One of the neatest features of the new Apple Pencil is its ability to easily charge it by plugging it into the Lightning port of your iPad Pro — with 15 seconds of charge giving you an impressive 30 minutes of use.
But how easy is it to break Apple’s high-tech stylus while it’s in this vulnerable position? In the long tradition of people buying the latest Apple products solely to break them carrying out informative stress tests for would-be customers, YouTuber Zach Straley recently picked up an Apple Pencil for this exact reason.
Check out the video below.
As you can see, while it is possible to break the Apple Pencil, it’s going to take more than an accidental jolt to irreparably damage the $99 accessory. The reason? Apple appears to have built in a special hinge element which provides the Pencil with some added give.
After reading Jony Ive’s comments on the exhaustive design process behind the stylus, I can’t say I’m totally shocked that his design team would consider every eventuality. Still, it’s another reason to admire Apple — a company which, agree with it or not, can never be accused of rushing out solutions without thinking them through.
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
9 responses to “Stress test shows how tough it is to snap an Apple Pencil while it’s charging”
Well, it is the simple things. Like not “being able to insert it backwards” that count.
I fully expect some news site to grab a couple screens from late in that video to talk about how easy it was to break :(
Oh don’t worry, I fully expect there to be a media fuelled ‘Pencilgate’ where people post videos of themselves snapping their pencil across a knee and blaming Apple for it…
Okay, so I won’t do THAT to my Apple Pencil…
Does the pencil come with a female lightning port charging cable?
What’s in the box.
Apple Pencil, Lightning Adapter and Extra Tip
pencil-gate :P
I wish he’d just slid the iPad Pro off the table, with the pencil inserted. That’d be a pretty reasonable test.
I think they should’ve just designed a full hinge so that you could just tuck it up against the bottom of the iPad, oh well, Apple Pencil 2.0.