Apple unveiled its latest stylus offering today at the company’s “Let Loose” iPad event, introducing the Apple Pencil Pro. This third-generation model brings significant upgrades over its predecessors, aiming to provide a more capable and secure drawing experience for creative professionals and digital artists.

The highlight of the Apple Pencil Pro is its newfound integration with Apple’s Find My network. This long-awaited feature allows users to locate their stylus should it ever go missing, providing a much-needed safeguard against the all-too-common scenario of misplacing the slim, pencil-shaped device.

However, the improvements extend far beyond mere locating capabilities. Apple has outfitted the Pencil Pro with a suite of new features that bring it closer in line with the sophisticated pens found on dedicated drawing tablets from brands like Wacom. Chief among these is the “Barrel Roll” gyroscope, which enables the stylus to adapt its functions based on how it is rotated in the user’s hand.

Complementing this is a new squeeze gesture, reminiscent of the stem on the AirPods Pro 2, that summons a palette for swiftly switching between different tools, colors, and line weights. Apple has also incorporated haptic feedback, providing a subtle pulse when the user squeezes or double-taps the stylus.

These enhancements are poised to offer a more intuitive and immersive creative experience, as demonstrated by the examples provided by James Cuda, CEO of the popular Procreate app. Cuda highlighted how the Barrel Roll feature could enable brushes to “respond in entirely new ways,” while the squeeze gesture could activate custom software shortcuts. Animators, too, stand to benefit, with the ability to move and rotate objects simultaneously while recording actions in Procreate Dreams.

Despite these promising additions, the Apple Pencil Pro does come with a notable caveat: compatibility. The stylus will only work with the newly announced M2 iPad Air and M4 OLED iPad Pro models, leaving users of older iPad hardware unable to take advantage of the upgrades.

Furthermore, while the Pencil Pro offers improved access to software shortcuts, creative professionals may still find dedicated drawing tablets like Wacom’s recently launched Movink 13 to be better suited for comfort and customization when it comes to the stylus experience.

Priced at $129 – the same as its second-generation predecessor – the Apple Pencil Pro is available for order today. Whether the new features prove compelling enough to sway artists and designers remains to be seen, but Apple’s efforts to push the boundaries of its stylus capabilities are commendable nonetheless.