Earlier this week, I discussed Larry Port's comment that it is easy to lose track of an Apple Pencil, and indeed Larry accidentally left his in a restaurant last week. (Good news: he recovered it.) My suggestion was to use a clip, such as the Fisher Chrome Clip, so that you can easily clip the Pencil to a pocket. Memphis attorney Darrell Phillips of Pietrangelo Cook PLC wrote to me with another suggestion: the Apple Pencil Magnet by Moxiware, a $14.95 sleeve for the Pencil that lets you attach the Pencil to the magnets built-in to the side of the iPad Pro. I had not heard of this product before, and Darell was nice enough to write a short review of this product for iPhone J.D. readers. He also took some pictures and even made a video to show it in action. Take it away, Darrell:
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I ordered the Moxiware Apple Pencil Magnet after trying the Switcheasy Coverbuddy for iPad Pro [$39.99 on Amazon] and finding it inadequate for my uses. The Coverbuddy is essentially a rear cover for the iPad, with a protruding Apple Pencil holder made of hard plastic. It works well, but I found that since I was using the Apple Pencil to take notes and, most frequently, with the iPad Pro flat on the table, the protruding holder was an annoyance because it made my writing surface uneven. The Coverbuddy is fairly well-reviewed on Amazon and I had no problems with its construction, but simply found it impractical for my daily use.
I then started looking for Apple Pencil holders with greater flexibility and ultimately discovered the Moxiware Apple Pencil Magnet. It is not extraordinary and does not ship with any fancy packaging, but it just works very well. It is a sleeve, through which you push the Pencil upon first use, and which cradles the pencil very snugly.
Half of the sleeve has a protruding magnet which adheres quite rigidly to various spots on the iPad Pro, both with and without the smart keyboard cover.
When I put my iPad away, I leave the Pencil stuck to the outside of the Smart Keyboard and, although it may shift a bit during transport, it (so far) appears to remain intact. The magnet is so strong that I do not worry about losing the Pencil because of an open bag, and the Pencil (to date) has not fallen off my device upon withdrawal from my briefcase.
When I am using my iPad Pro with the keyboard, I leave the Apple Pencil stuck to the tablet face. It looks smart and, although I am less likely to need the Pencil once I have decided to use keyboard mode, it is easily accessible and I am not likely to lose it or forget it.
Alternatively, when I am using the iPad Pro for note-taking, I frequently plop the Pencil on the side of the tablet face during breaks; it just seems to work there.
The presence of the magnet does not affect my grip at all; frankly, I use the Apple Pencil quite a bit for note-taking and am completely unaware of the magnet.
Here is a video showing the Apple Pencil Magnet in action:
Until the market presents a better alternative, this is the best product I have found to cradle my Apple Pencil.
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I see from the Moxiware website that in addition to the white model that Darrell uses, you can also get it in black, red, yellow, blue and green:
If any of you have discovered other useful third party products with your Apple Pencil, I'd love to hear about them. I suspect that many other interesting accessories will be coming out soon.
Thanks again to Darrell Phillips for reviewing this product. And by the way, while Darrell is now a litigator, I see that before law school he was a broadcast journalist, and he occasionally blogs about media law at NewsroomLegal.com.