Following Apple’s unveiling of iOS 9 last week, and the subsequent release of the first developer beta, developers continue to find code snippets hinting at features Apple didn’t mention. One such code snippet revealed Monday by noted developer Steve Troughton-Smith points at iOS 9 support for a larger iPad keyboard. (via AppleInsider)

The keyboard, according to Troughton-Smith, “seems to scale to a much larger heretofore unseen iPad screen size” and adds a shortcut bar, dedicated Tab and Caps Lock keys, and an extra row of keys just for characters such as exclamation marks and parentheses.

The layout of the larger iPad keyboard in iOS 9, as shown by Troughton-Smith, more closely resembles the hardware keyboards found on laptops and desktops.

Also new in iOS 9 – UIKeyboard seems to scale to a much larger heretofore unseen iPad screen size 😛 #ipadproconfirmed pic.twitter.com/Q9eN9CLCKQ

— Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) June 15, 2015

In the new layout, the second page of keys is also rearranged. A row of numbers replaces the toolbar row of symbols and the symbols appear larger in size than on the first page. Notably the larger keyboard does away with the third page of symbols – everything now fits on only two pages.

The keyboard can only be viewed using developer tools to set a virtual screen size bigger than found on Apple’s biggest current iPads, the iPad Air and iPad Air 2 with 9.7 inch 2048 x 1536 pixel displays.

Rumors of a new 12 inch plus iPad Pro have been doing the rounds for some time. Apple’s addition of a larger keyboard than is supported by current iPads seems to confirm that the company is in fact working on a larger-screen iPad.

With iOS 9, Apple also introduced new iPad multitasking features – Split Screen, Slide Over and Picture in Picture – all of which will be suited to a 12 inch plus iPad.

Other rumors suggest the 12 inch plus iPad Pro may come with a stylus and connectivity for hardware keyboards and USB devices – likely via a USB-C port. Rumors have also suggested that iOS 9 for iPad will support multi-user login aimed at business and education environments for which the iPad Pro is intended, although this was notably absent from Apple’s iOS 9 unveiling.

If Apple is indeed working on a larger-screen iPad and follows tradition, we may see the iPad Pro unveiled in October – a month after the company is expected to unveil the next iPhone.

Image via apple.com