Software:IPadOS 26

From HandWiki
iPadOS 26
A version of the iPadOS operating system
iPadOS 26 running on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro
DeveloperApple
Source modelClosed with open-source components
General
availability		September 15, 2025; 4 months ago (2025-09-15)
Marketing targetiPads
Available in42 languages
List of languages
Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional (Hong Kong), Chinese Traditional (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Finnish, French (Canada), French (France), German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Lithuanian, (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Default user interfaceLiquid Glass
Preceded byiPadOS 18
Official websiteapple.com/os/ipados/
Support status
Supported. Drops support for the iPad (7th generation).
Articles in the series
iOS 26
macOS Tahoe
visionOS 26
watchOS 26
tvOS 26

iPadOS 26 is the seventh and current major release of Apple's iPadOS operating system for the iPad. It was announced on WWDC25 on June 9, 2025, and was released on September 15, 2025. It is the direct successor to iPadOS 18 and was announced alongside iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26. Additionally, starting from this version of iPadOS, Apple changed its numbering convention for consistency across all operating systems, instead naming all of them after the next year (in this case, 26).[1]

iPadOS 26 debuted a new design using "Liquid Glass". It was the first version of iPadOS to be exclusive to iPads with Apple's Neural Engine, as it dropped support for the seventh-generation iPad, making it the first iPadOS version to drop support for an iPad with the 10.2-inch display, the first version since iOS 11 to drop support for only one model, and third version overall to drop support for only one iPad model.

New features and changes

User interface

For the first time since iOS 7, the user interface was redesigned. It uses a new design, using a new UI "material" named "Liquid Glass", with icons and menus having increased uses of transparency similar to visionOS.

Window management

Replacing the existing Split View and Slide Over introduced in iOS 9,[2] a new optional windowing system creates a similar experience to macOS. Apps are freely resizable, with "traffic light" controls akin to macOS that allow a user to minimize an app, close it, or make it full-screen. Window tiling options are also available when flicking windows to edges of the display or using new tiling options. A macOS-style menu bar is also available by swiping down on the top of the display.[3] The new system is powered by a new windowing engine that optimizes window rendering by analyzing which windows are being actively used. This allows the new windowing system to be available on all iPads that support iPadOS 26, while also allowing more windows on the screen at once.[4]

Due to being revamped to use the same internal architecture, the existing Stage Manager is now supported by all iPads that support iPadOS 26, instead of only models with M-series chips and A-series iPad Pro models with iPadOS 18 support.[5]

Journal

The Journal app, previously available only on iOS, now has a dedicated iPadOS and macOS version, with the iPadOS version having support for the Apple Pencil stylus.[6]

Preview

iPadOS 26 now has a Preview app, similar to its equivalent on macOS, with Apple Pencil support to enable features such as markup.[7]

Local Capture

iPadOS can now separately record high-quality video and audio streams while using applications like video conferencing, which can be shared or used in editing applications for podcasting.[8] The local capture is encoded as an MP4 file, using HEVC video and FLAC audio.[9]

Supported devices

iPadOS 26 requires an A12 processor or later. It drops support for the 7th-generation iPad, which features an A10 SoC.[10][11]

The 3rd-generation iPad Air is the only supported iPad with a 10.5-inch display, while the 5th-generation iPad Mini is the only supported iPad with a 7.9-inch display.

Apple Intelligence requires an Apple M1 or Apple A17 Pro processor or newer.[12][13]

iPads that support iPadOS 26 are:

Device Chipset Release year Supported Apple Intelligence support
iPad (8th generation) A12 2020 Yes No
iPad (9th generation) A13 2021 Yes No
iPad (10th generation) A14 2022 Yes No
iPad (A16) A16 2025 Yes No
iPad mini (5th generation) A12 2019 Yes No
iPad mini (6th generation) A15 2021 Yes No
iPad mini (A17 Pro) A17 Pro 2024 Yes Yes
iPad Air (3rd generation) A12 2019 Yes No
iPad Air (4th generation) A14 2020 Yes No
iPad Air (5th generation) M1 2022 Yes Yes
iPad Air (M2) M2 2024 Yes Yes
iPad Air (M3) M3 2025 Yes Yes
iPad Pro (3rd generation) A12X 2018 Yes No
iPad Pro (4th generation) A12Z 2020 Yes No
iPad Pro (5th generation) M1 2021 Yes Yes
iPad Pro (6th generation) M2 2022 Yes Yes
iPad Pro (M4) M4 2024 Yes Yes
iPad Pro (M5) M5 2025 Yes Yes

Release history

The first developer beta of iPadOS 26 was released on June 9, 2025.

iPadOS 26 releases
Version Build Release date Notes
rowspan="2" 26.0 23A8330 N/A Preinstalled on iPad Pro (M5) models
23A341 2025 Developer release notes
Release notes
Security content
rowspan="3" 26.0.1 23A355 2025
23A8464 2025 iPad Pro (M5) models only
23A8466 2025
26.1 RC 23B82 2025 Developer release notes
{{{2}}}

See also

References

  1. ↑ "There's No Apple iOS 19: iPhone 17 To Have iOS 26 In Radical Change, Report Claims". 2025-05-30. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidphelan/2025/05/30/forget-ios-19-apple-to-launch-iphone-17-with-radically-different-software-report-says/. 
  2. ↑ Christoffel, Ryan (2025-06-09). "PSA: iPadOS 26 removes Split View and Slide Over multitasking features" (in en-US). https://9to5mac.com/2025/06/09/psa-ipados-26-removes-split-view-and-slide-over-multitasking-features/. 
  3. ↑ Pierce, David (2025-06-09). "Apple launches iPadOS 26 with a new look and way better multitasking" (in en-US). https://www.theverge.com/apple/679420/apple-ipados-wwdc-2025. 
  4. ↑ "Interview: Craig Federighi Opens Up About iPadOS, Its Multitasking Journey, and the iPad’s Essence" (in en-US). 2025-06-18. https://www.macstories.net/stories/interview-craig-federighi-opens-up-about-ipados-its-multitasking-journey-and-the-ipads-essence/. 
  5. ↑ "iOS 26: All the Little Changes" (in en). 2025-06-09. https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/09/ios-26-all-the-little-changes/. 
  6. ↑ "Journal App Finally Coming to Mac and iPad" (in en). 2025-06-09. https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/09/journal-app-finally-coming-to-mac-and-ipad/. 
  7. ↑ "Apple is bringing Preview to iPadOS" (in en-US). 2025-06-09. https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/apple-is-bringing-preview-to-ipados-175643371.html. 
  8. ↑ "How Local Capture immediately turns iPad into a podcasting studio" (in en). 2025-06-10. https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/06/10/how-local-capture-immediately-turns-ipad-into-a-podcasting-studio. 
  9. ↑ "A few notes on iPadOS 26 audio and video capture" (in en-us). 2025-06-20. https://sixcolors.com/post/2025/06/a-few-notes-on-ipados-26-audio-and-video-capture/. 
  10. ↑ Cunningham, Andrew (2025-06-09). "Apple drops support for just three iPhone and iPad models from iOS and iPadOS 26" (in en). https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/ios-and-ipados-26-will-run-on-most-things-that-support-ios-and-ipados-18/. 
  11. ↑ "iOS 26, iPadOS 26 Are Compatible With These iPhone and iPad Models" (in en). 2025-06-10. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/ios-ipados-26-compatible-iphone-ipad-apple-wwdc-2025-8630859. 
  12. ↑ Prospero, Mike (June 10, 2024). "Here are the devices that will support Apple Intelligence — no older iPhones allowed" (in en). https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/here-are-the-devices-that-will-support-apple-intelligence-no-older-iphones-allowed. 
  13. ↑ "iPadOS 26 Preview" (in en-US). https://www.apple.com/os/ipados. 



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