IPadOS 26

iPadOS 26
Version of the iPadOS operating system
iPadOS 26 running on a 12.9-inch iPad Pro
Developer	Apple
Source model	Closed with open-source components
General availability	September 15, 2025;43 days ago (2025-09-15)
Latest release	26.0.1 [1] (September 29, 2025;29 days ago (2025-09-29)) [±] 26.0.1 (iPad Pro M5) [2] (October 16, 2025;12 days ago (2025-10-16)) [±]
Latest preview	26.1 RC [3] (23B82) [4] (October 28, 2025;0 days ago (2025-10-28)) [±]
Marketing target	iPads
Available in	42 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 by	iPadOS 18
Official website	apple.com/os/ipados/
Tagline	Work. 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 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). ^[5]

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, ^[6] 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. ^[7] 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. ^[8]

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. ^[9]

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. ^[10]

Preview

iPadOS 26 now has a Preview app, similar to its equivalent on macOS, with Apple Pencil support to enable features such as markup. ^[11]

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. ^[12] The local capture is encoded as an MP4 file, using HEVC video and FLAC audio. ^[13]

Supported devices

iPadOS 26 requires an A12 processor or later. It drops support for the 7th-generation iPad, which features an A10 SoC. ^{[14] [15]}

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. ^{[16] [17]}

iPads that support iPadOS 26 are:

Device	Chipset	Release year	Supported	Apple Intelligence support
iPad (8th generation)	A12	2020
iPad (9th generation)	A13	2021
iPad (10th generation)	A14	2022
iPad (A16)	A16	2025
iPad mini (5th generation)	A12	2019
iPad mini (6th generation)	A15	2021
iPad mini (A17 Pro)	A17 Pro	2024
iPad Air (3rd generation)	A12	2019
iPad Air (4th generation)	A14	2020
iPad Air (5th generation)	M1	2022
iPad Air (M2)	M2	2024
iPad Air (M3)	M3	2025
iPad Pro (3rd generation)	A12X	2018
iPad Pro (4th generation)	A12Z	2020
iPad Pro (5th generation)	M1	2021
iPad Pro (6th generation)	M2	2022
iPad Pro (M4)	M4	2024
iPad Pro (M5)	M5	2025

Release history

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	Developer release notes Release notes Security content
Latest version:26.0.1	23A355	September 29, 2025
	23A8464	October 15, 2025	iPad Pro (M5) models only
	23A8466	October 21, 2025
Preview version: 26.1 RC	23B82	October 28, 2025	Developer release notes
Legend: Unsupported Supported Latest version Preview version Future version

See also

• iOS 26
• macOS Tahoe

References

1. Clover, Juli (September 29, 2025). "Apple Releases iOS 26.0.1 With Fixes for Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Camera Issues on iPhone 17 Models". MacRumors . Retrieved September 29, 2025.
2. Charlton, Hartley (October 16, 2025). "New iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, and Vision Pro Will Have Day-One Software Updates". MacRumors . Retrieved October 26, 2025.
3. Clover, Juli (October 28, 2025). "Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates". MacRumors . Retrieved October 28, 2025.
4. "iPadOS 26.1 RC (23B82)". Apple Developer. Apple. October 28, 2025. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
5. "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.
6. Christoffel, Ryan (2025-06-09). "PSA: iPadOS 26 removes Split View and Slide Over multitasking features". 9to5Mac. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
7. Pierce, David (2025-06-09). "Apple launches iPadOS 26 with a new look and way better multitasking". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
8. "Interview: Craig Federighi Opens Up About iPadOS, Its Multitasking Journey, and the iPad's Essence". 2025-06-18. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
9. "iOS 26: All the Little Changes". MacRumors. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
10. "Journal App Finally Coming to Mac and iPad". MacRumors. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
11. "Apple is bringing Preview to iPadOS". Engadget. 2025-06-09. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
12. "How Local Capture immediately turns iPad into a podcasting studio". AppleInsider. 2025-06-10. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
13. "A few notes on iPadOS 26 audio and video capture". Six Colors. 2025-06-20. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
14. 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.
15. "iOS 26, iPadOS 26 Are Compatible With These iPhone and iPad Models". Gadgets 360. 2025-06-10. Retrieved 2025-06-10.
16. 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.
17. "iPadOS 26 Preview". Apple. Archived from the original on June 10, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2024.