Yes, even I believe it was nothing more than just another business decision to bring more cash in with the new Pencil Pro. But I am curious as to why you said that the magnets for connecting the new Pencil could be in one of the two physical locations? Since they had no hindrance placing any other hardware on that edge, I would think they could have added magnets in both locations supporting both pencils. To me the whole Pencil 2 -> Pencil Pro is akin to moving from Lightning to USB-C; I know it’s for the better but still find comfort in the old one - not to mention paying another $100.

But anyways, Apple is running a business. And selling hardware has become more and more difficult these days given how long users tend to keep their old devices (especially if they are well designed). Making the Mini, which is such a perfect note-taking device, adopt the new Pencil was definitely a huge win in making all those users try out the new tech.

Thanks for reading!