This is the Apple Pencil

Apple just announced the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, its biggest iPad yet. It's a more powerful and more capable iPad than ever before, and it comes with something many thought Apple would never sell with an iOS device: a stylus. The Apple Pencil is what it called and it includes pressure sensitive technology and can be used simultaneously with a finger. Pressing lightly will produce a thin strong, while firmer pressure can result in a heavier, darker stroke. That's similar to how Samsung's S Pen works on its various Note smartphones and tablets.



The Pencil is an active stylus and is recharged via a Lightning connector hidden inside its body. It can recharge right from the iPad Pro's port. Physically, the Pencil is round, which means it could roll off your desk fairly easily, and it's much longer than the many third-party styluses that have been available for years.



Apple says that a variety of its own apps will support Pencil, including the new Notes and Mail apps in iOS 9. It will also work in third-party apps, including Microsoft's Office suite for the iPad. Adobe's suite of Photoshop apps for the iPad are also being updated to support the Pencil. It's likely that many other third party note-taking and drawing apps will also be swiftly updated with Pencil support.

The Pencil will cost $99 and will be available with the iPad Pro in November.