For 15 years, I’ve waited to see the iPad reach its potential. For 15 years, I’ve hoped that Apple‘s best-selling tablet would become more than just a “big iPhone”. And now, it seems like my prayers have been answered.
Every year, in June, I wait patiently to see the next iteration of iPadOS. You see, I’ve always loved the iPad, ever since I saved up to purchase the big chonky tablet in 2010. But every year the tablet’s software is merely an afterthought at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Every year until now.
For the first time ever, Apple gave iPad the spotlight at WWDC, and now it looks like the upcoming iPadOS 26 will finally give the incredible hardware found in the best iPads a platform to shine.
Now it’s the iPad’s time to shine
During my time in college, as a young student working at my local Apple Store, I opted for an iPad over a Mac to help me get through my studies.
At the time, over five years ago now, the iPad Pro was a powerful device with an operating system that was completely holding it back.
Not only was everything clunky and mobile-based, but there was a lack of proper file management and an inability to quickly manage windows.
Over the years, some of my iPadOS qualms have been squashed, but to this day, my iPad Pro M2, which is more powerful than the Mac I’m writing this article from, has been underclocked by Apple’s obsession with making iPadOS the same as iOS.
At WWDC 2025, that all changed thanks to what Apple calls “An entirely new powerful and intuitive windowing system.”
Windows on iPad
In iPadOS 26 (yes, Apple decided to rename iPadOS 19), users can now easily switch between app windows and organize them like never before.
In Apple’s demonstration during the keynote, six apps stacked on top of each other, similar to a Mac, showcased the new ability that completely transforms the capabilities of an iPad.
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Even better, Apple has made the new window management tool work seamlessly with Stage Manager so you can connect your iPad to an external display and reap the benefits of the new OS without being limited to mirroring what’s on your tablet’s display.
If this new iPad window management was the only announcement at WWDC, it would’ve been enough to tempt me to switch back to an iPad as my primary computing device. Amazingly, there’s even more, including the arrival of a menu bar on iPad for the first time ever.
Yep, the iPad now functions more like a Mac than an iPhone, and I’m genuinely over the moon. Now iPad users will be able to quickly access functional tools by simply dragging down from the top of their iPad’s display. Great job, Apple.
And even more Mac-like powers
Window management, a menu bar, and… Proper file management combined with Preview.
Apple seriously decided to completely reestablish the iPad as a machine for getting things done, and finally, the high price tag of the iPad Pro seems justified.
Time and time again, I’ve written about the iPad’s crux being its software, but Apple seems to have listened to the millions of tablet users clamoring for efficiency and decided to give the iPad every bit of attention it deserves.
In iPadOS 26, compatible devices will now have access to Preview, one of the Mac’s best features which allows you to quickly access (you guessed it) a preview of your files.
Preview will be housed in a new Files app that looks more like Finder on Mac than ever before, emphasizing this next chapter in the iPad’s story.
The iPad just won WWDC
WWDC has now been and gone, and while I come to terms with all the major announcements from the event, I can’t help but smile at the fact that for the first time ever, it feels like Apple listened to its loyal, patient iPad users.
WWDC 2025 will go down as a major landmark event in the history of the iPad; it’s the event where Apple made a decision to push the iPad to new heights.
@techradar
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Now, after all these years, we finally have an answer to Apple’s iconic “What’s a computer?” ad. Back then, the Cupertino-based company wanted you to say “An iPad”, but deep down, we all knew it really wasn’t. Now, however, an iPad is definitely a computer, and I can’t contain my excitement.
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