Rumor: Apple Scraped $49 Apple Pencil That Wouldn’t Require An Adapter on the 10th Gen iPad
After several years, Apple finally decided to revamp the entry level iPad lineup with its 10th Generation. And it was long due, as the other iPads in the lineup had significantly evolved in both form and function, and the entry level iPads were looking horribly dated in comparison.
The 10th-Generation iPad improved in all these aspects, sporting powerful hardware in a modern chassis, resembling the slightly more expensive iPad Air. But regardless, in true Apple fashion, the company doesn’t let you forget that it’s still the entry level iPad.
And that too in the most ridiculous way possible, where iPad 10th Gen users actually need to purchase a $9 dongle to charge the first-generation Apple Pencil and forget about using the second-generation Apple Pencil as its simply not supported. And honestly, these things could have been easily looked over if Apple didn’t decide to price the 10th-Gen iPad almost $120 higher than its predecessor.
At the Apple Event in September, Apple was originally going to release a new Apple Pencil code-named Maker, priced at about $49, with no pressure sensing and no battery needed, using a chip to power the stylus from the screen, similar to the Samsung S- Pen.（1/2）
— DuanRui (@duanrui1205) November 24, 2022
New $49 Apple Pencil?
Now according to a source from Weibo, Apple did plan to release a $49 Apple Pencil called the Marker, which wouldn’t really require a dongle to use with the 10th-Gen iPads. This would be a significantly dumbed down version without any battery, and consequently without advanced features like pressure sensitivity. Moreover, the source claims that the Apple Marker housed a chip that was able to power the marker through the screen, very similar in principle to the S-Pen stylus seen on the Samsung Note series devices.
And not only that, the source even claims that the Apple marker would have been compatible with the iPhone. Apparently, the Cupertino Giant even manufactured over 1 million units, but a last-minute decision was made to scrap the project.
While we don’t really know at this point why Apple decided not to launch the Apple Marker, the most likely reason could be related to the end user experience where the company likely realized it simply wasn’t good enough, compared to say the first gen Apple Pencil.
And finally, as 9to5Mac’s report points out correctly, this is a source with a very small track record, so it’s best to take this news with a big grain of salt. Sometimes you just need to think about what could have been.
