Ahead of the iPad Pro’s launch in November, sources have shared a couple of tidbits regarding launch plans for the device. We are told that Apple this week has started training its AppleCare support staff to become familiar with troubleshooting the larger tablet. Apple typically prepares its support network on major new products in the couple of weeks prior to the device’s launch. Apple is asking its support centers to complete their training by Friday, November 6th, which indicates that the iPad Pro is likely still on track for the early November launch we previously discussed.
In related news, sources familiar with the iPad Pro’s Apple Pencil accessory say that the company has come up with a secondary solution to charging the stylus. As Apple demonstrated on stage in September, the default way of charging the Apple Pencil is to insert its Lightning connector into the bottom of the iPad Pro. Some users have wondered if this would open up the tip of the stylus’s Lightning connector to bends and breaks, and Apple’s solution will be an adapter that comes with the stylus.
The adapter (pictured above) will allow users to charge the accessory with a standard USB Lightning cable. This means that users will be able to charge the Apple Pencil via a wall adapter, computer’s USB port, or any other power source that can be used to charge up an iPhone or iPad. The dot that can be seen in the image of the adapter indicates the correct orientation needed for the adapter to function correctly. The iPad Pro starts at $799 and comes in 32GB and 128GB configurations, with an LTE model available exclusively at the 128GB tier.
