Apple Announces New Apple Pencil 3 With Hidden USB-C Port

Apple’s Newsroom announced the new Apple Pencil on Tuesday. It’s more affordable than its predecessors and offers some new features.

According to Apple, it offers the same “pixel-perfect accuracy, low latency, and tilt sensitivity” as its predecessors. In terms of design, the new Pencil has a matte finish and a flat side that magnetically attaches to the side of your iPad. You also get USB-C connectivity for charging.

The Apple Pencil 3 works with all iPad models with a USB-C port. It features a new sliding cap that reveals the port allowing consumers to use a Type-C cable to charge it. When the Pencil is magnetically attached to the side of your iPad, it goes into a sleep state to save battery life. It offers advanced accuracy and supports hover when used with the M2 models of the iPad Pro. The hover feature is supposed to allow users to draw with even more precision. It also works well with iPadOS features such as Scribble, Quick Note, and Freeform.

The biggest thing that appears to be missing from the latest Pencil is pressure sensitivity, so artists may not find this update particularly enticing.

The new Apple Pencil is the most affordable model yet, priced at $79, as opposed to the second-gen Pencil which goes for $129. Apple Pencil 3 hits stores in early November.