Last month, at its special event at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, Apple introduced its new iPad Pro. Available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch screen sizes, the 2018 iPad Pro comes with a refreshed design and slimmer bezels. The tablet doesn’t have Touch ID either and relies on Face ID (the facial recognition technology used in Apple’s 2018 line-up of iPhones) for security and user authentication.
Along with the Apple iPad Pro (2018), the Cupertino-based technology major introduced an upgraded Apple Pencil that complements the tablet. The stylus comes with nifty features and can now charge wirelessly as well. However, this new charging system isn’t compatible with Qi, perhaps the most-popular and commonly-used wireless power delivery standard.
This was confirmed by an Apple spokesperson in response to an inquiry by ZDNet.
According to a report by GSMArena, the second-generation Apple Pencil uses two magnetic arrays, one on either side of the charging coil, which line up with the magnetic arrays on the 2018 iPad Pro. It seems this way, the charging coils are perfectly aligned for optimum charging.
What’s strange is that most of Apple’s new mobile products support Qi wireless charging standard. This includes iPhone, Watch, and even AirPods.
Watch: Apple iPad Pro (2018) Hands On
It’s disappointing to see that despite supporting wireless charging, Apple Pencil’s proprietary charging method makes it incompatible with other wireless power chargers. That said, it’s not exactly a surprise, considering Apple’s new stylus doesn’t even work with the company’s own previous-generation iPad Pro tablets.
