Apple Pencil Pro: The Newest One Fits the Fewest iPads

There is an assumption buried in the way Apple sells styluses: that the newest one is the best one, and the best one is the one to buy. The Apple Pencil Pro breaks that assumption in a way that costs people money. It is the most capable pencil Apple makes, it costs £129, and it fits fewer iPads than the £79 one sitting beside it on the same shelf.

I went through Apple's own compatibility list and counted the models. The Apple Pencil Pro works with 11. The Apple Pencil (USB-C) works with 24. That is not a rounding difference. If you own an iPad Pro from 2022, or the cheapest iPad Apple currently sells, the Pro is not an upgrade you are choosing to skip. It will not pair at all.

So before anything else, check your iPad against the list. On this one the compatibility question comes first and the budget question second, because for a lot of people the budget question is already settled.

Which iPads the Apple Pencil Pro actually works with

Apple's list is short. The Apple Pencil Pro works with the iPad Pro 13-inch (M4 and M5), the iPad Pro 11-inch (M4 and M5), the iPad Air 13-inch (M2, M3 and M4), the iPad Air 11-inch (M2, M3 and M4), and the iPad mini (A17 Pro). You also need iPadOS 17.5 or later.

Read that again for what is missing. Every iPad Pro before the M4 generation is out, which includes the 11-inch 4th generation and the 12.9-inch 6th generation. Those were the 2022 flagships, machines people paid well over a thousand pounds for and are still using daily.

The base iPad is out too, in every generation Apple has ever made, including the current iPad (A16). So both ends of the range are excluded. The cheapest iPad you can buy today cannot use the best pencil at any price, and neither can a four-year-old Pro. The Pencil Pro is aimed at the middle of the range and the very newest hardware, which is an odd shape for a flagship accessory.

The £79 pencil fits more iPads and drops the one feature that matters

The Apple Pencil (USB-C) covers a far wider spread: the iPad Pro 11-inch from the 1st generation all the way to the M5, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch 3rd to 6th generation, the iPad Air from the 4th generation onwards, the iPad (A16), the iPad (10th generation) and both current minis. By my count off Apple's list that is 24 models against the Pro's 11, and it needs only iPadOS 17.1.1.

It is also missing pressure sensitivity. Not reduced, absent. Apple's own comparison marks pressure, squeeze, barrel roll, haptic feedback, double-tap, Find My and free engraving as Pencil Pro features and leaves the USB-C column empty on all seven. What the cheaper pencil keeps is tilt and hover, which is plenty for handwriting and mark-up and nowhere near enough for drawing.

It charges differently too, and Apple is blunt about it: "Apple Pencil (USB-C) pairs and charges via a USB-C Charge Cable." It attaches magnetically to the side of the iPad, but that magnet only holds it there. No pairing, no charging, no snapping it on overnight and finding it full in the morning.

That is the honest framing of the £50 gap, which is 63 per cent more money in percentage terms, my arithmetic. You are not paying £50 for a nicer version of the same pen. You are paying it for pressure sensitivity at all, with the squeeze gesture, the haptics and magnetic charging thrown in.

If most of your pencil use is annotating documents or scribbling next to something else on screen, often with two apps side by side, the £79 pencil does that job completely. If you shade, ink or paint, it does not do the job at any price.

What the Apple Pencil Pro costs in the UK, and what it should cost

Apple charges £129 and has not moved off it. The more useful number is the street price. PriceSpy currently has the Apple Pencil Pro at £94 from Amazon and Joybuy, with A1 Tech Deals at £95.99 and eBay at £99.99, across 19 listed shops.

£129 down to £94 is £35 off, or 27.1 per cent, my arithmetic. That is a wide gap for a first-party Apple accessory, and it is the same pattern I found on the AirPods Pro 3: Apple holds the list price, the market settles roughly a quarter below it, and anyone buying direct pays the difference for nothing but convenience.

Prices move, so check before you commit rather than taking my figure as gospel. But if you are looking at £129 on Apple's site and nowhere else, you are looking at the worst available price rather than the real one.

If your iPad takes the 2nd generation pencil, the maths gets worse

Owners of the 2022 Pros, the iPad Air 4th and 5th generation and the iPad mini 6th generation face a different choice, and a slightly insulting one. Apple still sells the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) at £129. That is exactly the same price as the Pencil Pro.

For that £129 you get pressure sensitivity, double-tap and magnetic pairing and charging. You do not get squeeze, barrel roll, haptics, Find My or engraving, because those need Pro hardware. An older pencil, fewer features, identical price, and no way to buy the newer one because your iPad will not take it.

The real decision on those iPads is £129 for the 2nd generation against £79 for the USB-C. Fifty pounds buys pressure sensitivity and the ability to charge by sticking the pencil to the side of the iPad instead of hunting for a cable. If you draw, pay it. If you write and annotate, keep the £50.

Apple does list the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) in its refurbished store, which is unusual for an accessory and worth a look before paying full price. I went through how Apple's refurbished store actually works recently, and the guarantees on accessories are not the same as the ones on iPhones.

The 1st generation trap on the cheap iPad

The iPad (A16) and the iPad (10th generation) appear on two of Apple's lists: the USB-C pencil, and the 1st generation pencil with a USB-C adapter. The adapter is the catch. It is a small separate part, trivially easy to lose, and it turns charging into a two-piece operation every time.

If you are buying new for a current base iPad, buy the USB-C pencil and ignore the 1st generation completely. The only good reason to be using a 1st generation pencil in 2026 is that you already own one.

My take, by iPad

• iPad Pro M4 or M5, iPad Air M2, M3 or M4, iPad mini (A17 Pro): the Apple Pencil Pro is the right pencil for you, but buy it around £94 rather than £129.
• iPad Pro 2022 or older, iPad Air 4th or 5th generation, iPad mini 6th generation: the Pencil Pro will not pair. Choose between the 2nd generation at £129 and the USB-C at £79 on whether you need pressure sensitivity.
• iPad (A16) or iPad (10th generation): the USB-C pencil at £79, and that is the entire decision.
• Anything older: the 1st generation, and check whether your iPad needs the adapter before you order.

Apple's pencil range is not a ladder. It is four products with four different compatibility lists that overlap in awkward places, and the newest and most expensive one is the narrowest of the four. Work out which pencils your iPad accepts, then pick between them on pressure sensitivity and price. Doing it the other way round is how people end up with a £129 stylus that will not connect to anything they own.

Apple Pencil Pro FAQs

Does the Apple Pencil Pro work with my iPad Pro (M2)?

No. The Apple Pencil Pro requires an M4 or M5 iPad Pro. The 11-inch 4th generation and 12.9-inch 6th generation from 2022 run M2 chips and are not on Apple's list, so the pencil will not pair with them. Those iPads take the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) at £129 or the Apple Pencil (USB-C) at £79.

Is the Apple Pencil Pro worth £50 more than the USB-C pencil?

It depends entirely on whether you need pressure sensitivity, because the USB-C pencil has none. For drawing, shading or anything where line weight responds to how hard you press, the Pro is the only option of the two. For handwriting, note-taking and marking up documents, the £79 pencil does the same job and charges from a cable you already own.

Why is the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) still £129?

Apple has kept the price where it was, and because no iPad supports both the 2nd generation and the Pencil Pro, the two never compete on a shop page. If your iPad is on the 2nd generation list, your cheaper alternative is the £79 USB-C pencil rather than a discounted older Pro.

Source: Apple Pencil compatibility, Apple Support