The Apple Pencil may be a very clever piece of technology, but one thing a number of people have been wondering is how vulnerable it might be when charging. At first glance, having it sticking out of the iPad Pro like that doesn’t seem the smartest of ideas.

But it appears Apple has thought it through, and there’s a hinge mechanism inside the connector designed to take the strain if the Pencil is knocked.

Video blogger Zach Straley did his best to break it, and while he did eventually succeed, he had to work very hard to do so. Check out the video below. Try not to curse him too much if you’re still waiting for yours to arrive …

Both Tim Cook and Jony Ive have been arguing that the Pencil is much more than a stylus, even if the rest of us may have to wait a while to find out. Check out our unboxing in the meantime.

Via CoM

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Pencil, bendgate, iPad Pro, Jonathan Ive, Tim Cook

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Having started out with my first impressions a week ago, highlighted my core questions and decided on Monday that the iPad Pro couldn’t replace my iPad Air 2 (only be an additional device), it’s time to make my decision.

I think between us at 9to5Mac we’ve been putting the tablet through its paces in a pretty comprehensive fashion! We don’t always reach the same conclusions about devices, but in this case I found myself agreeing with the bottom-line of each of my colleagues who’ve been trying it.

Dom described it as a giant Netflix machine, and it certainly is. With that huge screen and extremely loud speakers, movies and TV shows are very compelling, and – unlike a MacBook with the same size screen – you don’t feel like you’re looking at a work device.

Zac saw it as the best entertainment iPad, and I agree with that – with the single proviso that it’s just too big for comfortable ebook reading in bed. But reading ebooks on your lap is a delightful experience. Magazines are just wow. Casual web-browsing – sat on the sofa, just passively consuming content rather than planning to act on it – is a joy. In portrait mode, you can see a decent chunk of a page at a time, everything is big enough to read comfortably and it just feels like a much more relaxing experience than using a MacBook or a smaller iPad where you have to do more scrolling.

Jeremy found that it sat awkwardly between two devices – not feeling like a better alternative than either his iPad Air 2 or his MacBook Pro when it comes to either work or play. I agree 100% on the work side of the equation. I’m more sold on the play side of things, but given that I like to read in bed every night, ultimately I’d have to agree that my iPad Air 2 is a complete solution where the iPad Pro isn’t.

But it’s not just my colleagues’ views I’ve been reading, it’s yours too – in the comments on my earlier diary pieces. So let me address a couple of those before delivering my own final verdict …

A number of the comments you made related to the two dedicated accessories.

Some suggested I wait for Apple Pencil availability before making my decision, as this is currently a big unique selling proposition for the Pro. I absolutely agree that for many people, this will be the killer device – the accessory that transforms the Pro from merely a big iPad into something else entirely.

But, honestly, for me the Pencil is totally irrelevant. I’ve never been able to draw, nor had any interest in learning (I picked up photography from an early age, so that satisfied my desire for visual creativity). And I literally never hand-write anything, not even a shopping list. All my notes are either typed or dictated.

So great as the Pencil looks, I wouldn’t have bought one even to try – I just don’t have any use for it.

The suggestion that I should wait for Apple’s own Smart Keyboard was something I did definitely consider. It’s absolutely true that a significant part of my dismissal of the iPad Pro as a writing tool was because I wasn’t impressed by the Logitech Create keyboard.

But early reviews of the Apple keyboard didn’t lend much hope that I’d like it any better – indeed, they suggested I’d probably like it even less.

I could also wait to see what other third-party keyboards appear. Brydge, for example, expects to have one available next year, and the iPad Air 2 model quickly became my daily-driver. With a keyboard I love, I might have looked more fondly on the Pro as a mobile writing tool.

But there are two other factors. First, a trackpad is still a much more pleasant experience than a touchscreen when it comes to editing. I tend to plan my articles by making upper-case notes, shuffle these around into a logical order and then begin writing. That involves a lot of selecting, moving and cutting text, and my MacBook Air is a much more efficient tool for that.

Second, a lot of my writing is done in Scrivener, an app I adore. I sometimes use it for first drafts of articles, and I wouldn’t even dream of writing a book without it. While an iOS version has been long-promised, the developer hit a number of road-blocks, and is now (sensibly) declining to provide an estimate of when it might be available.

So, all in all, the iPad Pro wasn’t going to replace my MacBooks for writing.

My complaint about the unwieldy size of the iPad Pro for reading books in bed might sound like a relatively trivial one, but I read a lot, so ebooks are an absolutely core part of what an iPad is all about for me – and a lot of that reading is done in bed. My Kindle used to be one of my favorite gadgets until I decided that carrying two tablets around everywhere was silly, and switched to using my iPad instead (which also had the benefit of not needing a light on, so I could read in bed without disturbing my partner).

The iPad Pro makes a fantastic ebook reader on your lap, but is just too awkward in bed.

The size of it was also an issue for general mobile use. The iPad Air 2 slips so easily into any bag that I can carry it everywhere without even thinking about it. The iPad Pro needs a larger bag and definitely isn’t something you carry with you just in case.

So I’d already concluded that the iPad Pro couldn’t replace any of my existing devices. The only remaining possibility would be to keep both iPads, effectively viewing it as a fourth category of device – distinct from iPhone, standard iPad and MacBooks.

But great as it is for some tasks, it’s too much of a niche case for me: it just wouldn’t be earning its keep. I’d get better value from a thousand bucks by spending it on other things.

None of which is to dismiss the iPad Pro at all. I think it’ll be an absolutely fantastic device for many people. Artists and designers will adore it. It will be a brilliant tool for many corporate road warriors (Tim Cook may be biased, but I believe him when he says he now travels without a MacBook, using only his iPhone and iPad Pro).

I also, to my surprise, do think it has a role as a consumer device. My specific issue aside, Zac is right about it being a near-perfect entertainment machine, and Cook is right that for many people, this will be the only computer they need. I know for sure that I’m going to recommend it to loads of people as an alternative to a laptop if they just want a single device for Internet and entertainment purposes.

For many, it will be a much better choice than a MacBook or MacBook Air. For a non-tech person, it’s easier to use. The tablet format is more convenient for entertainment. The battery life really is ten hours, unlike MacBooks whose real-life usage is closer to five (especially if you’re using it intermittently throughout the day). The option of built-in LTE is far more convenient than using a phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot. And there’s almost nothing a non-tech person can do to screw up an iPad.

But adding this to my existing roster of iPhone 6s, iPad Air 2, MacBook Air 11 and MacBook Pro 17 is a step too far – even for me!

I remember a scene in Boston Legal where Shirley Schmidt, one of the partners in the law firm, brings an associate into her office. “You‘re a very good lawyer,” she tells the associate, cutting off her thanks. “But … not good enough: we’re letting you go.” And that, ultimately, is how I feel about the iPad Pro. It’s a very good device, just – for my needs – not good enough. I’m letting it go.

Filed under: iOS Devices, Opinion Tagged: iOS, iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro diary, iPad Pro review

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A Goldman Sachs investment note argues that Apple has huge potential for generating more recurring revenue, suggesting an opportunity to generate an additional $7.6B a month, reports Business Insider. The company points to the rumored Apple TV subscription service as one future source of monthly revenue.

In a recurring revenue framework, we have constructed an average revenue per user (ARPU) metric that captures the installment plan pricing of the iPhone ($32/month), assumed installment plans for the other hardware products, and services (e.g. Music at $10/mo, TV at $40/mo) … 

The company also forecasts 40% growth in iPhone sales over the next two years, bringing the installed base to 700M phones.

Although Apple has long offered some subscription services, including iCloud storage and iTunes Match, it is only this year that it has made a big push into monthly recurring fees through Apple Music and the iPhone Upgrade Program.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, Apple Inc, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple web TV, icloud, iPhone, iPhone sales, iPhone sales forecast, iTunes Match, web tv

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Apple’s new official dock for Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock, is now available to buy in some Apple Stores around the world. This particular image is from the Berlin store in Germany. The product does not yet appear to be available online but is on stock shelves at Apple retail stores, perhaps slightly earlier than officially planned.

As indicated by the leaked photos from last night, the dock allows the watch to either lay flat or sit upright in Nightstand mode thanks to the magnetic attachment. The tipster has already compiled a full hands on video with Apple’s new dock which you can see after the break …

The dock is expected to retail around $90 in the United States. From this image, in the Berlin Apple Store it costs 89 euros. We expect the dock to appear on Apple Online Store as well as spread to more retail shelves shortly.

This is Apple’s first official dock for Apple Watch, not counting the Apple Watch Edition box that doubles as a charging stand. Until today, Apple has been exclusively selling the Elevation Lab NightStand Apple Watch dock at retail. Its own first-party dock will now take center stage in Apple Stores as the primary recommendation for an Apple Watch stand.

Filed under: Apple Watch, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Apple watch, Apple Watch dock, charging, magnetic, official dock

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Planning documents obtained by the Chicago Tribune reveal Apple’s spectacular plans for a new flagship store on the north bank of the Chicago River. Fittingly for the city which was home to Frank Lloyd Wright, the design echoes the Midwestern Prairie Style buildings created by the famous architect.

Apple confirmed the plans to the Tribune, which reports that they have already been granted approval, with a formal presentation set to ‘rubber-stamp’ the decision on Thursday … 

The plans were drawn up by Apple’s favourite architects, Foster + Partners, responsible for the design of the company’s Spaceship campus, as well as the redesign for London’s Regent Street store.

Soon-to-be-unveiled plans for the store call for a glass-sheathed temple of computing near the historic Michigan Avenue bridge and grand flights of stairs that will cascade from street level to the walkway along the Chicago River’s north bank […]

The proposal will replace a vacant food court at the 401 N. Michigan Ave. office building with a 20,000-square-foot store that overlooks the river and its flotillas of architectural tour boats.

The roof will be reinforced with carbon-fiber, providing shade to the exterior and “will blur the line between interior and exterior space.” Apple told the Tribune that the company wants to begin construction next year.

There are currently two Apple Stores in the center of the city, the current flagship close by at 679 North Michigan Avenue, with three other stores a little further out. Check out the full set of renders over at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: AAPL, Apple Retail Store, Apple Store, Apple Store Chicago, Chicago, Foster + Partners, Frank Lloyd Wright, New Apple Store Chicago, norman foster

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Apple this evening appears to be suffering from a widespread outage, affecting a number of its online services. According to the company’s status page, The issues began roughly half an hour ago and are affecting the App Store, Apple TV, iBooks Store, iTunes Match, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and Radio.

Apple’s Online Store and iMessage also seem to be affected by the outage according to various tweets and the Down Detector website, although Apple’s status webpage makes no mention of iMessage and Apple Online Store issues. The Down Detector outage map shows that the outages are affecting users across the globe.

Apple has not commented on the outage, nor has it given an ETA for when services are expected to return to normal performance.

Filed under: iOS Devices

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Apple today has begun to offer its Personal Pickup service in Australia and Canada. The service has been available in the United States for years now, since 2011, but today marks the first time people in Canada and Australia can place an order online, then head to their local Apple Store to pick it up.

With Personal Pickup, the entire order is processed online. You input all of your billing information into the Apple Store app or Online Store, then simply go to the physical Apple Store to seamlessly pick up your item(s). At the Apple Store, you simply have to tell them that you’re there to pick up your online order, present a photo idea and proof of order, and you’re good to go. It’s an incredibly seamless way to bypass the chaos that usually plagues Apple retail locations, especially during the holiday season.

With that said, the launch of Personal Pickup in Canada comes at the perfect timing for holiday shopping. Users can now place their order online and not have to deal with the inevitably jam-packed Apple Store for more time than is required to walk in and pick up the order.

Personal Pickup works for the purchase of almost any in-stock Apple products, including the new Apple TV and iPad Pro, as well as the iPhone and a number of iPads and Macs.

The expansion of Personal Pickup to the Canada and Australia comes on the heels of Apple Pay launching in Canada earlier today. Apple Pay is slated to launch in Australia on Thursday, as well. Apple also today expanded its same-day delivery service to New York. The company is clearly doing everything it can to make holiday shopping as seamless as can be for customers, and that’s something many people will definitely appreciate. One of Apple’s biggest selling points during the holiday season is always the seamlessness that surrounds purchasing products and with Apple Pay, same-day delivery, and Personal Pickup, the experience should be even better this year.

Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple, Apple Store, pick-up

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Respected analyst Ming Chi-Kuo from KGI Securities has this evening issued an investor note in which he predicts sales for Apple’s latest tablet, iPad Pro. Kuo predicts in his note that Apple will sell between 2.4 million and 2.6 million iPad Pro units in the fourth quarter of 2015. As we head into 2016, Kuo expects those numbers to slide slightly to between 2.1 million units and 2.3 million units.

The small decline in sales is to be expected as the Q4 is prime holiday shopping season in many countries and Apple is used to seeing inflated numbers during the quarter. Apple will officially report Q4 sales in January, although it’s unclear if it will breakdown iPad Pro numbers specifically.

Also of note, Kuo shares that TSMC is the sole provider of the new A9x chip found in the iPad Pro. When the iPhone 6s launched, there was controversy surrounding reports that the TSMC A9 chip outperformed the Samsung version in battery tests. While that likely had little bearing on Apple’s decision to make TSMC the sole A9x provider, it reaffirms the fact that all iPad Pros should perform similarly in battery tests.

Samsung will, however, help Apple produce the display panel found in the iPad Pro. While Sharp is the main supplier of the panel, Samsung will help Apple keep up with demand as Sharp suffers from production issues.

Furthermore, Kuo notes of the supply issues plaguing the Apple Pencil accessory. Kuo simply states that production “isn’t going smoothly” due to the complex assembly process of the accessory. Kuo believes that the supply issues plaguing the Pencil are also having somewhat of a negative effect on iPad Pro sales as a whole.

iPad Pro launched last week in Apple retail stores and online. Early reviews of the device were mixed, with many reviewers skeptical about the device’s ability to replace a laptop due to software limitations imposed by iOS. Our own Jeremy Horwitz also noted of software constraints being the device’s primary issue.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: iPad, iPad Pro, KGI, sales

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If you have a new iPad Pro and have had issues using the new software keyboard, you’re probably not alone. Aside from following the iPhone 6/Plus lead and adding new keys in the space around the QWERTY keyboard, iPad Pro includes a full sized shift key and half-height number keys which in theory require fewer taps to access more characters.

In practice, the new layout requires an adjustment period, to put it mildly, as the keys most frequently accessed are surrounded by targets that you have to avoid tapping accidentally. I’m on day four and getting better, but there’s one embarrassing keyboard bug that had me convinced I was crazy. Turns out I may not be. Here’s the deal:

The new iPad Pro mimicks a full-size keyboard layout with full-width tab, caps lock, and shift keys while plus a half-height number row with punctuation and special characters. iOS by default capitalizes the first letter of each new sentence. These two features aren’t playing nice, and Apple hasn’t resolved the issue in either iOS 9.1 or iOS 9.2 beta 3 on iPad Pro.

For that reason, typing a new tweet like “@apollozac Hi!” will actually type “2apollozac Hi!” or adding an entry to a spreadsheet in numbers like “$169” will likely type “4169” instead when holding shift and tapping a number key. This only happens at the beginning of a sentence while anything after that works just as expected.

To fix this issue, disable the Auto-Capitalization feature on your iPad Pro until Apple fixes this keyboard bug. To do that, go to the Settings app, find the General section on the left, then the Keyboards section on the right, and toggle off Auto-Capitalization. New sentences won’t automatically start with capitalized words, but both shift key and symbols keys above the numbers row will work like the physical keyboard that the iPad Pro’s virtual keyboard mimics.

Alternatively, you can leave Auto-Capitalization on and ignore the symbols keys above the numbers keys when beginning a new sentence, instead using the old method by tapping the .?123 key like on older iPads. The least efficient solution is tapping the shift key a couple of times to toggle the key case state, then holding the shift key and tapping a number to activate the character above it, but this method is wonky and difficult to get right.

Hopefully the iPad Pro software bugs get worked out sooner than later for more owners (and Apple’s Smart Keyboard accessory becomes more readily available), but until then I hope this fix helps you for now.

Filed under:
How-To, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: bug, fix, iPad Pro, keyboard

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Alongside iPad Pro, Apple revealed a new tool to accompany the device, the Apple Pencil. While Apple Pencil has been hard to come by in terms of availability, those who have managed to get their hands on one have seemingly been impressed with the $99 Jony Ive-deisgned accessory. Now Ive, Apple’s Chief Design Officer, has sat down with Wallpaper Magazine and The Telegraph to discuss his inspiration to make Apple Pencil…

One big thing Ive made sure to note during his interview with Wallpaper Magazine was that the Apple Pencil is not meant to replace the finger as the main input device of the iPad Pro. Apple Pencil is meant to accompany the finger as an input device used when a user is “exclusively making marks.”

I think there’s a potential to confuse the role of the Pencil with the role of your finger in iOS, and I actually think it’s very clear the Pencil is for making marks, and the finger is a fundamental point of interface for everything within the operating system. And those are two very different activities with two very different goals. The traditional pencil could have been replaced by a dish of powdered charcoal, which you dipped your finger into to make marks with. And that didn’t happen.

Regarding the name of Apple Pencil, Ive explained how me felt the word pencil better exemplified Apple’s goal than “stylus” or “pen” did. Ive noted of how everyone associates the word “stylus” with technology, whereas they associate pencil with the very simple and analogue idea of tasks like painting and drawing.

I like the name Pencil much more than stylus because stylus seems a product that’s about technology. Pencil, to me, seems very analogue in its association. But what is challenging is that it will become many things. There’s an incredible painting app and very powerful drawing apps. For some people it will be a graphic instrument and to others it will be a fountain pen. One of the technologies within the Pencil means that as well as detecting pressure, we are also detecting the angle of the pencil.

Ive’s comments on the use cases and name of Apple Pencil really explemify how the company doesn’t believe it went against Steve Jobs’ early saying of never needing a stylus to use an iOS device when he introduced the original iPhone in 2007.  Apple really believes that its Pencil tool is far more than just a stylus.

Ive also was sure to point out that while the design of Apple Pencil is simple, there’s a lot going on inside the device to give it the ability to do what it can do. One thing Ive said he was proud of was the device’s charging capability. Often mocked, Apple Pencil can be charged by simply being plugged into the Lightning port of the iPad Pro:

And one thing that I was excited about is the ease of charging. If you are in the middle of drawing something, you can easily just plug it into the iPad Pro and it recharges extremely fast. Just that alone, having the very fast recharge, was an important attribute so that you could work with confidence and not feel that you would have to manage a number of battery lives. I think you relax knowing whatever happens, you can very quickly recharge it.

This comment specifically shows how Ive really believes that Apple knows what the consumer wants more than the consumer knows what he or she wants. Charging the Apple Pencil by plugging it in to iPad Pro was slammed when the device was originally announced, but Ive still stands by the notion that it’s the best way to charge the accessory.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Ive explained of how Apple Pencil has led many on his design team to start using iPad to sketch. Ive told of how his team has almost exclusively used paper and pencil to sketch in the past, but the combination of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil is leading some to change their habits. This, Ive said, is due in large part to every other stylus being a “pretty poor representation of the analogue world.”

“Many of us in the design team have worked together for 20 plus years. We’ve always drawn in our sketchbooks, and for the first time – despite flirting with some alternatives a couple of years ago – I’m seeing people starting to use the iPad and Apple Pencil. Our personal experience has been that there are definitely affordances and opportunities now that you have a much more natural and intuitive environment to make marks, there are clearly things you can do sketching and writing on the iPad which you could never dream of doing in the analogue world.”

To get the most out of Apple Pencil and iPad Pro, Ive encourages users to just “start drawing.” The Apple executive believes that until you start using something with a sense of carelessness, you won’t get the most out of it. You have to stop thinking about what you’re doing and just draw.

“I always like when you start to use something with a little less reverence. You start to use it a little carelessly, and with a little less thought, because then, I think, you’re using it very naturally. What I’ve enjoyed is when I’m just thinking, holding the Pencil as I would my pen with a sketchpad and I just start drawing.

When you start to realise you’re doing that without great intent and you’re just using it for the tool that it is, you realise that you’ve crossed over from demoing it and you’re actually starting to use it. As you cross that line, that’s when it actually feels the most powerful.”

Ive’s comments on Apple Pencil show just how much Apple is buying into the idea that iPad Pro truly is the best device for the creative professional. Ive makes it clear that Apple worked hard to perfect the features of Apple Pencil, like palm rejection, pressure sensing, and angle sensing.

Of course, Apple Pencil is still very hard to find. The accessory is listed as shipping 4-5 weeks after you purchase, with Apple Stores only getting random shipments of it. In the meantime, check out Zac’s hands-on with Apple Pencil here, as we was lucky enough to win the Pencil lottery.

Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: Apple Pencil, interview, iPad Pro, Jony Ive

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