Apple iPad is a tablet computer from Apple. It is one of the highest-selling tablets in the world. Its relatively large screen size, fluid OS (now iPadOS but previously iOS), and a plethora of connectivity options and accessories made the iPad a popular choice of tablet. People use it for education, business, music, arts, etc. Speaking of arts and artists, Apple launched a stylus for the iPad in 2015, the Apple Pencil. In 2018, Apple upgraded the pencil with Apple Pencil 2. In this guide, let us focus on the Apple Pencil 2 and take a look at its features. After that, we will also see the Apple Pencil 2 compatibility with different versions of the iPad.
A Brief Note On Apple Pencil
Apple iPad has grown from a large-sized iPhone to a proper mini-sized computer. Over the years Apple improved the performance of the iPad lineup significantly. In fact, at the time of writing this guide, Apple just announced an M2-powered iPad Pro.
While there are several accessories to pair with the iPad such as a case, keyboard, etc., one thing that stands out is the Apple Pencil.
The Apple Pencil is a stylus from Apple for their iPad tablets. You can scribble notes, create art, mark documents, and do several more tasks with this pencil-sized gadget.
Apple launched the first Apple Pencil with the first iPad Pro in 2015. The communication between the iPad and the Pencil is over Bluetooth. It has several features such as low latency, a pressure sensor, an angle detection sensor, and a Lightning connector for charging and pairing.
A couple of years later, Apple upgraded the pencil and released the Apple Pencil 2 in 2018 along with the 3rd gen iPad Pro. While the aesthetics of the Apple Pencil 2 are more or less similar to the original Apple Pencil, the significant change is there are no physical ports on Apple Pencil 2.
That’s right. Apple Pencil 2 doesn’t reinstate the Lightning connector from Apple Pencil. But how to pair or charge this device?
Apple came up with a simple solution for this. Instead of Lightning or USB C connector, Apple just developed a special magnetic charging system right on the iPad that can charge the Pencil 2 as well as help in pairing.
The physical port or lack thereof decides the compatibility between the Apple Pencil or Apple Pencil 2 with different versions of the iPad.
Apple Pencil And Apple Pencil 2 Compatibility
From the previous discussion, it is clear that both Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil 2 don’t have the same “pairing” systems. This is the crucial aspect that determines what iPad models are compatible with these two devices.
1. Apple Pencil Compatibility
The original Apple Pencil came with a Lightning connector. We have to use this for pairing with an iPad as well as charging it. So, all the iPad Models that have a Lightning port are compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil.
Here is a list of all the different iPad models that are compatible with the first-generation Apple Pencil along with the release year of the iPad.
- iPad (10th gen) – 2022
- iPad (9th gen) – 2021
- iPad (8th gen) – 2020
- iPad (7th gen) – 2019
- iPad Air (3rd gen) – 2019
- iPad Mini (5th gen) – 2019
- iPad (6th gen) – 2018
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch – 2017
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd gen) – 2017
- iPad Pro 9.7-inch – 2016
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st gen) – 2015
NOTE: If you have the 10th gen iPad (2022) that has a USB-C Port, you need a simple USB-C Adapter for the Apple Pencil (first-generation) for pairing and charging.
2. Apple Pencil 2 Compatibility List
We know that with Apple Pencil 2, Apple made a big change in terms of the pairing and charging scenario. As the Apple Pencil 2 doesn’t have any physical connector (neither Lightning nor USB-C), you cannot use it with all iPad Models.
You need to have an iPad Model that supports the Wireless Pairing and Charging of the Apple Pencil 2. The following list shows all the different iPad Models that are compatible with Apple Pencil 2 along with the release year of the iPad.
- iPad Mini (6th gen) – 2021
- iPad Air (4th gen) – 2020
- iPad Air (5th gen) – 2022
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st gen) – 2018
- iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd gen) – 2020
- iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd gen) – 2021
- iPad Pro 11-inch (4th gen) – 2022
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd gen) – 2018
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th gen) – 2020
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th gen) – 2021
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th gen) – 2022
Apple Pencil And Apple Pencil 2 Compatibility Table
In the following table, we listed different models of iPad tablets and also their compatibility with the two versions of Apple Pencil i.e., Apple Pencil (first-generation) and Apple Pencil 2.
| iPad Model | Apple Pencil (First-Generation) | Apple Pencil 2 (Second-Generation) |
| iPad | 6th gen – 2018
7th gen – 2019 8th gen – 2020 9th gen – 2021 10th gen – 2022 |
None |
| iPad Air | 3rd gen – 2019 | 4th gen – 2020
5th gen – 2022 |
| iPad Mini | 5th gen – 2019 | 6th gen – 2021 |
| iPad Pro – 9.7-inch | 2016 Model | None |
| iPad Pro – 10.5-inch | 2017 Model | None |
| iPad Pro – 11-inch | None | 1st gen – 2018
2nd gen – 2020 3rd gen – 2021 4th gen – 2022 |
| iPad Pro – 12.9-inch | 1st gen – 2015
2nd gen – 2017 |
3rd gen – 2018
4th gen – 2020 5th gen – 2021 6th gen – 2022 |
From the above table, you can easily identify which variant of the iPad is compatible with the 1st gen Apple Pencil and the 2nd gen Apple Pencil 2. Use this table as a reference before purchasing one (as it costs a pretty penny).
Conclusion
Apple iPad is a very popular series of tablet computers from Apple. There are different variants with several screen sizes, connectivity options, processors, etc.
Depending on your use case and requirement you can choose an iPad for watching content, creating art using tools such as Photoshop, scribbling notes during meetings, and many other personal or professional tasks.
To make things easier for artists and business personnel, Apple launched the Apple Pencil, a pencil-shaped digital stylus for the iPad. With Apple Pencil, the above-mentioned tasks become very easy as it is easier to work with a pen/pencil-like object rather than using your fingers.
A couple of years later, Apple released an upgraded version of the Apple Pencil, the Apple Pencil 2. Both the 1st gen and 2nd gen Apple Pencils have different pairing and charging methods.
As a result, there is a clear difference in the list of iPads that are compatible with these devices.
In this guide, we saw the basics of the Apple Pencil. After that, we saw the list of iPad Models that are compatible with the original 1st gen Apple Pencil.
Then, we looked at the list of iPad Models that are compatible with the 2nd gen Apple Pencil 2.
We hope that the Apple Pencil and Apple Pencil 2 Compatibility list of iPads that we mentioned in this guide is helpful to you.
