Apple announced iPadOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new iPad update arrives today, September 15, on a whole host of Apple slates.
iPadOS 26 comes with a fresh new look and plenty of features. Apple has ensured there are plenty of iPadOS 26 supported slates, so if you have a relatively new iPad you should be able to download the update.
And no, you haven’t missed a volley of updates since iPadOS 18 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us iPadOS 19 in 2025, we got iPadOS 26 alongside iOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26.
There’s a lot to like in the iPadOS 26 update, so you’ll probably want to know whether your iPad qualifies for the upgrade.
iPadOS 26 supports seven generations of iPad, with tablets dating back to 2018 in-line for the new software update.
To be able to get the new iPad update, you’ll need one of the following models:
Apple has confirmed the final version of iPadOS 26 will be ready for download on September 15, 2025.
We expect the update to start showing up on iPads around 10am PT / 1pm ET on September 15.
It may be a little slow to download if you choose to update as soon as it’s available, but within a few hours, it’ll likely become faster and smoother to install iPadOS 26 on your iPad.
Got an iPhone and/or an Apple Watch to go alongside your iPad? Lucky you. Here are the lists of the iOS 26 supported devices and watchOS 26 supported devices so you can see if your models will be getting the upgrade.
Apple has just launched its latest iPad mini with a notable set of upgrades, including an OLED screen, improved speakers, and a more resilient build. It also gets a new chip, and the whole package costs $200 more than its predecessor. But if you look closely at Apple’s online store, you’ll realize that $699 isn’t enough to get you the most powerful version of the A20 Pro chip inside this tablet. In fact, even if you pay $800 for the 256GB model, you still won’t get the beefiest variant. Only when you jump to the 512GB trim, which costs an absurd $999, do you get the most powerful flavor of the A20 Pro.
The $999 model gets more than extra storage
Ahead of its October 28 “Pro and Tell” event, Apple has refreshed the iPad mini with an OLED display (the first for the mini line), the company’s latest in-house, Pro-grade chipset, and something else that made me read twice: an Acoustic Display design.
The iPad mini (8th generation) starts at $699 for Wi-Fi and $849 for cellular variants. Pre-orders start October 28, 2026, and general sales begin November 6, 2026.
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