iPadOS 26
Developer	Apple
Announced	June 9, 2025 (WWDC25)
Initial release	September 15, 2025
Latest release	26.6
iOS sibling	iOS 26
Preceded by	iPadOS 18
Succeeded by	iPadOS 27 (in beta)

iPadOS iPadOS
iPadOS13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 26 · 27

iPadOS 26 is the seventh and current release of iPadOS, released on September 15, 2025, under the year-aligned numbering that jumped the platform from 18 to 26. It is widely judged the most significant iPadOS release ever shipped: the multitasking system was rebuilt as true windowing — freely resizable, placeable, tileable windows with traffic-light controls, a Mac-style menu bar, a pointer-precise cursor, and Exposé — available on every supported iPad, not just M-series, and replacing Stage Manager's constrained groups outright.

With the windowing came the Liquid Glass design shared across Apple's 26-generation platforms, a Files app overhaul (list customization, folder colors, default-app control), the Preview app from the Mac, background tasks for pro workflows (long exports keep running), and audio input selection per app — the working-professional checklist the platform had deferred for years.

The windowing system with menu bar, tiling, and Exposé; Liquid Glass; Files and Preview upgrades; background tasks; local capture for calls; per-app audio routing; phone-app parity (Hold Assist, Call Screening); Apple Intelligence expansion including live translation; and the Games app. Point releases through 26.6 have refined windowing behaviors and the design language.

iPad (8th gen) and later, iPad mini 5 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, iPad Pro 3rd gen and later — a modest cull of the oldest 18-era devices, with windowing running fleet-wide.

Still unfolding — but the verdict arrived fast: reviewers called iPadOS 26 the release that finally let the hardware breathe, the answer to a decade of "the iPad is a computer" arguments. Its windowing system is the new baseline every future release builds on, starting with iPadOS 27.