After the WWDC 2025 event, Apple described the upcoming iPados 26 update as “the biggest iPados release of all time.” This does not appear to be merely an exaggeration of self-expansion. The ipados26 could really change the way you think about the usefulness of a 15-year-old product that you’ve felt for a long time like an oversized iPhone designed for cyclops.
The new OS brings multitasking tools, a new window system, and preview apps that may not be as attractive as “liquid glass.” But if you’ve ever tried to do productive work through the iPad, this news is more exciting than the announcement of a new Sabrina Carpenter album (and that’s not because her new songs were a bit midway).
Currently, you can open two windows on your iPad at once, and navigating between the two windows is like a nightmare. If you are trying to write an email while looking at the calendar, and if you are trying to make sure your colleagues are giving you a good time to call you, you are probably struggling toggling back and forth between the two windows and looking at all the relevant information. It’s kind of confusion and a big reason why I don’t work on an iPad (despite spending over $100 on a removable Logitech keyboard…)
If you need to refer to the source during the writing process – whether it’s a press release, interview note, email, research paper, or whether it’s God forbidden, I can pull out my phone as a second small screen. For example, it’s not the most user-friendly experience.
The new window control on iPados 26 allows you to see all your open windows at once and intuitively tile to help multitasking. These window controls are also compatible with Stage Manager, allowing you to organize your windows into a specific environment. As a result, iPados is removing old multitasking features, removing split views and sliding them.
Meanwhile, the new iPad preview app allows you to natively edit and view PDFs, including features like Autfill and Apple Pencil compatibility.
Just like with Mac products, the iPad app will now get the menu bar, making it easy to find specific commands or features within the app. Developers can also customize the menu bar in their apps.
Also, if you often use folders, you can pin it to the dock rather than navigate clumsy file apps.
There are more to the new OS than these quality of life (frankly, it could have been shipped a while ago). Given the computing power of Apple’s silicon chips, the iPados 26 can perform high-intensity background tasks such as video exports and continue working while waiting for the export to complete.
iPads will become especially useful for podcasters, video editors, content creators, or those who work in multimedia. Another new feature (it should not feel like it’s not novel) allows you to select specific audio inputs for your app or website.
Better yet, the iPad has got a local capture feature. This allows you to record video calls from any meeting app and then access audio and video files.
The iPad may not match the MacBook when it comes to overall utility. But hypothetical, your company’s laptop is a 16-inch MacBook Pro, weighing almost 5 pounds, too big to use on planes and trains without any discomfort (go ahead and play the smallest violin in the world for me). And, perhaps, you have the job of taking you to several meetings each year. There, I walk miles a day through a large convention center, hugging my laptop to write as a news break.
In that case, the ability to tote around the iPad to get the job done is to be a game changer and relief for back pain.