪

*Needing to be near a wall outlet

 

[Abobrek]

Oh wow. That’s actually clever.

Because drawing in mid air is easy. Try it for 30 minutes and see how your arm feels.

 

[Abobrek]

How is it that NETFLIX is producing a VR headset more advanced than Apple’s? There will be more to come too, but what is Apple’s response? Add an Apple Pencil! 🤣

3 Body Problem VR headset review: magical tech in need of more apps

A great start with room to grow.

www.theverge.com

 

[klasma]

So you’re one of THOSE people who wears an AVP in public. 🤣🤣🤣

I wear a large hoodie over it.

 

[jole]

Maybe one of the observations/suggestions of the Vision Pro reviews is true: The Vision Pro will cannibalise iPad sales.

I sold my iPad due to Vision Pro. Just found that I stopped using iPad completely after AVP.

(For scribbling, I use Remarkable 2)

 

[deconstruct60]

No specific details are known about this project, but one possibility is that users would be able to draw with the Apple Pencil on a desk or another flat surface, and the drawing would appear in the open visionOS app. This would essentially turn a person's surroundings into a giant canvas, complete with pressure and tilt sensitivity.

The only one of 'tracking', 'pressure' , and 'tilt' that comes 100% from the Apple Pencil is the 'pressure' part.

List of iPhone models - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tracking is done on the iPad side.
Tilt is a combo between transmission from pencil and sensing on iPad.

Vision Pro tracks finger tips to 'pinch to click'. Can likely retask that to "pencil tip" tracking, but at what kind of accuracy. Some commentary has thrown the U1 as solution but that is more of a proximity tracking. It isn't 2-3 pixel level tracking. A single point to point radio isn't going to be 'triangulation'.


May not even be "drawing in the air". When the Mac is used for basis for the display in the VP the users hands are on the Mac's keyboard. Apple has a "See your Mac Screen on your Vision Pro" support article.

See your Mac screen on Apple Vision Pro

With Mac Virtual Display, you can use your Apple Vision Pro as a display that mirrors your Mac display.

support.apple.com

Perhaps I missed it, but there doesn't seem to be a "See your iPad Pro Screen on your Vision Pro" article.
You can mirror your VP display out to an external viewers (with some limitations. ) .

 

[deconstruct60]

How is it that NETFLIX is producing a VR headset more advanced than Apple’s? There will be more to come too, but what is Apple’s response? Add an Apple Pencil! 🤣

3 Body Problem VR headset review: magical tech in need of more apps

A great start with room to grow.

www.theverge.com

Netflx may have that VR headset but Apple has a Hari Seldon hologram that has solved the Psychohistory problem. About equally as real.

" ... Of course, all of this is largely moot anyways because you can’t actually buy it. The headset isn’t available in any store or online. ..."

Shades of Orson Well's 'War of the Worlds' , but it isn't even April Fools day yet.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

the Vision Pro without a cellular modem already fails in breadth. Battery life VP isn't going to 'cut it' either.

You realize you’re just talking about the very first generation?
Yes, the first generation Apple Vision Pro does not have a cellular modem, and does not have as long of battery life as the iPad does.
The original iPhone was limited to edge networking and (according to most of the reviews from the time) could get about 2 to 3 hours of screen on usage.
Things change, things evolve, things get better.
In 2039, which is the year I’m going with because that’s the length of time it took the iPhone to completely cannibalize the iPod and caused it to be discontinued, it is very likely that the Vision Pro will have cellular connectivity (or satellite connectivity if that’s taken off yet) and much more than the advertised two hours of battery life that it has now.

Vision Pro doesn't "do" the same set of things. It isn't going to be a better camera/viewfinder/editor then an iPad pro with/without a external storage drive. This "pencil" thing isn't going to be as accurate as the iPad Pro set up. ( higher fidelity tracking on the iPad ) . etc. etc.

Again, you’re thinking in terms of the Vision Pro as it exists in 2024.
And even in 2024, there are people in this exact thread who have said that the Vision Pro basically replaced their iPad.
In 2007, the 8 GB iPhone was not replacing peoples 160 GB iPod classics that could get 40 hours of audio playback.
Today, you can get an iPhone with a terabyte of storage that gets an advertised 95 hours of audio playback.
Again, the Apple Vision Pro might never replace the iPad, certainly isn’t going to do it within the next five years.
But stop thinking in this box of what the Vision Pro is today, the battery life it gets today, the lack of cellular modems today.
That is all obviously going to change there’s going to be a second generation, and a third generation, and a fourth generation, and so on.

I sold my iPad due to Vision Pro. Just found that I stopped using iPad completely after AVP.

(For scribbling, I use Remarkable 2)

And so it begins.

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

complete with pressure and tilt sensitivity.

Right. By pressing on air you're getting pressure sensitivity how?

 

[krisburgos]

More than anything, I want an Apple Pencil that is compatible with the Magic Trackpad, but they won't do it because it's direct competition to a Wacom tablet. And Wacom would pull support.

 

[Jensend]

Sounds sketchy to me. It doesn't seem likely that there would be single device that would be used as input on an iPad and with a Vision Pro. 6-DOF controllers for VR headset are quite big, and as Apple has already shown with the headset, they don't have a some magic that allows significantly smaller devices than the competition.

 

[waltman]

The iPad Pro is affordable, portable, and tangible. The Vision Pro’s input (voice and hands) is not great for work. And even with additional keyboard and trackpad, it becomes a hassle to carry 3 objects when traveling.

 

[SFjohn]

As a very satisfied Apple Vision Pro owner/user I see no point to adding an Apple Pencil. (Pun intended) 😉

 

[Surf Monkey]

You realize you’re just talking about the very first generation?
Yes, the first generation Apple Vision Pro does not have a cellular modem, and does not have as long of battery life as the iPad does.
The original iPhone was limited to edge networking and (according to most of the reviews from the time) could get about 2 to 3 hours of screen on usage.
Things change, things evolve, things get better.
In 2039, which is the year I’m going with because that’s the length of time it took the iPhone to completely cannibalize the iPod and caused it to be discontinued, it is very likely that the Vision Pro will have cellular connectivity (or satellite connectivity if that’s taken off yet) and much more than the advertised two hours of battery life that it has now.


Again, you’re thinking in terms of the Vision Pro as it exists in 2024.
And even in 2024, there are people in this exact thread who have said that the Vision Pro basically replaced their iPad.
In 2007, the 8 GB iPhone was not replacing peoples 160 GB iPod classics that could get 40 hours of audio playback.
Today, you can get an iPhone with a terabyte of storage that gets an advertised 95 hours of audio playback.
Again, the Apple Vision Pro might never replace the iPad, certainly isn’t going to do it within the next five years.
But stop thinking in this box of what the Vision Pro is today, the battery life it gets today, the lack of cellular modems today.
That is all obviously going to change there’s going to be a second generation, and a third generation, and a fourth generation, and so on.

And so it begins.

It’s tenuous to base your argument not on the actual device in front of you but on wild speculation about it that may or may not come to fruition.

 

[SoldOnApple]

One of their primary differentiators is that it doesn’t have or need controllers. All I’m saying is that making the pencil into an ad hoc controller kind of goes against how they’re positioning it.

They keynote showed the Vision being used with the PS5 controller and it works with the xbox controller. Making the pencil a new wand controller makes sense to me. The advanced tracking can be used by the new iPads too, for things like locating your lost pencil.

 

[Zest28]

They better call it the Magic Wand.

It's not that big.

 

[Zest28]

...and that's the only reason I own an iPad over a macbook.

Maybe one of the observations/suggestions of the Vision Pro reviews is true: The Vision Pro will cannibalise iPad sales.

Depends on how precise it is. But this could indeed be cool. Having a VR board where you can draw and write on.

Heck, could even be useful in virtual classes in the future when a cheap $500 Apple Vision Cheapo comes out.