Apple iPadOS 26: Check key features coming to these iPads later this year

iPadOS 26 will bring Apple's new "Liquid Glass" UI, Mac-style multitasking, and Apple Intelligence features to a wide range of iPads later this year

At WWDC 2025, Apple officially previewed iPadOS 26, the next major update for its iPad line-up. The new version introduces a refreshed user interface built on the company’s new “Liquid Glass” design language, along with a host of productivity enhancements, multitasking tools, and AI-powered features under Apple Intelligence.  Here’s a rundown of the most important features coming to iPads later this year:

iPadOS 26: Key new features

Liquid Glass design

Apple’s new Liquid Glass design brings a more expressive and immersive UI, featuring translucent elements, dynamic reflections, and fluid animations that respond to movement and the surrounding environment. The aesthetic overhaul touches everything from sliders and buttons to entire panels, toolbars, and app navigation. 

New windowing system

Users will now be able to resize app windows freely, reposition them anywhere on the screen, and open multiple apps simultaneously. Familiar controls like close, minimise, and tile now appear at the top left. If a window was previously resized, reopening the app brings it back in the same size and position.

 

The windowing system also integrates with Stage Manager, letting users group windows into distinct stages for multitasking.

Menu bar on iPad

Borrowing from macOS, iPadOS 26 introduces a system-wide menu bar. Swiping down from the top of the display (or hovering the pointer to the top) reveals contextual app commands.

Preview app arrives on iPad

The macOS Preview app is now available on iPad. It allows users to view, edit, and annotate PDFs and images — with full Apple Pencil support. Users can also create blank pages and fill out PDF forms with AutoFill.

Enhanced Files app

The Files app gets a refreshed List view with resizable columns and collapsible folders, allowing better document visibility. Users can personalise folders with colours, icons, and emojis that sync across devices. You can also drag frequently used folders directly into the Dock. 

Background Tasks

With iPadOS 26, iPads can now handle intensive operations like exporting videos or rendering files entirely in the background. These ongoing operations will appear as Live Activities.

New features for creators:

• Audio input control: Users can now choose different microphones per app or website for more tailored audio capture.
• Voice Isolation: The system filters ambient noise during recordings to improve clarity.
• Local Capture: Allows recording and sharing of audio and video directly from video conferencing apps, while eliminating echo from other participants.

New Apple Intelligence features:

• Smarter Shortcuts: Shortcuts now support intelligent automation using Apple Intelligence. Users can automate tasks like summarising text with Writing Tools or generating images with Image Playground.
• Live Translation: Now integrated across Phone, FaceTime, and Messages for real-time language translation.
• Genmoji updates: Users can create personalised Genmoji by combining emojis with text prompts.
• Image Playground styles: Gain access to new ChatGPT-powered visual styles.

iPadOS 26: Availability and eligible models

Apple has begun rolling out the iPadOS 26 developer beta through the Apple Developer Programme. A public beta is expected to be released next month via the Apple Beta Software Programme, with the official stable release scheduled for later this year. 

  iPadOS 26 will be available as a free software update for the following 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)