So, I went to the Apple Store....

Specifically one that had iPad pros listed as in stock, because, why not?

I really wanted to see how Forscore worked with the Pencil and since Best Buy doesn't have that set up, I needed to head to an Apple store to find that out. I walked out without anything new. It was, in a word, disappointing.

First off, the Pencil. Glossy plastic may look pretty in press renders, but it's not comfortable when you've come from years and years of matte and soft touch stylii. It's also long, really long for how thin it is. The proportions felt awkward to me. That combined with slippery glossy plastic made it something I suppose I could tolerate, but not something I liked.

That said, ink is beautifully accurate and smooth in Forscore. I'm not a graphic or visual artist, so I can't speak to the pressure curve or any other fancy, artisty type needs, but for scratching bowings in to a part before anyone has noticed I dropped out for a bit, it's great.

BUT! And this really big but has tempered my excitement over the device - you still have to long press, or two finger tap, or whatever your shortcut of choice is, to enter edit mode. A long press or two finger tap to edit isn't the end of the world, but for me, it's enough of a trip up to be annoying. It takes me out of the rehearsal and into the device. Or out of "play the music" and into "do stuff on the tablet" mode. Gears I don't have to switch to write on the Surface.

Another biggie is the lack of an erase button. Sure, the Surface pen's "eraser" isn't really, it's just a shortcut to OneNote button. But there are two other buttons on the pen under your thumb, one of which IS an eraser. That means I don't even have to turn the thing around to erase, let alone tap on the erase tool from the toolbar in edit mode.

Oh! And there's that little thing where Forscore kept freezing and then crashing when I tried to erase stuff. I would have chalked it up to being and evaluation version of the app, but the iPad mini did not crash when I loaded it up with markings and then erased them with my finger.

Well, all of those things and the fact that the Pencil isn't really available yet. An apple store employee mentioned they get a few in at a time, but they sell out very quickly. The website still shows a 4-5 week shipping delay.

At least we were able to have some fancy-pants boutique grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner while we were down there.

UPDATE: It has been pointed out that as of yesterday, an update to Forscore allows direct inking. Thanks Techinmusiced. Maybe there is an iPad Pro in my future after all...