Wikipedia

IPadOS 26

iPadOS 26
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)
Latest release26.2.1[1] (January 26, 2026; 1 day ago (2026-01-26)) [±]
Latest preview26.3 beta 3[2] (23D5114d)[3] (January 26, 2026; 1 day ago (2026-01-26)) [±]
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 interface		Liquid Glass
Preceded byiPadOS 18
Official websiteapple.com/os/ipados/
TaglineWork. Flows.
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 major release of Apple's iPadOS operating system for the iPad. It was announced on WWDC25 on June 9, 2025, and released on September 15, 2025. The direct successor to iPadOS 18, it was announced alongside iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26—all of which introduced the "Liquid Glass" design language. The version number—26, for 2026—reflects Apple's shift to a model-year nomenclature for its operating systems.[4]

iPadOS 26 only runs on iPads with Apple's Neural Engine. It dropped support for exactly one iPad (7th-generation iPad), becoming the third version to do so and the first since iOS 11. It was the first iPadOS version to drop support for an iPad with a 10.2-inch display.

New features and changes

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Design language

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iPadOS 26 introduced a new design language, the first since iOS 7, dubbed "Liquid Glass". Many UI elements are more transparent, similar to visionOS.

UI

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A new optional windowing system replaced the Split View and Slide Over introduced in iOS 9,[5] creating 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.[6] 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.[7]

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.[8]

Journal

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

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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]

Supported devices

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iPadOS 26 requires an A12 chip or later. It drops support for the 7th-generation iPad, which has an A10 SoC.[13][14]

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. Both of these, along with the 8th gen iPad are the supported white bezel iPads that run iPadOS 26.

Apple Intelligence requires an Apple M1 or Apple A17 Pro processor or newer.[15][16]

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

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

iPadOS 26 releases
Version Build Release date Notes
Unsupported: 26.0 23A8330 Preinstalled on iPad Pro (M5) models
23A341 September 15, 2025
Unsupported: 26.0.1 23A355 September 29, 2025
23A8464 October 15, 2025 iPad Pro (M5) models only
23A8466 October 21, 2025
Unsupported: 26.1 23B85 November 3, 2025
Unsupported: 26.2 23C55 December 12, 2025
Latest version: 26.2.1 23C71 January 26, 2026 Support for AirTag 2
Preview version: 26.3 beta 3 23D5103d January 26, 2026
Legend:
Unsupported
Latest version
Preview version

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Clover, Juli (January 26, 2026). "Apple Releases iOS 26.2.1 With AirTag 2 Support". MacRumors. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  2. ^ Clover, Juli (January 26, 2026). "Apple Seeds Third Betas of iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3 to Developers". MacRumors. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  3. ^ "iPadOS 26.3 beta 3 (23D5114d) - Releases". Apple Developer. January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  4. ^ "There's No Apple iOS 19: iPhone 17 To Have iOS 26 In Radical Change, Report Claims". Forbes. 2025-05-30. Retrieved 2025-06-02.
  5. ^ Christoffel, Ryan (2025-06-09). "PSA: iPadOS 26 removes Split View and Slide Over multitasking features". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  6. ^ Pierce, David (2025-06-09). "Apple launches iPadOS 26 with a new look and way better multitasking". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  7. ^ "Interview: Craig Federighi Opens Up About iPadOS, Its Multitasking Journey, and the iPad's Essence". 2025-06-18. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
  8. ^ "iOS 26: All the Little Changes". MacRumors. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  9. ^ "Journal App Finally Coming to Mac and iPad". MacRumors. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  10. ^ "Apple is bringing Preview to iPadOS". Engadget. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  11. ^ "How Local Capture immediately turns iPad into a podcasting studio". AppleInsider. 2025-06-10. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
  12. ^ "A few notes on iPadOS 26 audio and video capture". Six Colors. 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
  13. ^ Cunningham, Andrew (2025-06-09). "Apple drops support for just three iPhone and iPad models from iOS and iPadOS 26". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  14. ^ "iOS 26, iPadOS 26 Are Compatible With These iPhone and iPad Models". Gadgets 360. 2025-06-10. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
  15. ^ Prospero, Mike (June 10, 2024). "Here are the devices that will support Apple Intelligence — no older iPhones allowed". Tom's Guide. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
  16. ^ "iPadOS 26 Preview". Apple. Archived from the original on June 10, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2024.