Put A Real Pen Clip On Your Apple Pencil And Thank Me Later

Put A Real Pen Clip On Your Apple Pencil And Thank Me Later

For the past week I’ve been writing, swiping and doodling with Apple’s original iPad Pro. As a fan of my older iPad Air 2, the more capable iPad Pro feels like a step in the right direction, save for one issue: that damn Apple Pencil. In a move that prioritises form over function, the company made a delightfully sleek object that completely fails at taking advantage of its form factor. Here’s how to do what Apple, for some reason, didn’t.

Image credit: Stephen Lam/Getty

Put A Real Pen Clip On Your Apple Pencil And Thank Me Later
There’s a reason pens have clips, you know.

There’s a reason pens have clips, you know.

Why Clip Your Pencil

There’s a pretty straightforward reason you should attach a clip to your Apple Pencil: it lets you treat it like a traditional writing implement. The Apple Pencil’s completely rounded design means it is more prone to roll around your desk, or right off your table and onto the ground. In addition, adding a clip lets you, of course, clip it anywhere you’d stick a regular pen. That means you can store it in your pants or shirt pocket, clip it to a pocket in your folio, or attach it to your iPad Pro’s case itself. It’s a no-brainer add-on, and a bit of a curious omission from the original design.

Get the Right Clip

New Orleans attorney Jeff Richardson, whose site is geared toward lawyers who use iOS devices, suggests purchasing the Fisher Chrome clip to attach to your Apple Pencil. The clip is silver, matching Apple’s own chrome accents on the Apple Pencil. You can attach the clip to your Pencil by removing the Lightning port cover and sliding it over the top, or slide it up the pen, starting at the narrow tip.

The above clip will set you back around $16, but the price is well worth the boost in functionality, and is definitely another reason to keep your pen close at hand instead of stuffed wherever you put the rest of your cables and dongles until you need them.

There are other ways to stabilise and modify your Apple Pencil, though they aren’t as elegant (nor do they attach directly to the pencil like the Fisher clip). You can slip your Apple Pencil into a magnetic rubber sleeve from Moxiware, letting you attach the pencil to your iPad’s magnetic body while protecting it in a brightly coloured rubbery sleeve (it comes in six colours, including white and black).


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments