At WWDC on June 9, 2025, the iPad got the most concrete upgrade news in years: iPadOS 26, which Apple did not hesitate to call the biggest iPadOS release ever. The headline feature is an entirely new windowing system that finally gives the iPad something close to Mac-style multitasking and window management.
Software engineering chief Craig Federighi said the release “transforms what users can do on iPad,” listing a beautiful new design, an entirely new windowing system, more Apple Intelligence, huge Files improvements, and new capabilities for creatives. A developer beta shipped the day of the keynote, with the full release coming this fall. For anyone using an iPad as a work machine, this was the closest Apple has come to making the “iPad as your computer” story real.
A new windowing system, not another full-screen compromise
iPadOS 26 introduces a new windowing system built around letting users “control, organize, and switch between apps.” New window controls show all open windows at once and let you tile them intuitively. The controls are compatible with Stage Manager, so windows can be organized into separate stages, and working across multiple displays is supported.
TechCrunch’s headline cut to the point: “iPadOS 26 will make the iPad feel more like a Mac.” The piece added a judgment that matters for product people — given the simultaneous iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe redesigns, the scale of this update was “not just PR-speak.” Its summary: iPadOS 26 makes the iPad feel like a blend of an iPhone and a Mac, rather than one giant iPhone. The long-running criticism that the iPad is exactly that giant iPhone received its most direct answer here. The iPad’s multitasking always felt like a compromise: full-screen apps with limited split and floating windows, never enough to carry a real workflow. With windowing, apps’ layout assumptions have to be rewritten, and capabilities taken for granted on the desktop — parallel workspaces, external displays — are being filled in one by one.
Files and Preview close the productivity gap
The Files app fixed several long-standing gaps: any folder can now live in the Dock, keeping downloads and documents one tap away from anywhere, and users can set a default app for opening specific kinds of files. Preview, long a macOS staple, comes to the iPad as a dedicated app for viewing and editing PDFs, with Apple Pencil Markup and AutoFill built in.
These details sound small, but they were exactly where “doing real work on an iPad” used to break down: file management buried in nested menus, PDF edits outsourced to third-party apps. Moving macOS-grade tools over amounts to an admission that the iPad’s use cases now overlap with the laptop’s — and that the system tools should follow. For enterprise and education buyers, these changes lower the last barriers to treating the iPad as the only device.
New capabilities for creative pros
For audio and video workers, iPadOS 26 adds Background Tasks, audio input selection, and local capture. Apple’s press release explicitly frames these as unlocking new capabilities “for creative pros working with audio and video,” bringing recording workflows closer to what dedicated gear offers. Together with the windowing and file changes, the direction is consistent: the iPad is being positioned to carry real production work, not to serve as a decorative second screen.
Design and Apple Intelligence arrive in the same package
The Liquid Glass redesign lands on the iPad too. The Lock Screen and Control Center pick up the translucent material, Home Screen app icons gain light and dark appearances, colorful new tints, and a clear look, and the controls and navigation in apps like Mail, Safari, Apple TV, and Apple Music update in step. The year’s Apple Intelligence features all arrive as well: Live Translation, new ways to create with Genmoji and Image Playground, and Shortcuts intelligent actions.
What it means for app developers
Windowing changes more for developers than it first appears: resizable windows mean apps can no longer assume they run full screen, so layout, gesture, and focus management all need retesting. Background Tasks lift long-running work out of the foreground, which is what makes audio app workflows viable in the first place. Add the Liquid Glass control and navigation updates, and finishing adaptation plus multitasking testing before the fall release is the most concrete to-do list an iPad app team has.
Naming and availability
The “26” in iPadOS 26 comes from the new rule introduced at this WWDC: every operating system now takes its version number from the year, aligned with iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe 26. The developer beta was available the day of the announcement, and the free update ships this fall. With all three platforms in the same generation, enterprise buyers can plan a single upgrade cycle across the device lines. Judged from 2026, iPadOS 26 genuinely shifted the product’s position: the old question “can the iPad be a productivity device” finally got an answer leaning yes, and the windowing system is the pivot that answer rests on.
Sources
- Apple Newsroom: iPadOS 26 introduces powerful new features
- TechCrunch: iPadOS 26 will make the iPad feel more like a Mac
AI-assisted summary compiled from the sources above, reviewed by a human before publishing.