With roots in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, the art of calligraphy traces back thousands of years. While I've long appreciated it, I've had little interest in learning how to do it, that is, until recently, when Apple rolled out iPadOS 26 public beta, which includes a new reed pen, a virtual tool perfectly built for digital calligraphy.
A reed pen is what it sounds like: a reed with one end carved or cut into a nib with a small split at the end that can deliver ink to paper (or papyrus!). In real life, calligraphers use it because it lets them apply black lines of varying thicknesses – from thick to needle-point thinness – by adjusting pressure and angle, and by how they draw the nib across the page.
