With iPadOS 26, Apple's tablet becomes (almost) a Mac

Apple today introduced iPadOS 26 , the biggest update ever for iPad software, bringing the tablet even closer to the experience of a traditional desktop computer. The new version introduces a redesigned Liquid Glass design, a powerful and intuitive desktop-style window system, and significant improvements to multitasking, keyboard and trackpad support, pro apps, and file management. For the first time, iPad gains familiar macOS or Windows features, from the menu bar to the red/yellow/green buttons for managing windows, to enhanced support for external displays, background tasks , and desktop-class applications.

Multitasking and windows

With iPadOS 26, Apple has reimagined multitasking on iPad, adopting a system of overlapping and resizable windows reminiscent of the Mac. Applications open full-screen by default, but now simply drag the indicator in the lower-right corner of a window to freely resize it and position it anywhere on the display. You can also quickly place two apps side by side with a simple gesture: dragging a window to one side of the screen will automatically place it side by side, taking up half the display. Each window displays three colored buttons in the top left (the red dot to close, yellow to minimize, and green to extend to full screen) just like on a Mac. These controls make window management immediate: for example, tapping the green dot toggles between full screen and a window, while the yellow dot minimizes the app (although the behavior of the yellow button in the beta is no different from a normal app closure).

This is a radical departure from the past. For years, the iPad only allowed multitasking in a split-screen format ( Split View ) or with apps floating off to the side ( Slide Over ). Now, with iPadOS 26, Apple is eliminating Split View and Slide Over in favor of the new unified window system. Stage Manager , introduced in iPadOS 16, remains as an option for organizing apps into groups or workspaces (the “Stages”), but it is no longer mandatory: now you can freely use windows without having to activate Stage Manager. Furthermore, the new iPadOS 26 system integrates familiar macOS features: for example, an Exposé -like view allows you to see all open windows at once in a single screen to quickly switch between them. Windows reopen in the same place : if we resize and position a window to a certain size, the app will return to opening in that position and size the next time we use it.

Menu bar, pointer, and keyboard/trackpad support

Another innovation in iPadOS 26 is the introduction of a true Mac-style menu bar and an improved mouse/trackpad pointer . When you connect a keyboard with a trackpad (like the Magic Keyboard) or a Bluetooth mouse, a more precise arrow-shaped pointer appears on your iPad than the previous circular cursor, allowing for more accurate selections and clicks, just like on a Mac. There’s also a Mac menu bar : in iPadOS 26, when an iPad is docked with a Magic Keyboard or you’re using a mouse, you can bring up an app’s menu bar by swiping down from the top of the screen or by moving the cursor to the top of the screen. The menu bar then appears at the top, with menus like File, Edit, View, and so on, providing access to commands for the current app organized into drop-down menus. The menu bar also includes a built-in search function, useful for quickly finding an item or feature without having to manually browse the menus. Developers can also customize the menu bar in their apps, adding app-specific menus alongside the standard ones provided by the system.

These additions further bridge the gap between iPad and traditional computers. You can now navigate an app with keyboard shortcuts and menus just as you would on a Mac. For example, many apps already support keyboard shortcuts (?+letter) to activate commands, and the focusable menu bar makes it easier to discover them (just open the menu and the shortcuts appear next to the commands). The Dock continues to function as the app bar, and it's even more useful: iPadOS 26 now lets you drag any folder to the Dock so it's always within reach. You can also launch apps with Spotlight , switch between apps with Cmd+Tab , resize windows, and use the Dock for frequently used apps.

Web desktop experience and file management

The new operating system pushes the iPad closer to the PC world, also by improving web browsing and the file system . Apple had already brought Safari to the “desktop-class” level some time ago, meaning it could load websites in full desktop version and with extension support like on macOS. Now Safari on iPad supports third-party web extensions , has a built-in download manager , syncing tab groups with the Mac, and even push notifications from websites, introduced with iPadOS 16.4.

Perhaps the most significant change in day-to-day use is in iPadOS file management . The Files app has been improved : it now features a revamped list view with resizable columns and collapsible folders, similar to the Finder on a Mac, to show more document details at a glance. Folders can be customized by assigning specific colors, icons, or emojis (and these customizations are synced across all devices connected to iCloud). Just like on a computer, you can set default apps to open certain file types : with iPadOS 26, users can finally choose which app to use by default, for example, PDFs, Office documents, images, and so on. Previously, iPadOS (like iOS) often forced you to use Apple's system apps to open files or asked each time which app to use.

Apple has also filled another gap by bringing Preview to iPad, a dedicated app for PDFs and images, just like on the Mac: it's used to open, view, and edit PDFs, with advanced features like direct annotation with Apple Pencil and automatic form filling . It's an important addition for professional workflows: signing documents and making corrections to a PDF or an image on iPad is possible even without having to resort to third-party apps. All these improvements to the file system, combined with the existing support for external storage drives via USB-C (disks, flash drives) and for SMB network paths in the Files app, make the iPad much closer to a computer even when it comes to document and file management. And never mind if, when Apple's tablet was released, it seemed like the metaphor of the desktop, files, and folders was destined for a slow demise.

Professional apps and productivity

One of the most significant steps in the iPad's journey towards the PC world was the arrival of professional applications , previously exclusive to desktop computers. In 2023, Apple finally brought two flagship Mac software to iPad: Final Cut Pro for video editing and Logic Pro for music production. The iPad versions are optimized for the iPad's touch interface, with support for Apple Pencil and the combined use of keyboard and gestures, but retain the power and flexibility comparable to their desktop counterparts. Final Cut Pro offers a complete set of tools for recording, editing, applying effects, and exporting professional videos directly from the tablet, while Logic Pro provides the creative professional with an entire recording studio suite, with hundreds of plug-ins, a multi-track mixer, advanced MIDI editing, and much more. These apps, combined with the power of Apple Silicon chips (the latest iPad Pros use the same M1/M2/M3 processors as Macs), mean that an iPad can now perform “Pro” tasks like editing a 4K video with color correction or mixing an audio track with dozens of virtual instruments – tasks that were once unthinkable on a mobile device.

Not only that, iPadOS 26 also introduces system-wide features designed specifically to support professional creative workflows. A great new feature is Background Tasks , which allow apps to run intensive processes in the background. For example, if you start exporting a video from an editing app, it can continue processing even while you switch to another app or return to the Home screen, without forcing the app to remain open in the foreground. iPadOS displays ongoing activities through Live Activities , a temporary on-screen panel that shows the progress, also allowing you to pause or stop operations without returning to the app. This is another step towards true multitasking like macOS or Windows, where you can launch long-running tasks and let them run in the background. Apple also provides developers with a new API to take advantage of these background tasks, ensuring that third-party apps can fully utilize the chip's processing cores even when they are not open on the screen.

Still with professionals in mind, note the improvements in system-wide audio and video management. In iPadOS 26, you can select the audio/microphone source for each app (or even for individual websites). This means, for example, that you can set a certain recording application to use an external microphone connected via USB-C while another app continues to use the built-in microphone. Furthermore, during video calls or conferences, there is a Local Capture feature: essentially, the iPad can locally record the high-quality audio and video of our call (our voice and perhaps even the video feed) to then share or edit it after the meeting. This is a useful feature for content creators or journalists who conduct interviews via video chat and want a good-quality recording. The echo cancellation and Voice Isolation filter, already seen on iPhone, also come to iPad, to improve audio clarity, especially in calls and voice recordings.

Finally, iPadOS 26 brings several new system apps and various improvements that enrich the iPad ecosystem. For example, Journal debuts, a personal journal app that uses artificial intelligence to suggest memories and allow users to jot down thoughts, photos, and daily activities; the Apple Games app arrives, a unified hub for games, with Game Overlay that lets you see notifications, friend status, or start chats without leaving the active game. iPhone integration is also improved thanks to the Phone app now available on iPad: iPads signed in to the same account can make and receive cellular calls, routing them through the iPhone, using a dedicated app with a numeric keypad, a bit like FaceTime but for regular phone calls. These are small additional steps that make the iPad an increasingly complete and autonomous tool, capable of covering usage scenarios once exclusive to PCs or smartphones.

The iPad and the Mac: similarities and differences

It's natural, at this point, to ask how much an iPad with iPadOS 26 can actually replace a traditional computer (be it a MacBook or a Windows PC) and where the differences still remain. The answer depends greatly on the type of user and specific needs, but some general considerations can be made. With iPadOS 26, from a functional standpoint, the iPad can do almost everything a laptop can: it allows you to work with multiple apps in overlapping windows, connect to an extended external monitor , use a mouse and keyboard with a desktop-like cursor, manage files on USB drives or networks, run professional creative applications, make advanced video calls, browse websites in desktop version, and much more. For example, by connecting an iPad Pro to an external display via USB-C or Thunderbolt, you can extend your desktop and arrange some windows on the monitor and others on the iPad display, just like with a laptop connected to a monitor: iPadOS supports resolutions up to 6K on the Pro M1/M2 and lets you organize different apps on two screens at the same time with Stage Manager. This was a capability that arrived partly with iPadOS 16 and has now been optimized. In a desktop environment with Magic Keyboard and an external monitor, an iPad Pro with the M2 chip performs in many ways like a MacBook, offering a very similar user experience.

However, there remain intrinsic limitations that set it apart from a real PC. First and foremost is the underlying operating system : iPadOS, while advanced, is still based on iOS and therefore retains some security and sandbox restrictions that prevent, for example, the free installation of programs from sources outside the App Store. If you need very specific software not available in the App Store, you won't have the same freedom on the iPad as on a traditional computer.

On the hardware front, iPad and Mac now share the same fast processors, but iPad has limitations in terms of expandability: it supports only one external display at a time, offers no additional ports other than a USB-C dock, and doesn't support all external peripherals. Furthermore, iPadOS doesn't provide full access to the system filesystem for the user: the Files app only shows user documents and folders, while on macOS and Windows it's possible to navigate any directory on the disk, run advanced automation scripts, and use Terminal to issue Unix commands—all operations still impossible on iPad.

Many of these differences, however, matter little to the average user: if the needs are navigation, office productivity, email, photo/video management, creative editing, communication , the iPad with iPadOS 26 can now handle them without inferiority complexes, indeed offering unique advantages such as the touch interface and the use of the stylus for drawing or taking handwritten notes.

So today, in terms of user experience , there is no longer the gulf between an iPad and a Mac/PC like a few years ago, but rather an increasingly subtle and specific gap. With iPadOS 26, Apple has finally equipped its tablet with many of the tools necessary to make it a true computer replacement . The iPad is no longer confined to a simplified experience different from the desktop, but can transform into an environment very similar to that of a traditional Mac . Craig Federighi, Cupertino's software director, declared that with iPadOS 26 "the iPad takes a huge leap forward", taking the tablet's capabilities and versatility to the next level.

The last question

Of course, the final question remains: can the iPad completely replace a laptop? The answer depends largely on the user's use of it and the state of iPad apps. In many real-world scenarios, the combination of a powerful iPad Pro with iPadOS 26 and the right accessories (keyboard, trackpad, perhaps an external monitor) offers an experience comparable to a notebook, with the added bonus of extreme portability and a touch interface (and the disadvantage of a similarly high price). However, there remain areas in which a traditional PC maintains an advantage, both due to the platform's openness and the maturity of certain professional software not yet available on iPad. With iPadOS 26, Cupertino's tablet becomes what it promised to be from the beginning: the computer of the future , capable of combining the best of tablet and desktop worlds in a single, versatile device. But everyone will only be talking about Liquid Glass and semi-transparent windows.