The SwitchEasy EasyPencil Plus is an iPad stylus that does most of what Apple Pencil does for a lot less money. It even magnetically clings to the iPad Pro, and works with a broad variety of Apple tablets.
I used the stylus for taking notes, sketching and photo editing. Here’s how it stood up to my everyday life.
Apple Pencil makes an ideal holiday gift for any iPad owner. And for a limited time only, you can enjoy a rare $15 discount on the second-generation model. Order today to pay just $114.
Most people’s drawing skills peaked in first grade. Which means the diagrams we include in handwritten notes often look like they were drawn by a moderately skilled raccoon. Fortunately, iPadOS 14 offers shape recognition, turning our scrawls into the neat geometric shapes we envisioned.
Using this feature in Apple Notes or Email is easy. But there’s a trick to it. Here’s how to use shape recognition with an iPad and any stylus.
Scribble handwriting recognition in iPadOS 14 is a more complex system than many might realize. Identifying letters and words goes beyond simply examining what someone has written. The iPad uses machine learning to recognize the writer’s intent through how they write, according to Craig Federighi, Apple’s SVP of software engineering.
Alex Knoll is a professional photographer with some serious carpentry skills. When he couldn’t find a desk he liked that matched his budget, he decided to just build one himself. He sketched a plan on his iPad with the Procreate app and bought himself a few long slabs of pine and got to work. With a set of $100 table legs he bought from TableLegs.com, the total cost of the materials came out to roughly $300.
Apple’s entry-level iPad, unveiled Tuesday during the “Time Flies” event, is better than ever with a faster processor and graphics, and gigabit-class LTE. It’s also just as affordable as its predecessor.
Order yours today ahead of its release this Friday for just $329 (or $299 if you’re a student).
Cult of Mac’s Ian Fuchs says new features in iPadOS 14 make the Apple Pencil an indispensable tool — even for people who aren’t artists.
That’s the cover story in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine. Download it now for that story, plus the latest Apple news, leaks, how-tos and reviews. (In case you hadn’t noticed, Apple’s battle with Fortnite dev Epic Games is getting nasty.)
Back when Apple introduced the Apple Pencil, the company positioned the stylus primarily as a tool for artists. And try as I might, I’ve never been particularly great at drawing. That said, it didn’t stop me from picking up an Apple Pencil to annotate documents, edit photos or use as an alternative way to touch the screen.
Then the Magic Keyboard came along with a fantastic trackpad experience. It offered a different way to interact with the screen without touching it with my finger. But now, with iPadOS 14, Apple has rewritten the story of what Apple Pencil can do, and it’s completely changed how I use my iPad once again.
Samsung’s newly unveiled Galaxy Note 20 Ultra will have to take on the iPhone 12 Pro Max after Apple launches it this autumn.
Samsung’s top-tier handset offers seven features iOS fans should hope will show up in Apple’s next flagship iPhone. But the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra also has some real problems.
iPadOS 14 includes Scribble, finally allowing you to hand write text on an iPad with a stylus. If you don’t already have a stylus, there are some great options out there besides the very expensive Apple Pencil.
Here are some of the best available, so you can take full advantage of your iPad’s capabilities without paying too much.
To promote its excellent Apple TV+ documentary Beastie Boys Story, Apple has debuted a short video featuring longtime artistic collaborator Geoff McFetridge discussing five posters he created for the band using an iPad and Apple Pencil. It’s pretty rad.
Check it out below.
Apple finally brought handwriting recognition to iPad. With Scribble built in iPadOS 14, it’s possible to enter text simply by drawing on the screen.
My testing with the first version shows its an amazing feature. But one with room for improvement.
iPad owners can use an Apple Pencil to write words into any text box thanks to iPadOS 14, which Apple announced Monday at its developers conference.
And there are other enhancements coming as well, like home screen widgets, improvements to search, and some user interface tweaks.
Apple Card users could soon be offered interest-free payment plans for iPad, Mac, AirPods, and more, one report claims.
Sources say Apple is planning to roll out the new service, which will make many of its pricey products more accessible, in the coming weeks. Users will be able to spread the cost of their purchase over as many as 12 months.
iPadOS 14 reportedly will bring multiple new features to Apple Pencil. On Tuesday came word that Safari will offer new markup tools for webpages.
An earlier report indicated the next iPadOS version could finally bring handwriting recognition to Apple tablets.
To paraphrase an old joke, you can have the Apple Pencil in any color you want as long as that color is white. But an unconfirmed report indicates that’ll change soon. A version of this iPad active stylus in black is supposedly in the offing.
The Meco Stylus Pen is an affordable alternative to Apple Pencil. It’s well suited for taking handwritten notes on a range of iPad models, and offers palm rejection. And while it doesn’t have the features artists need, it offers a long battery life and is simple to connect to your iPad.
I tested this budget active stylus by taking notes and sketching out ideas. Here’s how it stood up to real-world use.
The 10.2-inch iPad might be one of the best deals in consumer tech. It packs everything you need in a decent slate, and it’s powered by iPadOS — the best tablet operating system on the planet. It’s also compatible with Apple Pencil.
What’s really great about the 10.2-inch iPad is that it’s often available at a discount. Amazon is again offering one of the biggest yet, with $79.01 off the cheapest model, reducing its price tag to just $249.99.
iPad users will be able to use an Apple Pencil to write words into any text box, if an unconfirmed report is correct. Handwriting recognition will allegedly be built into iPadOS 14.
This would bring real changes to the way many interact with their tablet.
Looking for a portable Apple computer? You have two choices — a MacBook or an iPad. Both excel at different things. The iPad is super-portable, silent and cool. The Mac is more flexible, offers more connections, and can run much more complex software.
It may be that you already know whether you need a Mac or an iPad. If you use apps that only run on the Mac, or if you need to hook up a lot of extra hardware, then a Mac is your only option. But if you desire the ultimate in portability, or you want to use a touchscreen or an awesome Apple Pencil stylus, you need an iPad.
If you’re on the fence, wondering which portable Apple computer best fits your needs, this article will help you decide. The MacBook vs. iPad battle is on …
A pair of fresh Apple videos demonstrate that its tablets can be tools for professional artists. They show the complete creative process of several advertising posters for Apple TV+ shows done on iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.
Watch them now:
Building on the capabilities of the Apple Pencil active stylus, Apple proposes adding additional touch-sensitive controls to the exterior. This would expand the capabilities of this drawing tool for the iPad without making it more difficult to use.
This is just one of several ways Apple is considering to improve the Pencil.
We will never see a touchscreen Mac. Apple has made this clear over and over. Whenever one of its executives is asked about a touchscreen Mac in an interview, the answer is always the same: macOS is for trackpads, and iPadOS for is for touch. Combining them would compromise both.
I agree. While I do catch myself tapping the Mac’s screen from time to time, there’s no way I’d want the Mac redesigned for touch. For one thing, you’d lose all the accuracy of the mouse, because clicking targets would have to be big enough for your fingers. But it doesn’t matter, because Apple has already made a touch option for the Mac. It’s Sidecar, and it’s amazing.
Black Friday is upon us, which means it’s a great time to start your holiday shopping. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to buy — Cult of Mac is here to help you choose the best gifts for the iPad lover in your life.
You’ll find the best headphones, speakers, game controllers, and keyboards in our iPad gift guide for 2019. And there’s something to suit every budget.
So, when you’ve finished scoffing down that turkey, check out the roundup below.
Apple’s annual holiday season ad arrived on YouTube today, just in time for it to be included in all the football games and parade footage on Thanksgiving day.
The three-minute long ad called “The Surprise” follows two young girls who travel to their grandfathers house for Christmas. Of course, there are Apple products spread throughout ad and it’s the iPad that will warm your heart the most.
You might wanna grab some tissues: