Technologies

Best Apple Pencil Deals 2023: Save $15 on Apple Pencil 2

Need an Apple Pencil but don’t want to pay full price? We’ve got you covered.

Apple Pencil deals crop up fairly frequently, which is welcome news for iPad owners. Apple devices generally don’t go on sale all that often, but this useful iPad accessory has seen quite a few price drops, so there’s usually a good chance you can avoid paying full price for one.

Apple’s sleek stylus offers precise pressure sensitivity and is designed to pair seamlessly with Apple’s tablets for a fluid experience. This premium tech doesn’t come cheap, though, with prices starting at $99. That’s why we’ve scoured the web to bring you the very best Apple Pencil deals available so you can get one in your hands for less. We’ve also gathered up some of the best alternatives out there in case you’re looking for an even more affordable option.

Below is a current breakdown of the best Apple Pencil deals available right now, with a quick look at historic low pricing for both models.

Apple Pencil pricing 2023

Model	Apple Store price	Best price right now	Best all-time price
Apple Pencil (1st gen)	$99	$89	$70
Apple Pencil (2nd gen)	$129	$114	$85

Beyond the Apple Pencil, there are a few great Apple Pencil alternatives that are also worth considering, and there are frequent deals on those, which we’ve highlighted farther down the page.

Best Apple Pencil (1st gen) deals

Apple’s first-gen Apple Pencil was originally released in November 2015 and has stuck around since then. At its debut, it worked only with the first iPad Pro model before support was added to subsequent models. It has a Lightning connector built into the end for charging the Apple Pencil right from your iPad and has a removable tip that can be changed out after your current one starts to get worn down.

The first-gen Apple Pencil is compatible with all pre-2018 iPad Pro models, the iPad Air 3, the iPad Mini 2019 and all base-model iPads since 2018. It’s also the one to get to use with the new 2022 10th generation iPad. Awkwardly, there are two versions of the first-gen Apple Pencil for sale at most retailers: one with a Lightning adapter and one with a USB-C adapter. Other than the adapter, the Apple Pencil is exactly the same, so the deciding factor between them is purely how you wish to charge the device back up. The USB-C version hasn’t been on the market as long and tends not to be discounted. Here are the best first-gen Pencil deals you can buy right now.

Apple

Apple Pencil (1st gen): $89

Save $10

Amazon, Walmart and B&H all have the first-generation Apple Pencil available for $89 right now, which saves you $10 compared to the Apple Store price. It comes with the USB-C adapter, which is required to pair with the newest iPad model. We have seen it go as low as $70 in the past and deals dropping it under $80 aren’t too infrequent, so if you can hold off you might get a better price within the next few months.

$89 at Amazon $89 at Walmart $89 at B&H

Best Apple Pencil (2nd gen) deals

The second-gen Apple Pencil was launched in October 2018 alongside the third-gen iPad Pro, and while it may look similar on the surface, there are quite a few differences between the two models. One big difference is that the Apple Pencil 2 charges magnetically while attached to newer iPads, meaning there’s no Lightning connector. The design is slightly refined as well, with one flat side that’s used to charge and a sensor near the tip that enables double-tap features.

The second-gen Apple Pencil works with all 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros (2018 and later models), as well as newer iPad Air (2020 and 2022) models and the iPad Mini 6. Here are the best Apple Pencil 2 deals you can get right now.

Apple

Apple Pencil (2nd gen): $114

Save $15

A few retailers have the Apple Pencil 2 listed at $114 right now, which is $15 less than Apple charges for it. With regular price drops under $100 in the last six months, and the price falling as low as $85 just weeks ago, it’s hard to recommend nabbing one at this price unless you really need it right away. Chances are, steeper discounts will be coming down the pike.

Read our Apple Pencil 2 preview.

$114 at Amazon $114 at Walmart $114 at B&H

Best cheap Apple Pencil alternatives

While the Apple Pencil offers one of the best experiences when paired with the iPad, it may not be the best choice for everyone. There are a number of cheaper Apple Pencil alternatives that you can take a look at. Here are some of the best ones that are on sale right now.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Logitech Crayon: $60

Save $10

The Logitech Crayon works with just about every iPad out there, unlike the Apple Pencil, where you have to worry about which iPad model you have to ensure you buy the right one. It doesn’t have the fancy instant pairing or magnetic charging, but other than that it works very similarly to the Apple Pencil for a fraction of the price. It’s $10 off at Amazon right now.

Jamjake

Jamjake Stylus Pen for iPad: $25

Save $15

This stylus is a great cheap alternative to the Apple Pencil if you want the overall style of the Pencil without the price tag. It has removable tips, can be turned on and off and even recharges via USB-C. It lists for $40, but you can grab select colors for as little as $25 right now at Amazon.

Zagg

Zagg Pro Stylus: $55

Save $15

Zagg’s Pro Stylus also offers an Apple Pencil-like experience for less. It features palm rejection and tilt-recognition tech like Apple’s option, offers automatic pairing and even attaches magnetically to the side of your iPad Pro or iPad Air (though you’ll need to charge it via USB-C).

Adonit

Adonit Note Stylus: $40

No discounts currently available

This stylus pen has a nice sleek design and offers a black option that Apple does not currently have for its Pencil models. It offers up to 12 hours of battery per charge, and a 4-minute charge can give you an extra hour of battery life. It uses Micro-USB for charging and can charge and write at the same time. There aren’t any discounts on this stylus at the moment, but it’s still a solid value at less than $50.

Apple Pencil vs. Apple Pencil 2: Which should you buy?

The decision here is simple: You have to buy the one that’s compatible with your iPad. Apple does not let you pick which Apple Pencil you want to use with which iPad. Instead, iPads are only compatible with a specific model of the Apple Pencil.

As outlined above, the original Apple Pencil works with the first- and second-gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad Air 3 and fifth-gen iPad Mini, and all of the base-model iPads since the sixth-gen model. If you have a newer iPad Pro, fourth- or fifth-gen iPad Air or the sixth-gen iPad Mini, you’ll need to opt for the Apple Pencil 2.

If you want to avoid this confusion, you can select from one of the non-Apple alternatives listed above, which generally have broader compatibility.

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Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Oct. 22 #598

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Oct. 22, No. 598.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a fun one — I definitely have at least two of these in my house. Some of the answers are a bit tough to unscramble, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Catch all.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: A mess of items.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BATE, LICE, SLUM, CAPE, HOLE, CARE, BARE, THEN, SLAM, SAMBA, BACK

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

TAPE, COIN, PENCIL, BATTERY, SHOELACE, THUMBTACK

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is JUNKDRAWER. To find it, look for the J that’s five letters down on the far-left row, and wind down, over and then up.

Quick tips for Strands

#1: To get more clue words, see if you can tweak the words you’ve already found, by adding an «S» or other variants. And if you find a word like WILL, see if other letters are close enough to help you make SILL, or BILL.

#2: Once you get one theme word, look at the puzzle to see if you can spot other related words.

#3: If you’ve been given the letters for a theme word, but can’t figure it out, guess three more clue words, and the puzzle will light up each letter in order, revealing the word.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Oct. 22, #1586

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Oct. 22, No. 1,586.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle features some letters I don’t often guess, but it’s not terribly difficult. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with S.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with T.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to an action displaying spectacular skill and daring.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is STUNT.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Oct. 21, No. 1,585 was DETOX.

Recent Wordle answers

Oct. 17, No. 1,581: GROSS
Oct. 18, No. 1,582: HAVEN
Oct. 19, No. 1,583: IDEAL
Oct. 20, No. 1,584: LIMBO

Quick tips for Wordle

#1: Check our list ranking the popularity of all the letters in the alphabet and choose your starter words accordingly. (TRAIN, STERN and AUDIO are good.)

#2: Don’t forget that letters can be used more than once.

#3: Many words are similar. You don’t want to use up multiple guesses that don’t advance your cause. So if the puzzle is STA_E, don’t guess STARE, STATE and STALE. Guess something that uses that R, T and L, like TWIRL.