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Apple Pencil lands in the crosshairs of the EU: iPad not allowed to put third-party pens at a disadvantage

The Apple Pencil Pro offers features that no third-party stylus for the iPad supports. (Image source: Apple)
The Apple Pencil Pro offers features that no third-party stylus for the iPad supports. (Image source: Apple)
Avoiding the Apple Pencil Pro is near impossible among those who buy an Apple iPad Pro and want to use a stylus, as features such as magnetic charging or the hover function are not available with third-party styluses. This may change soon in the European Union.

The European Union has already forced Apple to make numerous changes over the past few years, which is why the iPhone 16 now features a USB-C port and users can now download apps from third-party stores and set alternative browsers and camera apps as the system default. In April 2024, iPadOS was also defined as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act in addition to iOS.

Apple has already ported many of the changes it has made to iOS to iPadOS, but further changes are likely to be on the horizon. Apple's compliance report from November 1 does not utter a single word about third-party alternatives to the Apple Pencil, while the European Commission has explicitly pointed out in a press release that relevant iPadOS features must also be made available to styluses from other manufacturers.

While there are already numerous third-party styluses compatible with the iPad and iPad Pro, Apple does not support industry standards such as MPP 2.0, while selected functions officially only work with the Apple Pencil. These include the hover functionality, which shows the position of the stylus even when it is a few millimeters away from the display, or the option of magnetically attaching the stylus to the tablet and charging it in this way. The European Commission is currently reviewing Apple's latest compliance report and will thereafter decide whether the adjustments already made sufficiently conform to the requirements of the Digital Markets Act or whether further changes are necessary.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2024 11 > Apple Pencil lands in the crosshairs of the EU: iPad not allowed to put third-party pens at a disadvantage
Hannes Brecher, 2024-11- 4 (Update: 2024-11- 4)