The iPad's cursor, a translucent circle with momentum and the ability to change form based on the context, is more convincing and simply more fun
Apple's new iPadOS 13.4 adds enhanced support for trackpads. And with that, a shiny new cursor. — I gasped when I first saw the iPad's new cursor …
Context & Ripple Effects
The cursor didn't appear out of nowhere: Apple first shipped mouse support as an accessibility setting in iPadOS, then leaked code pointed to trackpad-equipped Smart Keyboards weeks before launch. With iPadOS 13.4, that hidden setting becomes a first-class pointer — translucent, momentum-driven, and morphing to match whatever it hovers over.
The design is deliberate enough that Craig Federighi later framed it as a significant change to the pointer paradigm itself, and Apple moved fast on software: iWork gained trackpad and mouse support alongside iCloud folder sharing. Within weeks, Microsoft was reportedly planning cursor support for Office for iPad — the clearest sign the platform's biggest app vendor read this as permanent, not cosmetic.
First-order effects
- iPad owners with the rumored trackpad Smart Keyboards get real pointer input overnight, and app makers like Apple's own iWork team must add hover states and cursor-aware UI to stay usable.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's reported plan to bring cursor support to Office for iPad shows third-party developers reworking touch-first apps around the pointer, effectively ratifying Apple's new interaction model.
Third-order effects
- A pointer plus multi-window behavior points the iPad toward Mac-like computing — a trajectory the related coverage makes explicit years later when Apple unveils iPadOS 26 with fluidly resizable windows and a Mac-like Preview app.
The trend: Apple is converging the iPad on desktop computing conventions — pointer, trackpads, windowing — by absorbing them into a touch-first OS rather than shipping a separate laptop-class product.