The tiny dot pointer in iPadOS 18 is not so great to work with, thankfully Apple has changed it completely in iPadOS 26.
Apple is Fixing the Mouse Pointer in iPadOS 26 by Changing its Shape from a Dot to an Actual Pointer
Using a mouse in iPadOS is not a task anyone can take up. Sure, it works in most cases, but the pointer really slows you down.
It’s just a dot on the screen that morphs into the shape of a button whenever you pass over it, unlike the Mac or any other desktop operating system out there.
With iPadOS 26, Apple is changing the shape of the mouse pointer completely, and it now resembles a traditional mouse pointer more – just without the stem.
Since the new iPadOS update resembles the Mac in certain ways, this change makes perfect sense.
Apple says the new pointer is precise, and I agree with that, since it’s actually a pointer and not a floating dot on the screen.
Working with the dot pointer in editing apps that have a ton of sliders in them is the sort of pain no one should experience. The new mouse pointer ensures you know exactly where you’re clicking, because that’s how mouse pointers have worked for a long time.
This was one of the reasons that I distanced myself from iPad lately. But these small changes, including the menu bar, makes the iPad so much worth using going forward.
I’ve stopped installing betas on my devices since they can be extremely buggy, but iPadOS 26 is certainly the one I’m going to make an exception for.
