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IPadOS 26
2025 tablet operating system by Apple From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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).[4]
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.
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New features and changes
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User interface
For the first time since iOS 7, the user interface was redesigned. It uses a new design, using a new 'material' named 'Liquid Glass', with icons and menus having increased uses of transparency similar to visionOS.
Window management
A new 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.[5]
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.[6]
The existing full-screen and Stage Manager window management modes are still available; Stage Manager is now also 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.[7]Split View and Slide Over were removed as part of the new window management system.[8]
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.[9]
Preview
iPadOS 26 now has a Preview app, similar to its equivalent on macOS, with Apple Pencil support to enable features such as markup.[10]
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.[11] The local capture is encoded as an MP4 file, using HEVC video and FLAC audio.[12]
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Supported devices
iPadOS 26 requires an A12 processor or later. It drops support for the iPad (7th generation), which features an A10 SoC.[13][14]
The iPad Air (3rd generation) is the only supported iPad with a 10.5-inch display, while the iPad Mini (5th generation) is the only supported iPad with a 7.9-inch display.
Apple Intelligence requires an Apple M1 or Apple A17 Pro processor or newer.[15][16]
iPads that support iPadOS 26 are:
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Release history
The first developer beta of iPadOS 26 was released on June 9, 2025.
See also
References
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