Can You Use Apple Pencil While Charging? (Read This First)

Photo of author

By John Smith

The relevance of the Apple pencil cannot be overstated. It’s a stylus developed by Apple to make the creative process effortless and more intuitive. 

However, Apple pencil users have recently been concerned about using the device while it is on charge. The reason is that it’s so efficient and frequently utilized.

Pragmatically, your Apple pencil won’t function while charging, so you can’t. For some reason, Apple has disabled functions like drawing and so on; thus, you can’t work with the stylus and charge it simultaneously. Notwithstanding, the good thing is that it charges fast, so you wouldn’t need to wait long before using it.

This article will explore whether or not this concern is valid and offer tips to help you get the most out of your Apple pencil.

In addition, you’ll get to know how to handle the stylus better.

Can You Use an Apple Pencil While It Charges?

Can You Use Apple Pencil While Charging

You can’t use your Apple pencil while it charges. This functionality is solely the idea of the producers. 

Using the stylus while charging will probably affect its performance; they had to disable the function to avoid future issues and protect the user.

To your knowledge, the battery power will decrease as you use it while charging simultaneously

By implication, drawing or writing on your device will lag between what you want to draw and what appears on the screen.

Though using the Apple pencil while charging may seem like a good idea, it’ll damage the battery.

Subsequently, some good maintenance practices for your Apple pencil battery include:

  • Keep your Apple Pencil on charge when it’s not in use. This will prevent the battery from draining while you are away from your desk. Moreover, you’ll hardly misplace the stylus.
  • Don’t let your Apple pencil go too long without a charge. 
  • When you notice that only about 20% of battery life is left, plug it in and give it a full charge before using it again.
  • Every time you charge your pencil, Apple recommends powering it for at least 30 minutes to ensure the battery has enough power to last all day.
  • It’s also essential to keep the pencil charged before utilizing it so it doesn’t turn off during drawing or writing.

Aside from the disable function that prevents usage while your Apple pencil charges, adhering to the suggestions above will help preserve the battery. 

Additionally, when charging the pencil, it’ll be best to plug it into the Lightning connector, letting the stylus charge faster and more efficiently.

Likewise, take note of some dos and don’ts while or before charging:

DosDon’t 
Keep the device in a cool environment.Keep it close to heat sources like radiators or direct sunlight.
Clean the stylus’ tip before plugging.Utilize damaged ports or cables.
Replace the pencil’s cap if it’s impaired to protect the tip.Allow any liquid mess around the tip or cap. 

Can I Keep My Apple Pencil Attached To My iPad While Charging?

Many people using Apple pencils have questioned keeping the stylus attached to an iPad while charging. Well, there’s no harm in doing so.

The Apple Pencil 2 attaches magnetically to a slot at the top of your iPad Pro, so it doesn’t get lost when not in use.

In this process, its battery also gets a power boost from the iPad.

You should note that keeping the stylus unattached to the IPad when it’s powered down may cause the battery to impair.

Therefore, there is no need to worry about keeping it attached while charging.

Even though many users make bogus claims, such as it’ll overcharge, they don’t apply.

Usually, frequently dogging the Apple pencil 2 with your iPad, especially when it’s not in use, ensures battery health. 

This action explains why the Apple pencil will stay longer without battery issues.

The situation with the Apple pencil 2 is unlike the Apple Pencil 1, where you’ll need to uncap the tip and attach it to the lightning connector on the iPad.

The docking, on the hand, is a feature designed intentionally by Apple. They wouldn’t have put it in place if it was going to damage the stylus. 

You can dock your Apple pencil if you aren’t using it, even though the preservation period extends to weeks. 

Nothing will go wrong; it is far better than having it separated for an extended period allowing the battery to discharge and impair.

Assuming the battery gets faulty, you’ll have no choice but to replace the entire stylus.

The reason is that the battery isn’t easily replaceable like the pencil tip.

How Long Does It Take To Charge an Apple Pencil?

The Apple Pencil is a precision stylus with a built-in rechargeable battery.

As a result, it charges quickly, and the battery lasts for hours of continuous use. 

Typically, it takes about 15 minutes or more to charge fully, depending on the situation.

To your knowledge, the time it takes to charge an Apple Pencil will depend on the Charging method you use, the iPad’s battery life, and the frequency of usage.

Typically, you can charge the stylus by connecting it to an IPad using the Lightning connector with iPad Pro.

Likewise, another alternative is using any standard USB power adapter.

#1. Charging Method

If you utilize the lightning connector methodology, the charging process will be faster, sometimes even less than 15 minutes.

Conversely, if you’re using the adapter, it will take about an hour or more to charge.

The situation can worsen when the voltage supply is meager or compromised. The higher the wattage, the faster the pencil will charge up.

#2. iPad’s Battery Life

The battery life of your iPad can likewise be a significant determinant of the stylus’ charging speed.

If you have a fully charged iPad, it will take less time to charge your pencil.

The lightning cable must connect to your iPad using the lightning connector method. 

Thus the more battery life you have left on your iPad, the longer it’ll take the pencil to power up.

Additionally, the iPad model sometimes affects the charging speed. Specifically, older models take a long time, while newer models take lesser time. 

This disparity may be because of improvements in operation and software updates. 

As a guide, avoid using the iPad frequently. Using the tablet more often will drain its battery faster, causing the pencil not to charge efficiently.

#3. The Frequency of Usage

If you use your Apple pencil frequently, its charging time will increase and be longer than usual when it’s on power.

For instance, if you use it for 10 minutes and then let it charge for 30 minutes, the charging time will be longer than if you charge it for 10 minutes after using it for 10 minutes.

How To Check Apple Pencil Battery?

The Apple Pencil is one good stylus for all, but it can be frustrating to figure out how much battery life is left.

There are a few ways to check the battery life of your Apple Pencil.

One is navigating to settings and tapping the Apple pencil menu. By doing so, the battery level will display.

Another alternative is activating the batteries widget to appear on your home screen or the Today view if it’s not already there. 

The process varies depending on the IOS version, so pick the one that applies to you and follow the procedures.

For iPadOS 15,

  • Hold onto any area on the screen until the screen’s wiggle mode activates.
  • Locate the plus (+) sign and click on it.
  • Choose batteries and select the widget style.
  • Click on add widget.

For iPadOS 13,

  • Swipe the iPad to display the Today View.
  • Locate the edit knob and click on it.
  • The device’s available widgets will display. Then, add the batteries widget by tapping on the plus sign(+) close to ‘batteries.’ 
  • Additionally, you can rearrange the widget display on the screen.
  • Click on done.

Overall, activating the battery widget isn’t a complex process. However, sometimes you may find that the battery indicator isn’t still showing.

In such cases, try out the following:

  • First, ensure that the Bluetooth connection is active.
  • Wait for some time.
  • Disconnect and reconnect the stylus to the connector.

Assuming the pencil is entirely down, it’ll take a little while before the battery level appears, so don’t panic.

Summary

Apple has designed its smart pencils so it’s impossible to use them while they charge.

This design serves as a protective mechanism against easy-to-occur battery issues.

For proper battery maintenance, always ensure that;

  • The Apple pencil doesn’t go down completely.
  • The stylus is always charged when not in use.
  • There’s no exposure to a direct liquid stream. 

Leave a Comment