How to Use the Virtual Trackpad on iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

How to Use the Virtual Trackpad on iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max

by

One of the more useful actions that 3D Touch makes possible is pressing an iPhone's onscreen keyboard to turn it into a virtual trackpad. If you ‌3D Touch‌, the keyboard turns blank and morphs into a trackpad that allows you to quickly move the cursor on the screen through the text you've written.

virtual trackpad on iphone 11
This popular gesture is useful because it allows you to make quick edits without having to reach up and tap the display. However, in its latest crop of devices, Apple has replaced ‌3D Touch‌ with Haptic Touch, and the way the virtual trackpad activates has changed slightly.

On iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, you have to press and hold on the spacebar to bring up the trackpad. In other words, pressing just anywhere on the keyboard no longer works.

It's a small adjustment, but it's worth highlighting in case you tried to activate the virtual trackpad on your new iPhone in the traditional way and wondered why it wasn't working. Note that the gesture functions similarly on all Apple devices that lack ‌3D Touch‌, including the iPhone XR and all models of iPad.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

840quadra Avatar
91 months ago
A big step backwards for many of us. Just have to use the iPad muscle memory for this feature. Practicing on my max, this is a far slower way to do a quick edit or highlight.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wide opeN Avatar
91 months ago

RIP 3D Touch. But hello beautiful new iPhone 11 Pro!
I fear this is the logic that encourages Apple to make these moves without reservation.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
91 months ago
FYI, if you tap with another finger on the "trackpad" while doing this you can also select text.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
91 months ago
A real shame — gestures like this showed the potential 3D Touch had.

I guess the talking point an Apple exec gave a couple years ago about 3D Touch being a long term investment and something they really believe in was just a bunch of baloney.


FYI, if you tap with another finger on the "trackpad" while doing this you can also select text.
Thank you! This answered my biggest question.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
haruhiko Avatar
91 months ago
The only one 3D Touch gesture I'm going miss for a long long time.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tennisproha Avatar
91 months ago
So basically it’s an inferior 3D Touch. The beauty of 3D Touch is that it allows for more function options in addition to press-and-hold. You can have 3D Touch do one thing and press-hold do another.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...
iOS 27 Icon iPhone

iOS 27 Available Today With These 8 New Features

Monday September 14, 2026 9:00 am PDT by
Update: Apple has released iOS 27. During its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo event last week, Apple announced that iOS 27 will be released widely on Monday, September 14. iOS 27 should be available around 10 a.m. Pacific Time / 1 p.m. Eastern Time today via the Settings app, under General → Software Update. Below, we have highlighted eight new features and changes coming with iOS...
deep black iphone 18 pro

Apple Says iPhone 18 Pro Max Sold in U.S. Differs in One Way

Saturday September 12, 2026 3:27 pm PDT by
As noted by Nicolas Lellouche, who writes for the French tech website Numerama, Apple has updated its tech specs pages for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max to clarify which models are equipped with its new C2 cellular modem and where. Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. According...

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors