Tech giant Apple released Wednesday a series of product upgrades, including the new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S plus, Siri-collaborative Apple TV, the enterprise-grade 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and the first ever Apple Pencil, which is a stylus for designers and creatives.
With all the new upgrades, including the luxury fashion Apple Watch and the iPad Pro, which Apple CEO Tim Cook describes as "the most capable and powerful iPad ever created," all eyes are set on the company's first stylus pen since the early 1990s.
According to Dozeen, the Apple Pencil was designed for Apple's bread and butter, the designers and artists. It will be used for the bigger iPad for technical drawing and movie production features.
The first Apple Pencil, however, didn't get a warm welcome from designers, illustrators, and the artist community, in general, saying it looks great, but it is not fully practical. Professional designers and artists use styli, like the Wacom graphic tablets, the Surface series, and the FiftyThree's Pencil for iPads.
According to Engadget, AOL senior UX/UI designer Mike Messina said, "it doesn't look to have many practical applications in term of professional design tool as it's not possible to use full Creative Suite and other industry-standard applications on a tablet device."
"I don't think the Pencil compares to traditional graphics tablet and more of an expensive toy - - albeit a nice one," said Messina, who uses a Wacom professional tablet and stylus combined with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
Apple Pencil costs $99, which is cheaper than most high-end stylus pencil. MarketWatch reported that the first Apple Pencil has a few rivals, including the luxurious $10,000 limited-edition white gold Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil, its cheaper $260 platinum-plated version, and the $585 Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Solitaire Doue mechanical pencil.
Some experts say that high-end quality pencils can make writing and designing a pleasure, but this high-end pencil may not be that worth it, as they are more for luxury and display than practical reasons.
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