| Cult of Mac

Ends tonight: Get a solid iPad stylus at half the price of Apple Pencil

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With palm sensitivity, you can rest your palm while drawing or writing.
With palm sensitivity, you can rest your palm while drawing or writing.
Photo: SwitchEasy

If you’re the proud owner of an iPad, you should get yourself a stylus that will help you write and draw well on the tablet. But Apple Pencil 2 might set you back up to its list price of $129. So how about something just about as good for under half the price? Enter SwitchEasy’s EasyPencil Pro.

Check out the SwitchEasy Flash Sale in the Cult of Mac Store to get 20% off two versions of the stylus plus extra tips for different writing-and-drawing uses. The sale runs through 11:59 p.m. Pacific on June 22.

Get 20% off iPad styluses and tips already much cheaper than Apple’s

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EasyPencil 3 and 4 both feature magnetic stylus attachment to an iPad (but charging requires USB-C).
EasyPencil 3 and 4 both feature magnetic stylus attachment to an iPad (but charging requires USB-C).
Photo: SwitchEasy

If you recently got an iPad, you probably want a stylus so you can write and draw on it more precisely than you can with your fingertips. But Apple Pencil 2 might set you back $129. So how about something similar for less than half the price?

A good option is the SwitchEasy EasyPencil Pro. Through Friday (February 3), you can get the fourth-gen version of it in the Cult of Mac Store for just $56. Plus you can get 20% off extra tips for different uses. Or you can nab the third-gen EasyPencil for only $48. See below.

Get a magnetic iPad stylus for about half Apple Pencil 2’s price

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Palm sensitivity lets you rest your palm as you write or draw without messing anything up.
Palm sensitivity lets you rest your palm as you write or draw without messing anything up.
Photo: SwitchEasy

Buying an iPad doesn’t usually mean just buying an iPad. Many people want useful accessories, like a stylus that lets them write and draw more precisely than they can with their fingers. But Apple Pencil 2 usually goes for a fairly steep $129.

If you’d like to get an advanced stylus with most of Apple Pencil 2’s features for much less, you have options. A good one is the SwitchEasy EasyPencil Pro.

You can get the fourth-gen version of it in the Cult of Mac Store for just over half the cost of Apple Pencil 2, plus a supply of extra tips for different uses. Or you can nab the third-gen EasyPencil for a little less. See more information below.

Adonit’s inexpensive new iPad stylus offers on-tablet wireless charging

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Adonit's inexpensive new iPad stylus offers on-tablet wireless charging
The Adonit Neo Pro gets power from the side of a compatible iPad, just as Apple Pencil does. But it costs much less.
Photo: Adonit

Place the Adonit Neo Pro on the side of an iPad and the stylus will start charging. The Apple Pencil 2 can do the same trick, but the Neo Pro costs less than half as much.

Adonit’s stylus can do most of what Apple’s can, as it offers tilt sensitivity and palm rejection. All it’s missing is pressure sensitivity.

Adonit Note-M brilliantly combines an iPad stylus with a mouse [Review]

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Adonit Note-M review
The Adonit Note-M is a 2-in-1 stylus and mouse for iPad.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

iPadOS offers full support for mice, and it also supports styli. But carrying around both can be a bit of a hassle. That’s where the Adonit Note-M comes in. It’s a stylus that’s also a mouse. And one that’ll attach itself to the side of an iPad Pro.

I extensively tested this innovative accessory. Here’s how it performs in real-world use.

Adonit Note+ does nearly as much as Apple Pencil but costs far less

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Adonit Note+ iPad stylus
The Adonit Note+ iPad stylus is designed for artists and note takers.
Photo: Adonit

Adonit’s second-generation iPad stylus offers many features not in the original, including including tilt detection and pressure sensitivity. The Note+ also adds shortcut buttons for quick access to erase, redo, or other functions.

It has nearly the same feature set as the Apple Pencil while costing significantly less.

Jot Dash is the iPad stylus you never knew you needed

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The new Jot Dash stylus works anywhere your finger does.
The new Jot Dash stylus works anywhere your finger does.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

SAN FRANCISCO — You’d think stylus maker Adonit would be terrified by rumors that Apple is about to release a plus-size iPad Pro with its very own writing accessory, but nothing could be further from the truth.

According to Ian Shirey, Adonit’s chief strategy officer, facing competition from Apple would be the sweetest vindication of all for his company’s devices. “For Apple to tell the world a stylus is OK would be great,” Shirey said during a visit to the Cult of Mac offices to show off Adonit’s latest creation, the Jot Dash, an midrange stylus that works with iOS and Android devices.

Why the iPad desperately needs a stylus

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The iPad needs a boost when it comes to content creation. An Apple stylus is just the tool to help.
The iPad needs a boost when it comes to content creation. An Apple stylus is just the tool to help.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

The case has clearly been made that a stylus should never be a device’s main method of input. Fingers prevail for everyday uses, especially revolving around content consumption. But isn’t it possible that in some cases an iPad stylus might enhance the experience?

At WWDC, clues that Apple is adding a stylus to the iPad abound

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Apple's WWDC 2015 is revving up in San Francisco.
Apple's WWDC 2015 dropped a couple of big clues about Apple's iPad Pro plans.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

UPDATE: I added a short statement from stylus-maker Adonit below.

SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Ritchey is an expert in iPad styluses — the pressure-sensitive digital pens that draw with pinpoint accuracy on an iPad.

Ritchey works for Adonit, a company that makes a line of Bluetooth styli for the iPad. His job title is “OS architect.” He knows his stuff.

In the middle of a session at this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, he heard something that prompted him to send a panicky note to his colleagues in Slack, the popular messaging system.

“Oh shit!” he said.

Steve Jobs famously pledged that Apple would never ship an iOS device with a stylus, but there’s mounting evidence that the company is working on a new and bigger work-oriented iPad that will come with a stylus.

A couple of big clues dropped this week at WWDC.