Apple will be rolling out rich system-wide support for mouse cursors in iOS 14. The code snippets also point to Apple working on two Smart Keyboard models for the iPad Pro.

The enhanced mouse support in iOS 14 will make the cursor behave in the same way as it currently does on a Mac. This includes the arrow automatically switching to a pointing hand when hovering over links, etc. Compared to macOS though, one major difference will be that the mouse pointer will automatically hide after a few seconds of inactivity. This makes sense since iOS is a touch OS first and it is not meant to be primarily used with a mouse. Additionally, Apple is working on adding Mac-like gesture support, including the ability to tap with two fingers for a right-click.

Apple had added basic mouse support in iOS 13 as an accessibility feature. It is possible that the company will make the new mouse APIs available in Catalyst which would then allow developers to bring it to their Mac apps. Right now, Catalyst Mac apps lack the ability to change the mouse arrow to a cursor or a pointing hand depending on the content being displayed on the screen.

As for the new Smart Keyboards under development, the above features clearly indicate that they will come with a trackpad. iOS 14 will also have a “tap to click” option which hints at the trackpad offering some kind of haptic feedback. It is possible that one model of the Smart Keyboard will be for the 11-inch iPad Pro while the second one will be meant for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

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