Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below.

iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more.

iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:

• iPad Pro (M4)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
• iPad Air (M2 and later)
• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (8th generation and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

This means that the only iPad model that supports iPadOS 18, but not iPadOS 26, is the lower-cost iPad (7th generation).

The first iPadOS 26 developer beta is available starting today, and a public beta will follow next month. The update will be released later this year.

Article Link: Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

 

[sniffies]

Craig is hilarious.

Windowing is a game changer.

To me, iPadOS 26 is the first update that truly brings it closer to macOS.

 

[BMox81]

The 2018 iPad Pro getting yet another OS update is crazy good!

 

[jayducharme]

Expose on iPad! Woohoo! And Preview. And the improved cursor with an external keyboard.... The line between Mac and iPad is getting really thin.

 

[dugbug]

apple is going to sell an insane number of ipads with this update

 

[kitt9000]

Amazing updates! Finally I can use my 5g enabled iPad pro M4 more and more like a Mac. Craig was prob just as excited as users that have been waiting for so long for these capabilities..lol.

 

[yellowbunny]

Finally something good from this presentation! So good!

 

[kiranmk2]

Odd list - looks like they're changing descriptors to the chip name, but also have legacy entries based on generations...

 

[anakinfan8]

all the improvements have been fantastic — window tiling was a no-brainer but man it looks good. Can’t wait to try it!!

 

[GMShadow]

Odd list - looks like they're changing descriptors to the chip name, but also have legacy entries based on generations...

Yeah, they've been doing that for a bit, so it'll probably look wobbly until the older generation designator iPads fall off the support list.

 

[mlayer]

Curious to see how the new windowing will work with the iPad minis that support it. Stage Manager was nigh unusable on the mini. Craig and Cindy, you're my only hope.

 

[ericg301]

So, windowing available on non-silicon devices?

did they kill stage manager? i didnt hear it mentioned once. (i am multitasking)

 

[rp2011]

Hell yeah! The blob pointer is gone! folders, windows, background apps.Next we need iPads with standard 16GB of memory. And now that hell has frozen over, I can't wait for them to add touch to next year's MaCOS Diablo.

 

[ignatius345]

Expose on iPad! Woohoo! And Preview. And the improved cursor with an external keyboard.... The line between Mac and iPad is getting really thin.

In a great way. I think this looks like the year iPadOS finally lives up to the hardware.

 

[Urban Splash]

My iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later) is amazing value !

 

[ignatius345]

I can't wait for them to add touch to next year's MaCOS Diablo.

Nah. The more power user features iPad gets, the less of a reason they'd ever need to gimp the Mac with a touch screen. Just get an iPad Pro if you want touch.

 

[AppliedMicro]

• iPad Air (M2 and later)
• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)

Huh?

 

[reviewspin]

Apple today announced that iPadOS 26 will be compatible with the iPad models listed below.

iPadOS 26 features a new Liquid Glass design, a menu bar, improved app windowing, and more.

iPadOS 26 supports the following iPad models:

• iPad Pro (M4)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st generation and later)
• iPad Air (M2 and later)
• iPad Air (3rd generation and later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (8th generation and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (5th generation and later)

This means that the only iPad model that supports iPadOS 18, but not iPadOS 26, is the lower-cost iPad (7th generation).

The first iPadOS 26 developer beta will be available starting today, and a public beta will follow next month. The update will be released later this year.

Article Link: Apple Says iPadOS 26 is Compatible With These iPad Models

… so the M1 iPad Air isn’t getting this or is this a typo?

 

[AppleFan91]

Why can’t preview come to iOS?

Why does the weaker iPad mini get to run a Split View/multitasking but the more powerful iPad Pro somehow can’t? Like it doesn’t even need to offer all the windows, etc. but let us have two apps running together isn’t unreasonable…

Is this all being gatekept for the “iPhone fold” next year?

 

[ViralTrendsToday]

So this is as mac os as the Ipad is going to get, and as Ipad os as the mac is going to get, great, lol.

 

[winxmac]

iOS 19 26 - A13 Bionic and newer
iPadOS 19 26 - A12 Bionic and newer

iPad (8th generation and later)

At least I got the iPad right, since on the iPhone side I initially thought it will be iPhone 12 and newer but they still support iPhone 11 and newer. They somehow fixed the Photos app but that won't make me upgrade from iOS 17.7 on my iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Meanwhile, iPadOS and macOS are having blurred lines.

 

[Populus]

Craig is hilarious.

Windowing is a game changer.

To me, iPadOS 26 is truly the first update that brings it closer to macOS.

Same.

I think they saved it for last because it was the most meaningful update.
macOS Tahoe was quite nice as well.

 

[AND411]

What about the phone app on iPad?

 

[maxsquared]

With the new files app, does it mean (in theory) I can run VS Code (if it's ever released) on iPad?

 

[AppliedMicro]

… so the M1 iPad Air isn’t getting this or is this a typo?

It's clearly "later" than the 3rd gen iPad Air.

Then again, so is the M2 Air, so why mention it separately?