Report: Apple is planning on an iPad keyboard cover with a trackpad
It looks like the iPad Pro is about to take another big step towards being a genuine laptop replacement. According to a new report in The Information, Apple is planning on releasing an iPad keyboard cover with a trackpad embedded.
The case will reportedly launch alongside the next version of the iPad Pro, so presumably won’t be coming to earlier models, unless the form factor is similar enough for it to be cross compatible.
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iPadOS already has support for mice, but it’s not exactly front and centre. Instead, it’s hidden away in the tablet’s AssistiveTouch technology settings. When enabled, you don’t get a classic arrow moving around, but a large semi-transparent circle with a dot in the middle.
If Apple is about to sell an accessory that’s all about taking advantage of the hidden feature, then it stands to reason that said feature is about to become a lot less hidden. And indeed that might be what Craig Federighi was hinting at during the annual shareholder meeting, where he said: “If you like what you’ve seen us do with iPadOS, stay tuned, we’re going to keep working on it.”
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It shouldn’t be a big surprise that Apple is planning a new batch of iPad Pros for 2020 – we just hope the company has read our wishlist of improvements for the tablet in the 2020s. For the Pro, we’re hoping for at least 128GB of storage, a faster charger in the box, proper file access and ideally a model with the iPad mini’s dinky form factor.
Still despite this scope for possible improvements, the iPad Pro is still pretty much as good as it gets for tablet fans. As Max wrote in our review: “If you can afford it – and you know what you’re getting into – and the iPad Pro fits into your workflow, it’s an exceptional device; one that will certainly impress.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
