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苹果自Apple Pencil发布之后一直对它的特点闭口不言。但是这些特性我们还是可以确定的：
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蓝牙4.1
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扫描识别速度是手指操作的两倍
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高达12个小时的电池续航时间
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175毫米长，8.9毫米直径
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Lightning充电接口
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市面上已经有了一大推平板电脑使用的笔类产品。这儿有几根由其他公司提供的，和Apple Pencil相似的笔。
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第一个：微软Surface Pro 4 的Surface Pen。
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第二个：iPad上的第一根触控笔，由53制造。只能在其自家的“ Paper”应用上使用，但是大部分功能和Apple Pencil相似。
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苹果在Apple Pencil中附带了可替换的笔尖和一个Lightning至Lightning的转接器，可以直接用iPhone或者iPad充电器进行充电。
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Lightning接口的保护帽可以吸附在磁铁上，但是要不了几个月估计就要丢了。
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拔下保护帽可以看到一个全新的型号：A1603。欢迎来到这个世界，Apple Pencil。
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接下来，先从笔尖开始看。轻轻转动几下就能把笔尖拆下来。
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顶端有一个小金属块深深的把塑料笔尖固定。同时尽可能的接近屏幕。
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iPad Pro的数字传感器应该可以分别测算两根触针到屏幕的距离，然后测算出笔相对于屏幕的角度。
The linked Youtube video is not viewable - says “this video is private”(?)
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我们非常热切的希望看到Lightning接口的内部，所以我们拿出了iOpener。
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即使经过了iOpener的加热，但是Lightning接口部件似乎并不想被拿下来。
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作为代价，我们扯断了排线。。。
Did you find any adhesive holding the guts to the case? Could you simply have pushed the guts out through the top instead of cutting the case or does it look like they molded the case onto the guts?
You can see the adhesive residue around the metal inner case, looks like hot-melt glue or something very permanent.
Tom Chai -
Yes, they could have, and there are videos online showing how to do it.
tooki -
Not all pencils have erasers. I still have a set of Swiss made artist pencils which do not have erasers. The programs the Apple Pencil will be used with all have digital erasers and undo capabilities. In my 40 years as an architect, I never used an eraser on the end of a pencil. I always used a separate eraser or an electric eraser. This is not a No. 2 pencil for 3rd grade. The author's comment is absurd and shows his or her lack of experience in using pencils in a professional setting. Sorry for venting, but I'm tired of people making this silly comment.
the tip is much more precise than the cap end. to "add an eraser" to the other end, they'd end up with a tip at each end, which sounds pretty absurd to me. frankly it's easier to tap an onscreen control to switch to eraser tool than it is to flip the pencil around in your hand and back
Wacom first introduced styluses with a pressure-sensitive eraser on the other end back in the 1990s. Nothing absurd about it. You can still erase with the sharp tip if you prefer.
tooki -
I would Love to not have to click more buttons to make a correction, plus some drawing techniques require a Lot of erasing, which is really annoying to have to operate software to switch between Every Single One of the thousand times in one session. I am an engineer, inventor, and occasionally artist, and at times I can spend All Day drawing. Now try to tell me that saving 10 seconds to switch functions times a thousand times in one day isn't a glorious feature to have! That's a couple hours of your life gone that day doing nothing but operating software while nothing happens. I don't care if it's inefficient from a product weight standpoint! I didn't get the pencil for how minimal it is; I got it to save me time because I'm an expert at fat-fingering touchscreen displays and this was the first way to bring precision to digital that I have with graphite or mouse. Two functional ends would be fantastic.
I’m an artist, and I just checked my 67 color pencils. Not one of them had an eraser. I have a Pink Pearl, an artgum and a kneaded eraser, but none of them are connected to a pencil. However, I am not an architect, so I cannot speak to that profession’s need for a connected eraser.
this is fun too read. When I bought this “pencil” I never expected or thought of the possibility of an eraser at the other end of the stylus. That might or might not have to do with me being an architect ;o) , but I kind of agree with those who think that the way the author of this tear down expects anything called a pencil to include an eraser at the opposite end from the tip is somewhat exaggerated. However, had there been one (or maybe a switch to shift the tip to an alternative function), I believe it would most likely have been an improvement.
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在拆过笔尖和接口之后，该看看笔身。我们祭出了角磨器这个大杀器。
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拆掉Apple Pencil的塑料外壳之后，里面还有一层金属壳。
any possibility of pushing the internal out from the tip?
This iFixit teardown is one big joke.
You can heat up the pen and push it out of the case like shown in this video :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRpMny_... -
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吁，现在来看看。在吹掉塑料碎屑之后，来看看这个金属圆筒。
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来看看这个笔身上的“大”字螺丝，和Apple Watch上用的一样。
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在这个小锁扣下面我们看到一个连接口，可能是苹果用了做内部测试的。
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经过切割之后，我们拆开了金属层。
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我们看到了天线和电池总成。没有石墨笔芯。
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这个3.82伏， 0.329瓦时的小电池只有iPhone 6s 电池容量的5%。
I gotta say, after using the Pencil for an extended period of time, it is nice to just be able plug it in and use it after 15 minutes vs. having to constantly swap out dead AAAA batteries (which my HP laptop stylus uses) due to prolonged lack of use.
Arthur Shi - 回复
This iFixit teardown is one big joke.
You can just open the case with a screwdriver :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRpMny_... -
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拆开金属壳之后，我们拔掉了天线，黑金的颜色很符合苹果的风格。
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我们同时看到了之前扯断的排线，连接电池和Lightning接口，可能还有些充电的IC芯片。
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我们又在别的地方看到了更多的芯片。所以我们放下了手中的电池，把重点放在了芯片上。
I nearly peed myself I was laughing so hard. Ermagersh!
My 1st gen Apple Pencil was not getting charged, so I contacted apple store, they asked me to buy new pencil saying this pencil battery is dead.
But local shopowner checked and find that battery is good but the problem is with the connector inside pencil. can anyone tell where can I get that part ?
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来看看都有些什么——一块给蚂蚁用的逻辑板？好像不是，但这仅仅1克的重量绝对是我们见过最小的。经过不懈的努力，我们先来看看到底是什么让这支铅笔变得如此智能的：
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意法半导体微电子 STML151UCY6 超低功耗 32位 RISC 基于ARM 的 Cortex-M3 MCU
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意法半导体微电子AS5C Y533（同时也在2015年版的Apple TV上发现）
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L05286 QS4 VG Z SGP 528
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EWX 01129
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剑桥硅晶无线电（高通）CSR1012A05 蓝牙 智能IC
It is using a pretty low power ARM MCU, so it likely doesn't run a full OS
ianguy -
not all microcontrollers have an OS.
Likely just a bootloader inside
I was trying to figure out why they'd add bluetooth???
The pressure sensing happens on the pen itself not the screen, so it sends this data along the relative angle to the iPad
This does make me wonder why not an eraser on the other end...
Kalvinjj -
From what Apple has stated officially, it seems that the pen is actually passive in the process of determining position and tilt, in the sense that the Apple Pen has two signal emitters that the iPad Pro itself detects, and then calculates this information from. There probably is at least a minimum level of communication over BT to synchronize the process and generally facilitate everything. The only real sensor data that needs to be communicated is the 'force' level. This is done to offload as much detection and processing as possible from the pen, and minimize the activity of the BT radio. This allows for a much less powerful processor and corresponding battery to be used, generally making things (hopefully) more efficient and, of course, increasing Apple's profit margin. (If I have erred, feel free to correct me.) :)
JMC -
Think of a wii mote... what does a wii mote have?
Bluetooth for communication.
An accelerometer.
A gyroscope.
A camera for IR detection (distance).
So doesn't that ring any bells?
What does this thing have?
An accelerometer (maybe the EWX 11290)
A gyroscope (maybe L05286)
A sensor for pressure detection in the tip, including the chip.
So what is this? A wii mote in apple clothes.
would it be possible to retake the PCB picture with a ruler next to it with inches or Millimetres on it ?
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我们回过头来拆解这个金属笔尖，看看其传感器的魔力。
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剥开这块“史上”最小的板，我们发现了一组芯片。分别在笔尾的连接处和这块微型板上。
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如果一定要冒险猜测的话，我们认为这是通过测量这两部分之间的位移来感受压力。
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这块芯片或许会告诉我们更多信息…
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上面写着 8529043 343S00008-A1
This iFixit teardown is one big joke.
You can just open the casing with a screwdriver :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRpMny_...esa punta se rompió, podría arreglarse?
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更进一步的拆解看起来不太现实，但不要紧：我们有小伙伴 Creative Electron提供的X光透视图。
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可以看到在这个弹簧尖端以及藏在集中的两个感应器。
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为了更精彩，我们同时拍摄了小型逻辑板和Lightning接口及笔帽的图片。
I use my Apple Pencil for precision drawing - I usually write with a 0.5mm mechanical pencil on paper. The size of the Apple Pencil tip is actually too big and gets in the way of seeing what I want to draw. I'm used to using a Cintiq pen on their tablets and their pen tips are MUCH narrower. I was actually thinking of milling down the last 2-3mm of the Apple Pencil tip to a diameter of about 1mm or so (which is the tip/barrel diameter on the Cintiq). The trouble is that the xray you show in figure 12 renders the plastic of the tip itself pretty much invisible so I'm unclear what room I have to play with. Do you have any other pictures at possible different exposures that do show the plastic of the tip?
Mick Mueck - 回复
May be new tips will come in the future for updates!!! Did you contacted Apple?
Vr1 -
So, that spring must be what I see poking out. I've used the pencil everyday on average of 5 hours a day and it has only been two weeks and it's worn down already. Hopefully replacement tips will be made available soon.
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Apple Pencil 的维修指数是10分中的1分（10分是最容易维修）：
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如果笔尖和笔帽磨损（或者丢失）将可以更换。
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很明显Apple Pencil不能打开或者维修；因为你不能在不损坏笔的前提下进入其内部。
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容纳内部组件的塑料和金属层是不可能移除的除非切割。
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足够12小时使用的电池，将不能被更换，这使笔的寿命变得有限。
As for the battery, I'm sure Apple did some initial testing to make sure it could handle enough charging cycles to last longer than the normal time people would have one before they lost it. I'd love to see Apple come up with a Find-my-ApplePencil app. :-)
Absolutely! It'd be great if the the pencil could ping back its location using GPS, or cellular, or WiFi, or...wait we have low power bluetooth...hmm, I guess it could tell us if we are in the same 15 foot radius.
Now THERE's a good reason for having BT onboard :D
What is the range of BT? The "15 foot radius" comment sounds about right - BT would be rather useless for locating it, unless there is some "long-range-high-power beacon mode". As for GPS - how much would that cost? Are there combination Wifi/BT/GPS chips available for a reasonable cost? And then the antenna - can the same antenna receive signals on all three bands (or "on-chip" antennas? I don't know what the status of that tech is)
But I'd think the biggest problem with "find-my-Pencil" would be that it would have to always be on - thus sucking battery life (maybe they could put solar panels on the outside somehow? (see "Printable anodes for flexible organic solar cell modules" 2004 http://www.ec-ind.com/PEDOT/Printable%20... Don't know if that is still "current" though.)
jimwitte -
My dad had an apple pencil he never used and gave it to me for my new iPad Pro however it no longer holds a charge (it had never been used so perhaps never held a charge). Anyway took it to Apple and they said it would cost 110 CAD to fix since its past a year. So zero minutes of usage and no practical repair possible. Hope this stops people from wasting their money on the “Pencil”
Well said. Same situation here. I wish there had been a notice on battery maintenance on the product package. At least tell people that you need to discharge and charge every month or so. Throwing something that had hardly been used. Time for a better alternative.
My daughter broke the (apple) pencil lead. Seeing the pictures it seems that it’s screwed and there gives a little hope to find one and replace it. Dear iFixit (lovers) do you know where I could find this as to save from planet garbage the rest of this fully functional Apple Pencil
I have a pencil which doesn't work since the day I purchased it (problem is I purchasef it from another person, claims it is new)
went to iStore, said it was originally purchased 2 years ago.
let's say it was unused for 2 years, battery got drained, do you think it can be repaired or should I fcking throw it
This is an obvious case where having a replaceable battery would be better than an integrated battery. Apple is banking on customers upgrading to next generation product before the battery needs replacing.
I bought one of these pencils several years ago, when the iPad Pro came out. Worked. Then I didn’t use it until recently to work with my iPad mini 5. Well, it won’t charge. Says something about 3%. Apparently this is just junk now and useless. I won’t buy another. Apple should be ashamed of itself. You have to charge it regularly otherwise the battery dies and once out of warranty, you just have to buy another one. Piece of garbage. I hear the new version is just the same.
Rompí la punta de mi Apple Pencil 2 al intentar cambiar la punta. Se rompió por completo? Esto tiene opción de arreglo ? Cuánto puede costar en dicho caso ? Gracias
You can actually open the Pencil without completely destroying it :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLRpMny_... -
50条评论
I actually used our economy suction vise, it's pretty hefty and very stable :)
Could we get a tear down of a Surface Pen? #3 maybe #4?
I'd also like to see how the lightning connector flexes inside its base, like in the YouTube video that destroys the pencil by flexing it around connected to the iPad, would you open it up please?
“The battery, enough for a 12 hour run, is impossible to replace, giving the device a limited lifespan.”
Other lithium-ion batteries are rated for perhaps 1000 full-charge cycles, suggesting that a person using this pencil 8 hours every weekday would see a 6-year life.
That's a crude SWAG… perhaps you could estimate how “limited” the lifespan really is.
WaltFrench - 回复
It also happens that Lithium Ion degrades with time using it or not, undercharge, overcharge (granted, the charging circuit won't allow these 2), or temperature variations.
So it could go well down to ~2 years before needing too frequent charging.
Also since it's a pen, it will fall a lot, this will also lower this value.
Probably the pen will last long enough but it's definitely a product made to be replaced along the iPad or something like this.
Kalvinjj -
I would have given it a 0 out of 10 . Having to completely destroy something to service it is counter logical.
Apple is supposed to have the best engineers in the world but look what they've done.
If the Apple Pencil were made in my shop it would have a threaded end to open the case, a fully removable battery and an inner liner pcb that would slide out. Add a Qi power receiver for wireless charging and there would be no need for connectors of any kind.
Steve Jobs was right. Pens are bad.
It would probably also be twice as thick and 5 times heavier.
scottjl -
I don't blame Apple for not making it fixable. That's pretty hard at this scale. Two co-workers and I developed the active stylus for the DROID XYBOARD (http://www.a4c.com/product/motorola-droi...) a few years ago, and it doesn't come apart without a long soak in 100% isopropyl alcohol (0% water, obviously) to soften up the assembly adhesives. But at least it ran on an easily replaceable and surprisingly easy-to-get AAAA battery, getting about 6 months of life per battery.
Dan Wagner - 回复
The MCU part number is misstated in the article. Its an STM32L151... (not STML151...). It is part of ST Microelectronics ultra low power STM32L family. Relay a wonderful part to work with and fully capable of running quite a few different micro kernels and RTOS variants in addition to easily scheduling bare metal code using its fifteen level nested vectored interrupt controller.
Exactly the same as any other Cortex M in the world.
But what is the pressure sensitivity? I can't find it listed anywhere. This is the only video:
Repairing a pencil, really? I believe that repairing this is beyond the capabilities of anyone without a microscope, on account of it *being a stylus*. This shouldn't have a repairability score.
Whoa, Apple pencil is unnecessarily complicated re-invention of what's out there. Take a look at Samsung S-pen teardown. It's simplicity in itself, no parts to replace, no battery to replace. S-pen is brilliant.
The S Pen doesn’t have pressure sensitivity on a 12.9 inch screen nor is it Bluetooth.
jsbrock -
Pressure-sensitivity, which the S-pen does not have, requires either a battery in the stylus, or another layer of magnetic coils under the screen to enable a no-battery stylus. Clearly Apple decided not to go for the option that adds thickness to the tablet.
tooki -
My apple pencil started making a weird clicking noise and the nib is kinda crooked, I sent it to apple care and they said they wouldn't fix it ro give me a new one since it was accidental damage, but I've just been drawing with it for 2 months, any idea how to fix this or why this happened ?
Probably dislodged nib or cracked nib holder internally due to user pressure from the side. I noticed when using the pencil it is alot more prone to accidental side pressure due to the extra large tip. You could try using the replacement tip, but that might make it worse since chances are the nib holder cracked internally. (BTW, I am not the the author of the teardown article …just educated guesses on my part.)
The tip is a horrible design. A tiny piece of metal sticking out with a removable, read “movable,” plastic part to protect it is a recipe for disaster. The tip on mine was snapped off just from being in my bag, with the nib on. Like a cheap plastic pen. A $99 waste of unrepairable money. If Apple sells a product accessory for one of their products, they should make the product capable of holding and protecting it like the Samsung Galaxy Tab did with their pen. That was a very sleek design.
Does anyone know how to turn the pencil on and Bluetooth pair to the iPad Pro with out connecting it in the iPad Pro port? I have an iPad Pro I bought for $50 but the tristar is messed up I can charge the iPad on a flepow dock turn it on let it start up then the iPad says 1% then plug up an official iPad charger restart the iPad and it will be at 100% but the port does not work with the Apple Pencil or does the official iPad charge show the device charging. I just want to short the pencil on so I can pair it.
So, mine and my co-workers pencils died from what I can guess is lack of use and the battery dies down past the point the charger chips will let it charge. Does anyone know if I can jump start the charging process (I have done this before with a small trickle charge to get a lithium battery up to the safe charging point) using any of those 4 test points visible through one section of the tube? I have mine cut open exposing the metal inner tube but don’t want to cut that one open if there is any chance of getting to the battery in anyway.
Good news, I actually fixed two apple pencils. They really need a big note on the box, that you must charge once a month or so or the internal battery will die and not charge. One I found where power was easily accessible and forced a charge bypassing the charging circuit then it started working and charging. The other had a bad ground connection on the - side of the battery and I was able to fix that. Now I just need to turn some really nice pencil shells on my lathe ;)
Encouraged by James comment, bought two pencils very cheap on eBay. One had the tip broken, but a good battery, and connected to iPad. The front end is spot welded to the inner metal tube, so it can’t be replaced. The only thing that I could do was to cut it open to see how it how everything was placed. Despite getting detailed x-rays, it is impossible to cut it open with a dremmel tool without also damaging the tiny flex cables. I damaged the flex cables, But at least it gave me an idea about what’s where, and I thought that with the next pencil, I’ll do a better job.
On the other pencil, the LiPo had swollen and destroyed. Trying to just cut the inner metal shell was impossible. There are several places where spot welding has been done, including the battery terminals, and it is not possible to separate the battery from flex cable without damage, which I did. I don’t see how someone can do that without causing any damage. I also damaged the incredibly thin blue tooth coax cable.
Ahmad Rana - 回复
Muchas gracias por vuestros vídeos. También a los traductores. Saludos.
Question. How does apple replace the battery in the Apple Pencil, because according to the link below, they can and do change the battery for 30$
By opening it correctly (there are videos on YouTube showing how to do it) instead of the drunk gorilla approach taken here. The author of this teardown apparently had no idea that things can slide inside of other things, and thus chose to Dremel the plastic case, rather than to simply slide the contents out…
tooki -
i am done with apple product.
i have two phones, an iPad Pro 12,9 2nd gen, a Macbook air, Mac Pro, an Apple Watch , a dozen of Apple care pfff., and already bought my second pen and it stopped suddently juste a couple of month after the garantee.
I went to the LEMON store with my Apple Pencil so they can explain why my pen stopped working since I am able to pair it with my Ipad pro.
And the only thing they can tell me is I don’t know. It's better to buy a new one.
F. THEM.
Will I have to buy a new Apple Pencil because literally the pressure sensitive part the golden part is in half should I bring it to Apple and see what they do or just buy a brand new Apple Pencil and waste another hundred dollars I am so sad after one year of owning it I am dropped it and broken.
AppleTopic - 回复
So regarding the 1st Gen pencil’s battery dying, I have a Public Service Announcement.
I purchased the 1st Gen pencil about 2-3 years ago when we got a new iPad, misplaced it for nearly a year until the last week (Oct 2020). Obviously the Pencil had discharged and seems to have lost all capacity to charge. Apple’s Support page clearly states for Battery Replacement (Pencil replacement in reality) the cost is $29 for Out of Warranty. For any other reason, the cost is $79. Apple Support acknowledged this, but here’s the kicker. You have to send the Pencil in. IF Apple finds that indeed its only the battery, then its $29, BUT if they find something else its $79… the customer gets no say. Once you send it in you are authorizing a charge of up to $79, Apple doesn’t email you to ask if you just want to discard it if its over $29… they just bill you with no recourse (no refunds, no partials). What a horrible way to treat your customers.
So beware of Apple’s Pencil, my recommendation buy something else.
Should have unscrew a nut at the tip side... It is visible after you remove the tip of the apple pencil 1
I just dropped my Apple Pencil and the tip touched the floor. Then it’s not working anymore. What should I do? Is there anyway to fix it? Can it be fix just by changing the tip?
agh I got the same problem and sadly there was no way to fix it, I even asked apple and they charged me $70 for a replacement so i just ended up buying a new one sad life $100 wasted, be careful with the apple pencil its not very durable and very hard to fix :(
Do yall ever tear down the China’s finest knock offs from that Wish app?
добрый день, можете что нибудь посоветовать. у меня ручка упала и наконечник сломался. сделал он это по хитрому. половина осталась внутри ручки, самостоятельно ее не вынуть
Very interesting. Thank you for the good work. A question please, why would a pencil show signs on crack towards the nib? could this be battery outgassing? the pencil has had no accident and is used accordingly and only 3months old. Your opinion would be appreciated.
The end of my apple pencil broke off. (The end with the charger thing sticking out.) How can I fix this?
Has anyone managed to fix this pen ? :-D
Sonarpen Teardown Please
I now have 3 Apple Pencil carcasses. I dropped the 2nd one and the tip stopped working. I had misplaced the first one, bought the 2nd one, then found the first one. You guessed it… battery died in the meantime. I bought a used one for $40 from an online dealer that was advertised as working, but it wouldn’t charge past 3% (luckily they refunded my $ and told me to keep it.) I’ve ordered an open box unit from EBay for $65, hopefully it will work. I’m not ever buying brand new products again without reading ALL of the fine print. Apple should be ashamed of themselves for not including the “don’t let this item sit without charging it daily” info on the outside of the box. This made me super paranoid about my Apple Watch, too, but it seems to be ok sitting by the side of the bed (I have issues wearing it daily, it hurts my arm.) Anyone want some pencil carcasses, lol.
как всегда аксессуары от яблока дорогущие одноразовые изделия ( читай презервативы) очень сожалею что не могу купить что то того же класса но нормальное и ремонтопригодное
Can you do tear down of Apple Pencil 2 nd gen as to replace drained battery
Thank you for the break down! I have been researching why my Apple Pencil 2 will not charge. I was hoping I could replace the battery but you have proven that this is impossible. I appreciate everything you all do to help those of us who do our own repairs.
Christine Ayala-Sanchez - 回复
Apple will replace the battery for $29.
tooki -