Apple offers two different generations of Apple Pencil, which are compatible with different iPads. Since both are powered by battery, they will inevitably run out of power. See how to charge and check the battery percentage of your Apple pencil.
How to Carry First Generation Apple Pencil
Carrying the first generation Apple pencil is not the most elegant case. The first generation Apple Pencil is compatible with all iPads that come with a physical Home button and a Lightning port.
If you need help identifying which Apple Pencil you have, know that the first generation accessory is completely circular.
It is paired and loaded in the same way. Take your Apple pencil and remove the cap from the top of the pen. You will now see a lighting connector at the end of the Apple Pencil.
Insert this connector into the Lightning port on the bottom of your iPad. You will hear a ding and the Apple Pencil will start charging.
Keep Apple Pencil connected; a full charge takes about 15 to 30 minutes. We’ll walk you through how to see the percentage of an Apple pencil’s battery at the end of the article.
If you don’t like charging your Apple Pencil using your iPad (and it’s a very strange subject), you can use the Lightning adapter that came in the box with your Apple Pencil.
Connect your Apple Pencil to the adapter, then connect the adapter to a Lightning cable to charge your pen.
How to load the second generation Apple pencil
Apple improved the charging experience with the second generation Pencil by leaps and bounds. The second generation Apple Pencil is compatible with the new iPad Pros and iPad Air. These iPads have flat edges and do not have physical Home buttons.
The second generation Apple Pencil fits magnetically on the side of the iPad as it has a single flat edge (along with a programmable button). And that’s all you need to do to pair and charge your Apple Pencil.
Place your Apple Pencil on top of your iPad (when in landscape), and you will see a banner saying that the accessory is carrying. You will see the battery percentage as well.
Since this is the way to store and transport your pencil with your iPad, your Apple pencil will almost never run out of charge.
If this happens, connecting it to the iPad will provide the necessary charge in just a few minutes. You’ll also receive a notification when Apple Pencil is low on battery.
How to see the percentage of the Apple pencil battery
When you use a pencil with your iPad, Apple automatically adds a battery widget to the Today View screen. You can swipe from left to right on the iPad’s home screen to open “Today View”. Here, swipe up to find the “Batteries” widget.
You will see the battery levels of a connected Apple Pencil here.
If you can’t find the Batteries widget, you can add it in just a few seconds. Touch and hold an empty part of the home screen to enter Jiggle mode.
RELATED: How to add widgets to your iPad home screen on iPadOS 14
Here, touch the “+” button in the upper left corner of the screen.
In the pop-up menu of widgets, choose the option “Batteries”.
You will see the widget in three sizes. Use the Small or Large size if you want to see the battery percentage and tap the “Add Widget” button.
The widget will be added to the end of the Today View. You can move it anywhere on the screen. Slide up on the home bar to save the widget layout.
Now you can see the percentage of your Apple Pencil’s battery at any time, regardless of whether it’s charging or not.
One of the best things you can do with Apple Pencil is to use it to make handwritten notes in the Notes app. Say goodbye to pen and paper, once and for all!
RELATED: How to take handwritten notes on your iPad using the Apple pencil