In what will be a welcome addition for Mac users that leverage BootCamp to run Windows 10 on macOS, Apple is finally adding support for Microsoft Precision Touchpad drivers to the software. This brings a native solution to use Windows-specific gestures on not just on MacBook trackpads, but also on external offerings such as the Magic Trackpad, negating the need to install third-party drivers and software.
The update to BootCamp bumping the version up to 6.1.15 was spotted by Reddit user ar25nan (via PiunikaWeb). The release notes suggest that “some settings” will use Precision Touchpad defaults, so it is not clear if those who prefer third-party solutions will be affected by the update. The change enables support for three- and four-finger swipe gestures, the ability to right click by tapping the lower right corner, and more.
However, the addition of support for Precision Touchpad gestures is limited to devices with Apple’s T2 security chip, according to the support article posted by the firm. The article also provides a way for users to check if their devices support the drivers. This means that devices introduced since 2018 with the chip will be eligible for the update. Those interested can check out the complete list of supported devices here.
While Precision drives have been around since 2013, there hasn’t been a native solution on the Mac to leverage the benefits of the drivers when using Windows on BootCamp. While third parties such as Trackpad++ have provided viable alternatives, it is good to finally have Apple support the drivers natively, especially for Intel Macs running BootCamp – considering that the firm is slowly transitioning to Apple Silicon powered Macs.