I need to use a mouse with my ipad pro. What gives?

Pointless, and yet you just took the time and trouble to leave a comment. Why are you even following this thread if the feature under discussion holds zero interest for you?

The fact that the particular feature is not one that some of us want doesn't mean the discussion is uninteresting to us. Seems as if the person who's trying to shut people out of the discussion is you. It has been pointed out that the discussion won't change Apple's opinion (because they aren't reading it) and people have provided suggestions for how you might better make your thoughts known to Apple. But, you're certainly free to keep posting.

Here are a couple of tips that might make editing text in Pages simpler on an iPad.

Even though you can’t use a mouse with an iPad you can use your iPad like a trackpad. Don’t use the Apple Pencil to move insert marker (i-beam) in the text, the pencil will assume you want to draw or annotate the document. Press and hold with a single finger and then a magnifying glass will pop up above your finger, use this to find a place to put the insert marker then lift your finger. Editing options should appear above the insert marker such as select or select all, choose select. This will start the highlighting, to activate the trackpad mode press down with two fingers and hold anywhere on the iPad screen and drag left and right and you’ll see the highlighted region expand. When you let go you will see options to cut copy or delete, use cut. Then use the one finger press and hold and drag to get the magnifying glass again, then you can move the insert marker to where you want to paste, lift your finger. There should be options that appear that allow you to paste, select and let go.

Another good tool is to use the on screen software keyboard, press and hold the image of the keyboard and it will have two options undock or split select split. Then you’ll have two little keyboards the right and left side of the keyboard that you can access with your thumbs. To move the placement of the split keyboard up and down on the screen press lightly on the keypad I turn and slide up and down, don’t Click it. I found the easiest way to enter text is to use the dictation I can which is to the left of the spacebar. You can even say commands like period to enter a period instead of the word period and to enter a space say the word spacebar instead. Then use the split keyboard for fixing a possible errors that the dictation made placing the insert marker with a single finger press and hold. I agree using an external keyboard with a touchscreen is hopeless, but using the split keyboard and dictation and just holding the iPad and controlling it with your thumbs works pretty well.

Hope this helps. I even used this method to type this reply.

I tried your suggestion of switching the Apple Pencil to be select and scroll and it does work quite well. I wish that you didn’t have to go all the way into the settings to make this change and it would just be a toggle within Pages.

I think people just need to adjust to the different paradigms of iOS versus OS X. Once again the dictation almost makes the need for having an external keyboard obsolete (despite the drawback of needing Wi-Fi or cellular connection). This way using dictation and the software keyboard for minor corrections seems to work well. I’m not sure why so many reviews say that the iPad cannot replace a computer given that a Pages document and a numbers document or Keynote document are identical whether you create them on a Mac or iPad.

I think it is fair to say an iPad can replace a desktop or laptop for some tasks. But not for all tasks. So it really depends what you use and how you work on your desktop or laptop as to whether an iPad can replace it or not. I multitask all the time - I will often have Word, Excel, PowerPoint, analyses apps or text files all open at the same time as I write a paper, plus EndNote. I cannot multitask in iOS like that, so that alone means I would never consider any tablet a replacement for my computers. Not to mention working like that on a single small display would have me ripping out what little hair I still have (I like big, and multiple displays for most of what I do).

I know some of the MS Word documents I create for work won't even open on an iPad. Documents with embedded images, complex formatting (large or complex tables with some merged cells and such often seem to be difficult or impossible to work with in iOS for me in either Pages or Word) or which are just very large files, or live documents with linked data from other apps, are problematic at best in iOS and impossible at worst. I've also experienced issues with both Keynote and MS Powerpoint when you're working collaboratively on a presentation - iOS has trouble again with large files, complex transitions (may be related to the source of the images or content).

A lot of those issues are likely due to the limited RAM in any iOS device. None of my personal or work machines have less than 32Gb RAM. In iOS it just means that real-world large documents, presentations, spreadsheets and data files are inherently problematic (on any tablet).

Apple needs to decide if they want the ipad pro to forever be a part-time optional computing device or become a full-time, 8-hour workday device. It will never the latter without an option to rest ones arms while interacting with the screen for 8 hours.

Which is what? Their goal is to make money. The day they announce some sort of pointer on ios, their macbook sales will drop overnight. So lets not elevate the lack of pointer support to a high-minded dedication to principle. Its business. The ipad pro has all the horsepower and screen real-estate for all-day work. It only lacks the ergonomics of all-day work. Give it that and the end of the macbook is nigh. So, apple will continue to tease the ipad as a laptop replacement, without actual making it so. Thats their strategy - for now.

Which is what? Their goal is to make money. The day they announce some sort of pointer on ios, their macbook sales will drop overnight. So lets not elevate the lack of pointer support to a high-minded dedication to principle. Its business. The ipad pro has all the horsepower and screen real-estate for all-day work. It only lacks the ergonomics of all-day work. Give it that and the end of the macbook is nigh. So, apple will continue to tease the ipad as a laptop replacement, without actual making it so. Thats their strategy - for now.

Apple's strategy for the iPad has changed very little from when it was first released. I'd say the biggest change was the Pencil. That's what Lawrence means. Just because you think your strategy is better doesn't mean that Apple is going to agree with you (or that it is, in fact, an objectively better strategy).

I wish more readers would have read your reply, as in Oct 2018 Apple really started pushing iPad Pro as a full-blown laptop replacement. And once again, they’ve failed to address the need for mouse support.

You mentioned some excellent points regarding iPad Pro sales. As of Jan 2019, iPad sales have tanked. Apple places the blame firmly on sales figures out of China, although I can’t help but wonder about how many buyers may have been turned off by Apple’s recent issues regarding how “bendy” the new iPad Pro’s seem to be? Apple’s response that a visibly bent, brand new, right-out-of-the-box iPad Pro “meets or exceeds all of Apple’s high quality standards of design and precision manufacturing” left quite a few iPad Pro shoppers scratching their heads.

Or, perhaps some simply require mouse support?

Given Apple’s recent challenges Asia, hefty price hikes on iPhone and iPad, etc, shouldn’t Apple try to aggressively compete with Android & Windows devices? It’s unclear to me why anyone would defend the lack of a such useful feature, especially when Apple competes with products that already offer robust mouse support.

I own plenty of Apple products. I’m typing this reply on an iPad Mini. That said, I usually whip out my MacBook Pro 13” for any lengthy typing sessions. Even a dedicated, backlit hardware keyboard is still painful to use when editing large documents because navigating text with Apple’s magnifying glass is difficult with even moderately sized fonts. Yet, Apple still manages to confuse users with their claims that the iPad Pro is a feasible notebook replacement, even though Apple is the only tablet of the three major players in mobile that still doesn’t offer mouse support on its touch products.

Even those $50 Android tablets seen on eBay support the use of a mouse. I realize this is a weak comparison, as those considering an iPad Pro would likely pass on such a low-end product. But it does underscore the relatively low cost associated with adding this feature to a tablet.

How does Apple intend to compete with Android & Windows when it seems as if mouse support could be a determining factor as both Android & Windows are used a wider variety of mobile devices?

People seem to have selective reading and/or listening. At no time did Apple (as far as I can find anywhere) say iPad Pro is a laptop replacement. They did say, it is as powerful as a laptop (it is). They did it is as fast (in many cases faster) than a laptop (it is). They said the resolution of the display exceeds the resolution of most laptops (it does). They never said it is a laptop or provide all the functionality of a laptop.

I think you are mistaken about iPads tanking.

I believe it was iPhone sales that were tanking in China due some legal issues in China.

Did not read anything about iPads tanking in China/Asia.

The bendgate issue is with the 2018, 3rd gen Cellular, iPad Pro models as this slight bend CAN happen at the cellular antenna areas.

Not sure how widespread the bendgate issues are with these new 2018 iPad Pro models.

That stated,

Been using iPads for over 8 years!

Never needed mice or external keyboards, although I own two external Bluetooth keyboards that I can use with either my iPad Pro or my iMac.

By learning to actually use the iPad’s built-in software keyboard/s ( I use one other thrid party software keyboard ) I have access to iOS’s keyboard trackpad feature/ function that works just great for navigating and editing any text-based notes and documents.

I use that built-in iOS keyboard trackpad feature all the time, in additon to a thrid party software keyboard that includes text/document navigation arrows.

Apple is competing just fine.

Their strategy for iPads/iPad Pro is doing fine.

The iPad/iPad Pro is exactly how they envisioned these devices from nearly 20 years, ago.

Apple isn’t changing course on not adding any more support for additional, bulky, external input device’s.

Apple isn’t going out of business any time soon, either!

I will admit, that their higher pricing structures for all of their more premium iDevices, is a whole lot steeper than it has been in the past.

I think the higher price ranges/increases are the real reasons behind why Apple products are struggling.

Although, Mr Cook has yet to admit any of this in any interviews about Apple’s financial state of affairs.

Apple needs to bring back a more affordable iPhone and bring back both the lower cost iPad Mini and iPod Touch.

Here are a few reasons why your next computer just might be iPad Pro.

The above statement is from the Apple iPad pro site. If you still believe Apple is not promoting the ipad pro as a laptop replacement, that is selective reading indeed.

You DO know, technically speaking, ALL mobile devices ARE computers!

Even smart phones!

Apple is NOT stating that iPads/iPad Pros are full featured laptop computers .

Apple has NOT stated laptop replacement for their iPad Pro models.

Apple has stated the display and internal hardware is faster than 90% of the current laptop computers on the market.

Different.

Seriously? That's the best you can come up with??

Having been an iPad user since the very first one, that statement would not have lead me to believe iPad is a replacement for a laptop. No, not at all. Anyone who spends this much money on any device, would I think learn as much about them as they can. They might even visit an Apple Store to see one and learn a bit about how they operate. So no, I don't buy that people are buying these and somehow finding out after purchase that they aren't full function laptops. If they do, they simply didn't do enough research.

Quotes from MacDailyNews and Macworld.

“We find that there are many older users longing to make iPad work like a laptop, because that’s what they know.”

“Take a look at a twelve-year-old who’s only really ever used an iPad for personal computing. It’s an eyeopener. It’s like looking into the future.”

“The answer isn’t to try to make the iPad into a MacBook. The answer is to provide all the tools possible in iOS for developers to make robust apps that can take advantage of the multi-touch paradigm.”— MacDailyNews, May 16, 2017

“If you want a trackpad for your iPad, you already have one:

Hold your finger down anywhere on the iOS keyboard to access the trackpad feature for precise cursor control. To select text, simply place your cursor in your desired position, then use a second finger to tap the screen and the text selection tool will appear for use.”

Apple knows what they want iPads to do.

Don't think so from what I see these young teenagers doing on their iPad Pros.

No mention or impression that iPad Pro is a laptop replacement ANYWHERE in that ad.

None.

That student is using much of all the apps and stuff iPads normally do.

See my iPad Pro quotes two replies above yours.

Sorry.

Nice Try.

Thanks for playing!