Will Your Apple Pencil Work with the New iPads?
Reading Time: 3 minutes When I buy new tech, I really prefer to have all of my existing accessories work with my new device. However, we all know this often doesn’t happen. For example, I have a few iPad keyboard cases lying around my house that don’t fit any of our current iPads. If you are considering one of the new iPad models that Apple recently announced in its May 7th event, you’ll want to know if your current Apple Pencil is compatible with the new model. Unfortunately, it might not be.
The first Apple Pencil was announced back in September 2015, along with the first iPad Pro. Since then, we have had two more versions of the Pencil and many more iPad versions. Now, Apple has announced a fourth Apple Pencil, the Apple Pencil Pro, and four new iPad models: iPad Pro 13-in (M4), iPad Pro 11-in (M4), iPad Air 13-in (M2) and iPad Air 11-in (M2).
To make thing complicated, not all Apple Pencils work with all iPads. In this article, I’ll explain which Pencils are compatible with the new iPads.
The new iPads’ Apple Pencil compatibility
All of the iPads announced this spring are compatible with only two versions of the Apple Pencil:
- Apple Pencil Pro – the new Pencil that was announced alongside this year’s new iPads.
- Apple Pencil (USB-C) – the entry-level Pencil announced last fall.
This means that the two other versions of the Apple Pencil are not compatible with the new iPads, Apple Pencil (2nd gen) and Apple Pencil (1st gen).
While it’s true that these two Pencils have been around for some time, the 1st gen since 2015 and the 2nd since 2018, many iPad owners still have these pencils. Until the recent announcement, the best pencil available was the 2nd gen; the newer USB-C Pencil lacks the pressure sensitivity and tap-sensitive zones–and you have to stick it in the USB-C port to charge it (unlike the 2nd gen Pencil, which charges while magnetically stuck to the side of the iPad.)
Which Apple Pencil do you have?
If you are not sure which model you have, here is a cheat sheet:
- Apple Pencil (1st gen): If you remove the cap on the end, there is a lightning connector.
- Compatible with: iPad mini (5th gen), iPad (6-9th gen, 10th gen with an adapter), iPad Air (3rd gen), iPad Pro 12.9 (1st and 2nd gen), iPad Pro 10.5 and iPad Pro 9.7
- Apple Pencil (2nd gen): There is no cap on the end. It charges when it is magnetically attached to the side of the iPad.
- Compatible with: iPad mini (6th gen), iPad Air (4th gen and later), iPad Pro 12.9 (3rd gen and later), iPad Pro 11 (all)
- Apple Pencil (USB-C): When you remove the cap on the end, you will find a USB-C connector.
- Compatible with: iPad (10th gen), iPad mini (6th gen), iPad Air (4th gen and later), iPad Pro 11 (all), iPad Pro 12.9 (3rd gen and later)
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