What is the Apple Pencil hover and how does it work?

Apple released the new iPad Pro lineup on October 18th, retaining the look but adding a host of new features. The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros will be available in silver and space gray and will have 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage options with 16GB of RAM. So, among all the exciting features, it’s worth noting the new Apple Pencil hover feature. So let’s find out what the “hover”of the Apple Pencil is and how it works.

What is the Apple Pencil Hover?

Hover mode for the 2nd generation Apple Pencil will bring you a new level of screen interaction. According to Apple, the new iPad Pro with the M2 chip can now detect the Apple Pencil when it is up to 12mm above the screen.

So this means your iPad Pro’s screen will automatically detect when your Apple Pencil is near it. Also, it will create a preview of your sign before you actually draw anything. Fascinating, right? Let me briefly explain how this benefits you!

How does Apple Pencil hover work on iPad Pro M2?

iPad Pro users often use the 2nd generation Apple Pencil for precise input. So, Apple has now improved the user experience with the Apple Pencil hover feature. You can preview your label before displaying it to improve accuracy. Therefore, artists and graphic designers can change the brush stroke in advance.

Additionally, third-party developers can update their iPad apps with this new feature to provide unique marking and drawing experiences. Right now, Apple’s native apps support the cursor on hover thanks to the improved iPadOS 16. So you can make changes, like change the location before placing it, and have text fields expand when you hover over them. Here’s what Apple said:

“On the new iPad Pro and iPadOS 16, hovering with the Apple Pencil (2nd generation) brings a whole new dimension of screen interaction to users. The Apple Pencil is now recognized up to 12mm above the display, allowing users to preview their mark before it’s taken. It also allows users to sketch and illustrate with even greater precision, and makes everything users do with the Apple Pencil even easier. For example, in Scribble, text boxes expand automatically when the pencil approaches the screen, and handwriting is converted to text even faster. Third party applications can also take advantage of this new feature to provide a whole new marking and drawing experience.”

Apple

Apple

So, with Apple Pencil, you can draw and create with even more precision and ease. In the official video, Apple showed how hovering over the Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro interacts with Scribble. It converts handwriting to text much faster, and text fields expand as the pencil approaches the screen.

FAQ

Unfortunately no! This new feature requires iPadOS 16, an iPad with an M2 chip, and a 2nd generation Apple Pencil. So you can’t use it with earlier iPad models with original Apple Pencil.

Conclusion

The new M2 processor with the powerful iPadOS 16 is packed with new features. You will experience a 35% increase in graphics performance. In addition, it can transcode ProRes videos three times faster. In addition, the 100 Gigabit M2 Unified Memory Bandwidth and 16-core Neural Engine are 40% and 50% faster, respectively.

Apple has already started accepting online orders and will make the iPad Pro M2 available at retail starting October 26th. So I can’t wait to get hands-on experience. And you? Let me know how excited you are!