iPadOS 18 is the sixth release of iPadOS, released on September 16, 2024. It ended one of Apple's longest-running jokes by shipping Calculator on iPad — fourteen years after the first iPad — and made the wait worth it with Math Notes: handwrite an equation with the Pencil and it solves itself, with live variables and graphs, powered by the same handwriting intelligence as the new Smart Script, which tidies and reflows handwritten notes as if they were type.

The release otherwise carried the iOS 18 generation's headline acts to the tablet: Apple Intelligence (staged from 18.1, on M-series and A17 Pro-class iPads), home-screen icon customization, the rebuilt Control Center, locked and hidden apps, and the Passwords app. SharePlay screen sharing gained remote tap-and-draw control — a quiet family-tech-support revolution.

Calculator with Math Notes; Smart Script handwriting refinement; Apple Intelligence (writing tools, Genmoji, Image Wand in Notes); icon tinting and free placement; redesigned Photos; Passwords; locked/hidden apps; Game Mode; and eyes-tracking accessibility control.

iPad (7th gen) and later, iPad mini 5 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, iPad Pro 3rd gen (2018) and later — dropping the 10.5 Pro and 12.9 2nd gen. Apple Intelligence required M1-class or A17 Pro hardware, splitting the supported fleet.

Math Notes and Smart Script showcased the Pencil as an intelligent instrument — the iPad's clearest differentiation in years — and the Apple Intelligence hardware gate previewed the tiered-support future. It was the last numbered-in-sequence iPadOS before the year-scheme jump to iPadOS 26.