apple Introduce a new iPad On Tuesday it looks like a good upgrade with a complete redesign. But there’s one thing that seems a little silly about it: The optional $99 Apple Pencil requires a dongle to charge and pair with your new iPad.
Unlike the iPad Air, iPad Pro, and iPad Mini, the new iPad only supports the first generation Apple Pencil. This isn’t a huge problem in and of itself, as much as I’d like to see additional support for the more comfortable Apple Pencil 2, which charges on the side of the aforementioned iPads.
But since Apple made the switch from the Lightning port to USB-C, you can’t just stick the Apple Pencil into the iPad’s charging port to charge it. (This in itself was a bit strange, but it worked.) Instead, you have to buy one from Apple dongle $9. You’ll plug your Apple Pencil into that dongle, and then you’ll connect the dongle to your iPad. This is the only way to pair the Pencil with the new iPad, too.
So, just a word of caution for folks who may already own an Apple Pencil, or who might be upgrading to the new iPad: Prepare to spend another $9 if you want to use the Pencil with this iPad.
Apple has made similar moves in the past.
He removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016, then included the dongle in the box until 2018, after which you had to buy $9 to use your own earbuds with iPhone.
In 2021, with the iPhone 12, Apple removed the charger and earbuds from the case. This move said, Praised by sustainability experts, to reduce its impact on the environment. However, that meant that anyone who didn’t already have a $19 charger had to buy one, and that probably helped people buy $19 EarPods or $129 AirPods.
Apple declined to comment on the latest move.