First generation The Apple Pencil has pressure sensitivity and angle detection, and it was designed for low
latency to enable smooth marking on the screen. The Pencil and the user's fingers can be used simultaneously while rejecting input from the user's palm. One end of the device has a
magnetically-fastened removable cap which covers a Lightning connector which is used for charging from an iPad's Lightning port. A complete charge lasts about twelve hours, fifteen seconds of charging provides sufficient power for 30 minutes of use and it takes about 10 minutes to charge it fully. It also ships with a female-to-female Lightning adapter that allows it to be used with charging cables. The Apple Pencil uses an
STMicroelectronics STM32L151UCY6 Ultra-low-power
32-bit RISC ARM-based
Cortex-M3 MCU running at 32 MHz with 64 KB of flash memory, a
Bosch Sensortech BMA280 3-axis
accelerometer and a
Cambridge Silicon Radio (
Qualcomm) CSR1012A05
Bluetooth Smart IC for its Bluetooth connection to the iPad. It is powered by a rechargeable 3.82 V, 0.329
Wh lithium-ion battery. The first-generation Apple Pencil is compatible with iPad models released since 2018 that have a Lightning connector, including the first- and
second-generation iPad Pro models,
third-generation iPad Air,
fifth-generation iPad Mini,
sixth-generation 9.7-inch iPad, and the
seventh,
eighth, and
ninth-generation 10.2-inch iPad models. It also supports the
tenth-generation and
eleventh-generation iPads, but requires a
dongle (similar to the aforementioned Lightning adapter) to connect it to a
USB-C cable for charging. Apple began to bundle this dongle with Pencil units in October 2022, and it can be purchased separately by existing owners. Custom
laser engraving is available when purchased via the Apple Store online. Rather than a physical Lightning connector, the second-generation Pencil is paired and charged using a proprietary magnetic
wireless charging connector on selected iPad models. As such, it only supports the third-,
fourth-,
fifth- and sixth-generation iPad Pro,
sixth-generation iPad Mini, and the
fourth- and
fifth-generation iPad Air. All of these models have USB-C ports instead of Lightning, making them physically incompatible with the first-generation Pencil.
Pro On May 7, 2024, Apple announced
Apple Pencil Pro; this model adds sensors allowing new squeeze and
rolling gestures, as well as
haptic feedback and support for
Find My. Similarly to the second-generation Pencil, it is paired and charged using a proprietary magnetic wireless charging connector. It is only supported by the
iPad Pro (M4) and newer,
iPad Air (M2) and newer, and
iPad Mini (A17 Pro) and newer. == Hardware support ==