The Apple Pencil launched alongside the iPad Pro earlier this month, but the product has been essentially out of stock or in low supply almost everywhere across the launch market. Even demo units are not available in most of the Apple Stores, though this has more to do with them getting stolen easily rather than a lack of supply from Apple.
People who have visited Apple Stores over the last few days are reporting that most of the demo units of the Apple Pencil have been stolen. Considering that the Pencil is currently in short supply, thieves can actually sell it at a premium on eBay and it even gives them an incentive to steal more of them from their nearby Apple Stores.
.@marcoarment yesterday saw guy next to me steal a limited supply Apple pencil demo unit. Employees didn't bother chasing him
— Faisal Qureshi (@fqure) November 18, 2015
It's sad Apple did not think of how to prevent Apple Pencil theft (easy solution too). Lots were stolen at the @MetropolisatMet store.
— Nathan 🐑 (@itsnathanlam) November 18, 2015
Since the Apple Pencil is not tagged, stealing it is not a big deal: you simply walk into an Apple Store, pickup a demo unit, and then silently walk out while making sure that no one is watching you.
Unlike iPhones and iPads, a stolen Apple Pencil cannot be rendered useless by Apple since it does not really have any kind of security mechanism like Find My iPhone. There is not much one can do with a stolen Apple Pencil though beside selling it on eBay since the stylus works exclusively with the iPad Pro.
