iPad Is Apple reducing the differentiation within the iPad line with iPadOS 26?

[Adelphos33]

Basically all recent iPads get pretty powerful windowing with iPadOS 26. An iPad Air, or an iPad with the A16, will be able to run the same multitasking, will be as effective with the vast majority of iPad apps, etc, as most iPad Pros. Obviously apps like Final Cut, and most photography-oriented stuff, will run better with more power on the iPad Pro. But say an M2 or M3, 8GB iPad Air, will be effectively just as capable for 95%+ of tasks as an M4, 8GB iPad Pro. Did this make the lower cost iPads an even better relative buy if you don't need Promotion and such?

 

[Digitalguy]

Extended display is M iPad only, and the new multitasking does not mean apps won't be killed. I tested heavy multitasking on my 8GB M1 iPad and after a while it started to lag and struggle... I can only imagine lower end iPads...

 

[It’s always something]

Basically all recent iPads get pretty powerful windowing with iPadOS 26. An iPad Air, or an iPad with the A16, will be able to run the same multitasking, will be as effective with the vast majority of iPad apps, etc, as most iPad Pros. Obviously apps like Final Cut, and most photography-oriented stuff, will run better with more power on the iPad Pro. But say an M2 or M3, 8GB iPad Air, will be effectively just as capable for 95%+ of tasks as an M4, 8GB iPad Pro. Did this make the lower cost iPads an even better relative buy if you don't need Promotion and such?

The RAM limitation of the A16 will probably limit any heavy multitasking unless they also enable virtual memory. But even getting several apps to switch between without constant reloading (and with real background execution!) is a big deal to me. 🤷‍♂️

 

[iPadified]

Basically all recent iPads get pretty powerful windowing with iPadOS 26. An iPad Air, or an iPad with the A16, will be able to run the same multitasking, will be as effective with the vast majority of iPad apps, etc, as most iPad Pros. Obviously apps like Final Cut, and most photography-oriented stuff, will run better with more power on the iPad Pro. But say an M2 or M3, 8GB iPad Air, will be effectively just as capable for 95%+ of tasks as an M4, 8GB iPad Pro. Did this make the lower cost iPads an even better relative buy if you don't need Promotion and such?

It's like Intel Xeon and Core processors, mostly the same but Xeon support more (ECC!) memory and has other features. As far as I know, all software runs on Xeon can run on Core processors but not necessarily equally well. Different CPU for different purposes and market but they can double for each other.

 

[JPack]

I'm surprised Apple allows windowing on iPad 8 and 9 with 3GB RAM.

 

[rovex]

I'm surprised Apple allows windowing on iPad 8 and 9 with 3GB RAM.

And how do they run ?

 

[JPack]

And how do they run ?

I don't know. I knew one day Apple would allow improved multitasking, so I never allowed myself to buy anything with less than 4GB for the past 5 years.