It’s a bit ironic that one of many greatest updates to come back to the iPad in final yr’s iPadOS 18 replace was the Calculator app. In any case, the iPhone had a calculator from the primary day it launched in 2007; the iPad launched three years later, however took one other 14 years to catch up.
Nevertheless, it turned out to be definitely worth the wait. The brand new iPad Calculator wasn’t only a glorified numeric keypad; Apple had additionally added a intelligent new functionality referred to as Math Notes. Whereas that was technically extra a operate of the iPadOS 18 Notes app, these have been additionally built-in into the Calculator app and made the expertise of doing math on Apple’s pill a lot extra fluid that you possibly can nearly neglect the usual Calculator keypad was even there.
The Notes app gained the power to do typed calculations on all three of Apple’s platforms, however solely the iPad received the sleeker chalkboard-style expertise, because it relied on the Apple Pencil. Math Notes was an extension of a number of different stylus-related options that got here to the iPad, together with Good Script to refine your handwritten textual content (chicken-scratch, in my case) into one thing legible, and even spotlight spelling errors as you write.
With the power to make use of machine studying to intelligently acknowledge and refine handwriting, it wasn’t a giant ask for Apple’s engineers to take that to the following stage and let it determine mathematical equations. Nonetheless, Apple wasn’t content material to simply allow you to scribble in primary math — it went the additional mile and let it acknowledge variables and their related values, letting you employ it to resolve algebraic equations.
Nevertheless, Apple’s workforce wasn’t content material to cease there. For those who put an equation along with two variables, you possibly can then flip that right into a 2D graph to plot the attainable values of every variable on an X and Y axis.
Now, iOS 26 is taking that to the following stage — into the third dimension with the power to plot a graph utilizing a 3rd variable and axis.
So, as an example, in case you have been to make use of a method like z = sin(x^2 + y^2) – cos (sqrt(x^2 + y^2)), you’ll get a cool 3D ripple sample. In fact, there are much more sensible makes use of for such a characteristic than merely letting math aficionados geek out.
The 3D graph characteristic works just like the 2D graph model in iPadOS 18 (and iOS 18). You need to use a typed equation and faucet on one of many variables, or handwrite your method and circle it with the Apple Pencil. In both case, select Insert 3D Graph from the context menu that pops up.
Deciding on the graph additionally gives an choice on the context menu that permits you to regulate the ranges of all three axes — X, Y, and Z — with shortcuts to middle the origin or equalize the axes.
What’s further enjoyable is that the 3D Graphs can’t solely be resized and moved like a 2D graph, however you may as well rotate them three-dimensionally alongside all three axes to raised visualize your information.
As with 2D graphs in final yr’s releases, the brand new 3D Graphs can solely be created on the iPhone and iPad utilizing iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. Graphs you’ve saved could be seen within the Notes app in macOS Tahoe 26, however they seem as static photographs that may’t be edited or manipulated in any manner.