Apple Pencil vs. Surface Pen: Do you really need a pen for your screen?

Obviously, Apple Pencil is designed for iPad Pro, while Surface Pen is designed for Microsoft's Surface tablet device. Are you familiar with these two products? Next, let's have a comprehensive understanding and comparison of these two "pens".

What is the Apple Pencil?

Apple's smart stylus for the iPad Pro debuted on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in late 2015. The Pencil hardware itself hasn't changed since then, but Apple has improved its performance by adding ProMotion technology to the recently released 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch iPad Pros. It's an optional $99 accessory that only works with the iPad Pro.

What is Surface Pen?

This is the stylus for Microsoft's Surface devices: It comes standard with the Surface Book and Surface Studio, and it's also an optional $99.99 accessory for the Surface Pro tablet and Surface Laptop. The Surface Pen got an update in 2017, offering four times the pressure sensitivity, faster response time, and new tilt controls that have until now only been available on the new Surface Pro.

The relevant data of the two

Apple Pencil: Unannounced pressure sensitivity, 20ms latency, tilt support, 12-hour battery life (rechargeable), Bluetooth 4.0.

Surface Pen: 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, 21ms latency, tilt/swivel support (some devices), 1-year battery life (replaceable), Bluetooth 4.0.

The delay is almost the same

Yes, I don't know if you noticed it. Apple has reduced the latency of the Apple Pencil by introducing ProMotion technology for the new iPad Pro, and when you use it, the refresh rate of the iPad Pro screen will be increased to 120Hz. This reduces the delay between drawing a line and the screen showing the line from 40ms to 20ms, and you can draw faster.

Similar to the Surface Pen, the latest Surface Pro features a Pixelsense Accelerator chip, which provides hardware acceleration for Windows Ink features in Windows 10. The new Surface Pro is also the only device to support the new Pen tilt feature, which lets you tilt the Surface Pen to draw like using the edge of a pencil.

The size of both

Apple Pencil: 6.92 inches long, 0.35 inches in diameter, and weighs 20.7 grams.

Surface Pen: 5.75 inches long, 0.38 inches in diameter, weighs 20 grams.

Available colors

The Apple Pencil comes only in white. The Surface Pen comes in platinum, burgundy, cobalt blue, and black, and works with the Surface Pro's keyboard and mouse.

Battery life and charging

The Apple Pencil has a 12-hour battery life, which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's rechargeable and charges quickly. Remove the magnetic cap, plug the Lightning connector into the iPad, and 15 seconds of charging will give you 30 minutes of battery life. The Apple Pencil also comes with an adapter that lets you charge it via a standard USB port.

The Surface Pen uses a single AAAA battery, which should last for about a year.

Do they have other buttons?

Apple Pencil doesn't have one. The whole thing is very smooth, and the cap is not an eraser, it's just a cap covering the Lightning port. A standard Jonathan design! Of course there are no buttons.

The Surface Pen has buttons, and through the Windows Ink settings, you can customize the buttons on the side and the eraser at the end. You can even choose different actions for clicking, double-clicking, and pressing hard.

Is the pen tip replaceable?

The Apple Pencil comes with an extra tip in case you lose or break it, but both tips are identical. If you need more, you can buy an Apple Pencil tip kit with four tips for $19.

Microsoft has gone a step further and the latest Surface Pen comes with a nib tool kit that changes the feel of the Surface Pen. These four nibs mimic the feel of 2H, H, HB, and B pencils. It comes standard with the Surface Pen, but you can also choose an extra one for $19.99.

What types of applications do they support?

In iOS 11, Apple added a ton of new iPad features, including some for the Apple Pencil. For example, if you tap "Pencil" on the lock screen, Instant Notes will allow you to immediately start writing and jot down your thoughts. Your handwritten notes are also searchable in Spotlight, though only in English and Simplified Chinese right now. Even before iOS 11, the Apple Pencil was widely supported, from drawing apps to productivity apps, to graphic and 3D design apps, photo editors, and even powerful suites like Adobe's Creative Suite and Microsoft Office.

Surface Pen also supports many applications, and Microsoft has repeatedly emphasized the role of this "pen" in the system. It supports applications such as OneNote, Sketchable, DrawboardPDF and StaffPad, and of course Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office.

After reading this article, I hope you can have a deeper understanding of Apple Pencil and Surface Pen.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.