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Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

arstechnica.com

71–80 of 164 posts

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#71

Tangential rant. Has tablet computer really improved since the last Google Nexus 7 tablet, which was released in 2013? Seriously, I was in the market for an affordable tablet, and quite bizarrely the tablet computers today have significantly underwhelming spec compared to a phone of the same price point. There is no budget tab from known manufacturers. Even at IPad level prices, the android counterpart is quite under…

We have a stack of non iPad tablets for playing music to patients. I think there are 4 or 5 there now.

They are so unresponsive that each has been abandoned, then Siemens buy us a new, higher spec one. They all behave the same. Laggy, unresponsive and actual junk.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#72
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think this is most likely. Then when you change the serial you're using the calibration data for the wrong screen, but most of the time you're lucky and the two screens behave close enough that an average user doesn't notice.

Probably for touch the effects are negligible as the accuracy needed for touch is much more coarse compared to accuracy needed for Apple Pencil drawing. So if calibration is perfecting things at Apple Pencil-level accuracy, it should already be below the threshold of touch-based highest acceptable margin of error anyway.

Touch and pen would generally require completely different calibrations because touch is detected by the capacitive touch screen whereas the pen position is tracked inductively.

However, I wonder why the pen calibration data is not stored on an controller on the display panel? That would absolutely make sense.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#73
post #2

Note: I slightly edited the title for accuracy. In particular, it appears "third-party replacement screens" doesn't refer to third-party-manufactured screens, but merely replacements performed by third parties using genuine Apple screens. And we simply know that they don't draw straight lines, not that they "can't". More reading: https://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/15cxwaa/apple_penc...

My god, the narrative. "Apple is doing this just to fuck with users, fuck apple" etc over and over despite zero evidence as to their intention here. One sane person comes up with the more likely explanation: > That implies to me the calibration is unique to each screen and a proper repair has a calibration setup step? And someone just dismisses that perfectly logical explanation completely out of hand, declaring 'all…

This sure as hell isn't about "calibration". Using the old controller with the new screen causes it to start working correctly. If anything that would be more likely to be using the wrong calibration constants (the ones for the old screen).

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#74
post #45

Tangential rant. Has tablet computer really improved since the last Google Nexus 7 tablet, which was released in 2013? Seriously, I was in the market for an affordable tablet, and quite bizarrely the tablet computers today have significantly underwhelming spec compared to a phone of the same price point. There is no budget tab from known manufacturers. Even at IPad level prices, the android counterpart is quite under…

The pencil is the differentiator. I would not get an iPad today if I could not use it for art. And it is amazing for art. I did have a Nexus 7 and it was great. I used it to hold my cached maps on motorcycle adventures. But these days you can get a "phone" that's practically as large as a Nexus 7 was, has way more storage, better battery life, and better performance. A Pixel 7 Pro has a display 80% as large as the Ne…

This is my assessment as well. iPad with Apple Pencil, mirrored screen for photoshop, and you have a seriously good and portable wacom centiq. Just, smaller, and can play games.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#75

Tangential rant. Has tablet computer really improved since the last Google Nexus 7 tablet, which was released in 2013? Seriously, I was in the market for an affordable tablet, and quite bizarrely the tablet computers today have significantly underwhelming spec compared to a phone of the same price point. There is no budget tab from known manufacturers. Even at IPad level prices, the android counterpart is quite under…

I've been very happy with my Nokia T10

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#76

Tangential rant. Has tablet computer really improved since the last Google Nexus 7 tablet, which was released in 2013? Seriously, I was in the market for an affordable tablet, and quite bizarrely the tablet computers today have significantly underwhelming spec compared to a phone of the same price point. There is no budget tab from known manufacturers. Even at IPad level prices, the android counterpart is quite under…

Biggest issue for me and why I stick with ipads is the 4:3(ish) aspect ratio. 16:10/16:9 is a terrible aspect ratio for tablets IMO.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently it is not. The reddit thread has an ex Apple employee who runs repair shops in Germany. He says if you just change the serial number of a iPad screen(using specialised hardware) in existing iPad this issue will appear. This seems to indicate that it’s intentionally done by Apple. Other option is that Apple bakes in calibration details of all possible serial numbers in every iPad sold which doesn’t sound li…

Could it be something like this: At software level iOS registers some calibration data (after some factory calibration) tied to that specific serial number (as calibration makes sense only for that specific instance of the panel anyway) so when serial number changes iOS can't find calibration data on device and continues uncalibrated instead of trying to use calibrations for another-serial screen (from the OS perspec…

It only makes sense from the perspective of screwing third-party repair and then trying to come up with something with plausible deniability. Are people swapping screens frequently enough to justify the extra complexity of keeping calibration data segregated by serial number?

Printer manufacturers have been pulling the same trick with storing (approximations of) ink levels in chips in the cartridge, claiming that it makes it easy for users to swap cartridges and continue to have accurate quantities and in that case there's a little bit more truth to the argument, but not this one.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#78
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you make Apple devices totally worthless to thieves, you discourage theft. Make them bricks which can't even be harvested for parts. That's the goal apparently, and it makes sense.

This. As a user I'm okay with using only authorized components if it makes theft virtually impractical as there wouldn't be much to use even if the device is stolen. It will give me more peace of mind as no one will have the incentive to steal an iPad anymore.

I'm not. It's only creating more e-waste, and thieves will find a way around it sooner or later anyway.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#79
post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The pencil is the differentiator. I would not get an iPad today if I could not use it for art. And it is amazing for art. I did have a Nexus 7 and it was great. I used it to hold my cached maps on motorcycle adventures. But these days you can get a "phone" that's practically as large as a Nexus 7 was, has way more storage, better battery life, and better performance. A Pixel 7 Pro has a display 80% as large as the Ne…

This is my assessment as well. iPad with Apple Pencil, mirrored screen for photoshop, and you have a seriously good and portable wacom centiq. Just, smaller, and can play games.

How is the pressure sensitivity compared with a "real" drawing tablet?

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#80
post #4

Seems to me like it might be a calibration issue, and third parties aren’t able to perform the calibration.

> third parties aren’t able to perform the calibration.

Which is an even bigger issue caused entirely by apples anti-competitive anti-user practices.

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