Oliver Haslam on March 18, 2020, 9:07 pm

iOS 13.4 / iPadOS 13.4 Release Date Announced; New iPad Pro Magic Keyboard Compatible With 2018 Models

Apple today announced new iPad Pro refreshes as well as a new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, but buried deep in the announcement post Apple also outed the release date for iPadOS 13.4, and, presumably iOS 13.4, too.

The big date is March 24, with Apple noting that this is also the update that will bring trackpad support to the iPad lineup.

That in turn means that anyone wanting to connect a trackpad to their iPad won’t need to buy a new one – they can use their existing tablet instead.

iPadOS 13.4 with trackpad support will be available on March 24 as a free software update for all iPad Pro models, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 4 and later.

Trackpad support will be available on any iPad running iPadOS 13.4, and work with Apple’s Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2 and the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Third-party mice connected over Bluetooth or USB are also supported.

This update is also the one that will add support for the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro, although that isn’t going to be available for a few weeks yet.

The iPadOS 13.4 update doesn’t just add support for trackpads, though. It also changes the way on-screen elements react when they are hovered over. Apple seemed to really want to avoid just turning the iPad into a Mac, and it’s clear the whole interface will take touch-based characteristics into consideration.

This video by Benjamin Mayo illustrates the point best.

This is definitely an improvement over the accessibility features that Apple added in iPadOS 13, that’s for sure.