Apple Pencil, alternative to Wacom Cintiq

A lot of people are railing against it, saying that it’s over priced,
I say that these people have tunnel vision

Edit: it’s not cheaper, got mislead by a…site…

Tunnel vision is not seeing this device… a Tablet ending with Pro, a Stylus with pressure levels for drawing, multitasking with split screen and a keyboard cover… How nice of Microsoft to have released it in 2012 :wink:

But honestly, a version with OSX would be a lot more interesting and useful IMO.
Yes people say OSX isn’t designed for touch… well neither was Windows, and MS changed that. Apple surely have the time and expertise to create a touch UI for OSX

I read the info in the site and this pencil is much more responsive than any on the market instantaneous I will wit for artist review before invest my money.

The iPad pro is $799, same as a cintiq, then the pen is another $99. Not sure where you’re getting the “cheap alternative” part from here.

Looks pretty nice, but it must be used only with iOS apps. Procreate is pretty awesome for what it is, but it’s not photoshop or krita.

Also, I’m not sure I would call this a “cheap” alternative. Minimum price is around $900, and that’s for a model with only 32gb.

A microsoft surface pro is a much better looking alternative, honestly, because it gives you access to better apps and greater flexibility (a usb port, for starters).

Hahaha this is a joke right? Cheaper? Alternative to cintiq? Talk about fanboy logic… The new Ipad isnt even in the same league, its a joke. Speaking of that: COMIC

If you need cheap and more realistic in terms of usability, then you have to go with a windows tablet. Surface 3 (pro and non pro) feature the full windows OS, uses N-trig digitizer. Asus, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba all offer cheaper tablets that run the full OS as well but feature wacom digitizers. Sony is also coming up with a new Canvas line of products targeting artist.

If the goal is to work with a workstation PC at home, then forget tablets and just get a monitor with a digitizer in it. They will cost less than the ipad paper weight that was shown off recently. There is a reason apple is losing billions.

@Saint

never brand me as an apple fanboy that’s just a bad thing to do
I don’t even like apple products, can’t afford any of them

and I probably should edit the title, shouldn’t I?
(I got the “it’s a cheaper alternative!” thing from what appears to be an apple fan site… yeah… I know…)

It’s the tunnel vision comment and the comparing it to a cintiq, these two lines of thought can easily be read as fanboyism. Thats why if you dont want to be seen as such, just be mindful of the rhetoric and “logic” used to promote their products as alternatives in areas where they are not.
Apple fan’s are known for being a bit …

… to say the least.

Man…
that’s uh… extreme

Oh and this is what I have to say for that comic of yours

Well,
Apple products are designed for the everyman
The actual quality of the product is irrelevant
how shiny the aluminium is
how shiny the OS environment looks

That will trick the everyman into thinking that their mac is high quality and faster than every other pc
and will gain their trust for other products

the everyman is easily to manipulate

Now i see the value of surface3 (+pro) & companion2.
Pen will love to break while charging. Judging by video, smooth lines, even when drawn fast aren’t that smooth at all. Can’t have blender on, nor any other pro artist tool. Bluetooth is still limited (NO, you can’t connect an Android phone to an iPhone over Bluetooth, and YES Apple has restrictions that prevent this.) …
The only Pro i can think off is Pro-blem.
Bling-Bling and a shiny joke.

Looking at the application ecosystem on iOS, I’m not too optimistic about this one, either. However, I find the comparison with the Cintiq and those Windows tablets questionable. The Cintiq is always tethered to a computer and the tablets have rather poor digitizers (the name “Wacom” really means nothing here). Apple has an opportunity to provide a truly high-quality and low-latency digitizer here.

Apple isn’t losing any money, it’s the most profitable company in the world. It’s also the company with the largest market capitalization at over 700 billion dollars. At that valuation, even minor changes in stock price result in billions of dollars of difference. Apple just had an all-time high earlier this year, so there is bound to be some downward fluctuation. It’s also not unusual for a company to drop in valuation after announcing record profits (like Apple regularly does), because that’s when the selloffs occur for the people wishing to take profit. It can also be the case that a very successful company is nevertheless hopelessly overvalued in the market.

Bottom Line: Healthy business and market valuation are tied rather loosely.

Why is this thread still open? It’s not even an alternative to any PC tablet.

wow that’s really stupid of apple to be honest

it draws,
the cheapest Wacom cintuq draws,

so technically speaking it is an alternative

Strictly speaking, the news forum is for “Blender related news and announcements” but the iPad Pro and pencil cannot be used with blender but the Cintiq can. Therefore they are not really direct alternatives as far as this news forum is concerned.

I didn’t know that…

In that case, do it, lock the thread/move it to Off topic

I wouldn’t be surprised though if the iPad pro became the leading product in this section of the market just because it came from Apple (the iWatch for instance is closing in on becoming the leading product in its market as well).

Apple is known for making overpriced and technically inferior, but incredibly stylish products with an incredibly healthy and carefully manicured ecosystem. This will sell like hotcakes and there’s only been few cases where hardware superiority actually won.

though its not really a pro tool with lacking the usablity with pro software like blender, zbrush, manga studio, its design is still heading in the right direction, size and stylus are great and i would love to have one just for watching tuts and surfing the forums or do some doodling and sketching ,while i would do my pro work on a surfacepro 4 or a lenovo thinkpad yoga with stylus in the meantime.
just dreaming :wink: the size alone will sell it, just for people reading their newspapers and showing of in their stylish lofts.

Not extreme, truth has no need for such labels. Apple themselves have referred to themselves and their customers as a cult, a religion, a life style…ect When you do that then what happens is their emotional state and even identity becomes tied with the brand, thus criticism of the brand then becomes a personal attack. Crazy stuff.

Also that “everyman” stuff just reads like propaganda, its a fluff with no meaning. Apple’s biggest accomplishment has been less about the tech and more about their marketing and following based on the above information. They managed to convince people that their brand is a status symbol as well as a life style…and you are right on the fact that once you have that manipulation is easy.

Yes and no… They lost billions in company value, this part isnt even up for debate since its become common knowledge. They lost quite a bit in december, bounced back up and lost even more…to the tune of $158 Billion (as of 3 weeks ago). Granted, you are correct in that they are valued around $700 Billion, but thats just market value. Their actual revenue, according to forbes, is much lower and they have been losing ground on that front and not just a little bit. Microsoft while having their market value right behind Apple’s has had far more stability in terms of revenue, still some losses but the losses are far less drastic.

There’s also another factor to consider… the chinese military has for years been hacking and stealing technology, they send it off to government run “transfer centers” (reverse engineers) who then sell it to a company, usually also in china who then assembles a ripped off product and undercuts the original in the global market. The losses are in the trillions, and Apple because of their high profile have also become prime targets. In general, globally it means western tech companies have some serious challenges ahead of them… even if they keep innovating. So while market value is high atm, relying on it seems fickle at best.

But over all I loosely agree with the general assessment presented.

I’ll write a small comparison between the Surface Pro 3 and iPad Pro.

Surface pro 3

0.8kg
2160 x 1440 resolution
12" screen
Has a fan
0.9cm thick

iPad Pro

0.7kg
2732 x 2048 resolution
12.9"
No fan
0.7cm thick

iPad pro is more portable and much higher screen resolution. Also the pen seems to have better responsiveness that the surface one. Sure it doesn’t have a full fledges file manager OS but that is not necessary when you draw. Also the apps in iPad are quite advanced. Adobe are making some quality apps for it.

I have a surface pro 2 and it’s not the best drawing pad because the screen is 16:9 ratio and 10". It’s to small, heavy and thick. But it’s blazing fast. I’ll connect it to a big display, with a mouse and keyboard.

Sure the iPad pro is expensive but it is a quality drawing pad and I bet that most professional artists are going to buy it.