Apple Pencil & iPad
Sketch, take notes, sign forms — all on iPad.
Pencil compatibility
- Apple Pencil USB-C ($79) — newer iPads. Cheapest.
- Apple Pencil 2nd gen ($129) — magnetic charging on iPad Pro/Air.
- Apple Pencil Pro ($129) — newest. iPad Pro / iPad Air M2+. Pressure + tilt + barrel roll.
- Logitech Crayon ($60-70) — much cheaper alternative. Works with most iPads.
- Generic stylus ($15-30) — fine for note-taking, not as precise.
Best apps with Pencil
- GoodNotes 6 ($30 once or $10/yr) — best note-taking. Handwriting search.
- Notability ($15/yr) — alternative. Strong audio recording with notes.
- Procreate ($13 once) — best digital art app.
- Apple Notes (FREE) — built in. Better than people realize for handwriting.
- Adobe Illustrator on iPad ($10/mo) — for designers.
- PDF Expert / Acrobat — sign and annotate PDFs.
Senior-friendly uses
- Sign documents — markup PDFs without printing.
- Note-taking in church / class — handwriting becomes searchable text.
- Recipe cards — digitize with handwritten notes preserved.
- Family tree drawing — sketch genealogy with notes.
- Crossword + Sudoku in a real app feels like paper.
- Drawing with grandkids — over FaceTime SharePlay.
- Color-by-number / paint-by-number apps.
Great gift idea
iPad (10th gen, $349) + Logitech Crayon ($70) + GoodNotes ($30 once) = $450 art studio + notebook. For serious artists, iPad Pro + Apple Pencil Pro + Procreate.