Apple’s unveiling of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on March 21 (shipping at the end of the month) will make drawing on the iPad screen much easier, and this will help improve drawing capabilities on apps such as ForeFlight. Drawing on ForeFlight (and other apps) on a non-Pro iPad is challenging, because it is not possible to rest the wrist on the iPad’s screen while drawing; the screen detects each touch and draws something at that spot or draws lines between the two touchpoints. Using Apple’s Pencil with the iPad Pro, the user can write or draw normally, without needing to keep the wrist away from the display.

“What we’re most excited about with the new iPad Pro is the ability to use it with Apple Pencil, introduced last year alongside the original [12.9-inch] iPad Pro,” ForeFlight noted in a recent blog. “Made for the iPad, Pencil brings incredible precision to ForeFlight features like Scratchpads, annotations on plates and documents and logbook endorsements. Using the Pencil for these tasks helps you perform them faster and with better legibility [than] using a finger or a generic stylus.”

Other features of the new 9.7-inch iPad Pro promise to make it a popular upgrade for pilots, according to ForeFlight. These include reduced reflectivity by 40 percent and a 25 percent increasein brightness compared to the iPad Air 2. White-balance adjustments for more accurate color display and the Night Shift feature on iOS 9.3 (also available on non-Pro iPads) “will likely make the new iPad Pro’s viewing experience the best for use in the cockpit,” ForeFlight noted.