Monday, at WWDC25, Apple unveiled iPadOS 26, the upcoming replace to the iPad that brings the pill even nearer to a desktop expertise.
With a redesign closely impressed by each macOS and Imaginative and prescient Professional — that includes macOS-style home windows and Apple’s Liquid Glass design language that blurs the strains between units — can the iPad lastly substitute laptops totally? Let’s dive in.
Liquid Glass: A Visible Leap Ahead
Apple launched a brand new unified visible look throughout its platforms referred to as Liquid Glass — a glossy, glassy aesthetic that mimics glass and dynamically responds to enter.
The shiny new interface materials, impressed by Imaginative and prescient Professional, will likely be out there with all of Apple’s product lineup, creating consistency throughout units. This marks probably the most vital iPadOS redesign since 2013.
By mixing the feel and appear of its working techniques, Apple efficiently brings a macOS really feel to iPad — and vice versa. Whether or not or not Liquid Glass turns into a success with customers stays to be seen.
Desktop-Class Home windows: Not Simply Cut up View
Cut up View has enabled iPad to multitask between two apps for years. The iPad was already starting to really feel extra Mac-like because of Stage Supervisor and resizable home windows. Nonetheless, the variety of home windows that might be open at a time was restricted and didn’t totally examine to a real desktop-class expertise.
This adjustments with iPadOS 26. Now, you may open as many home windows as you need, go full display, and reduce or shut them with the acquainted purple, yellow, and inexperienced buttons from macOS. iPadOS additionally introduces a real mouse pointer, making it simpler to work together with home windows and different onscreen content material.
It doesn’t cease there. iPadOS 26 provides a menu bar to the highest display and different macOS staples, like Exposé, an improved Stage Supervisor, window tiling, and extra.
With all these adjustments iPadOS is beginning to feel and appear like a real desktop atmosphere.
Higher File Administration and Productiveness Instruments
What’s a laptop computer and not using a file browser? Apple’s Recordsdata app makes it simple for iPhone and iPad customers to handle paperwork and recordsdata — and sync them throughout units. In iPad OS 26, Recordsdata will get a makeover.
With an in depth checklist view much like macOS, you may see extra details about your recordsdata. Colour-coded folders make personalizing your system even simpler — you may even add icons to them. Now, customers can drop stacks of recordsdata within the Dock for straightforward entry, similar to with a Mac.
There’s a model new Preview app that allows you to annotate your paperwork with Apple Pencil and work with paperwork aspect by aspect. Builders may lastly run processes within the background, and customers can preserve observe of their standing through Dwell Actions.
These options flip the iPad into a correct workspace for content material creation, examine, and work — particularly with exterior storage equipment or USB-C setups.
Apple Intelligence: Personal, Highly effective AI
Apple’s on-device AI — Apple Intelligence — turns into extra built-in in iPadOS 26. Builders can embed AI capabilities straight through new Xcode help and LLM APIs.
You may count on smarter writing help, summarization, and knowledge dealing with throughout Notes, Mail, and Safari. Visible Intelligence options have enormously improved, permitting you to simply create gadgets equivalent to Calendar occasions out of your screenshots.
With these enhancements, iPadOS 26 feels much less like a cell toy and extra like an clever assistant serving to with each activity.
Gaming, Journaling, and Past
iPadOS 26 good points lots of the options present in iOS, together with the Journal app and the brand new gaming app that allows you to handle titles throughout Apple units.
A brand new Recreation Overlay improves the gaming expertise and allows you to alter settings or chat with out quitting the sport.
Whereas not core to laptop computer substitute wants, it showcases the iPad’s versatility for work and play.
Compatibility and Availability
The brand new replace will likely be appropriate with iPads since 2018, although Apple Intelligence options are restricted to units with an M1 chip or higher.
Here’s a full checklist of units that help iPadOS 26:
- iPad Professional (M4)
- iPad Professional 12.9-inch (third era and later)
- iPad Professional 11? inch (1st era and later)
- iPad Air (M3)
- iPad Air (M2)
- iPad Air (third era and later)
- iPad (A16)
- iPad (eighth era and later)
- iPad mini (A17 Professional)
- iPad mini (fifth era and later)
iPadOS 26 will likely be out there this fall.
Conclusion: Not Fairly a Laptop computer, However Possibly That’s a Good Factor
Whereas iPadOS 26 doesn’t remodel your iPad right into a Mac, it narrows the hole in significant methods. The most recent updates don’t purpose to interchange the Mac expertise — they purpose to redefine what a pill could be. The iPad was by no means designed to be a standard laptop computer. As an alternative, it’s evolving into one thing uniquely its personal: a versatile, touch-first system that blends portability, creativity, and productiveness in methods a laptop computer usually can’t.
Apple isn’t attempting to copy macOS on iPadOS. It’s constructing a brand new form of computing expertise—one which adapts to your workflow whether or not you’re utilizing contact, Pencil, keyboard, or trackpad. For customers who worth versatility and ease with out sacrificing energy, iPadOS 26 brings the iPad ever nearer to changing into a real laptop computer different — simply not in the way in which you would possibly count on.
Study extra about iPadOS 26