iPadOS 26 adds Mac-like windowing, a persistent menu bar, a real cursor, and a significantly improved Files app to enhance multitasking and file management. The update narrows the gap between iPad and Mac without enabling full laptop replacement for most users. Performance on the 11-inch M4 iPad Pro with a Tandem OLED display is excellent, offering superior color gamut, contrast, peak brightness, and response times. Some important features remain missing and power users should not expect clear productivity gains compared with using a Mac despite iPadOS 26 making the device more complete.
The iPad and the Mac have always been complementary devices with a few overlapping functions -- until iPadOS 26, which brings them a lot closer together. The big question since Apple announced iPadOS 26 at WWDC 2025 in June has been, "Does this mean I can finally use my iPad to replace my laptop?" Also: Apple's iPhone 17 event is right around the corner - here's everything we know so far The answer for me is "No."
I tried iPadOS 26 on an 11-inch M4 iPad Pro, so that I could judge it as a machine with laptop-like performance and capabilities (and a laptop-like price at $1,899 for the configuration I used). The model I used had a Tandem OLED display with nano-texture glass, which exceeds the display quality of any MacBook Pro you can buy, at least in terms of color gamut, contrast ratio, peak brightness, response times, and black levels.
In iPadOS 26, the addition of a Mac-like windowing system, a menu bar, a real cursor, and a much-improved Files app makes the iPad a lot better for getting work done. There are still a couple missing features that would make a big difference in iPadOS 26. While iPadOS 26 makes the iPad a much more complete device, power users shouldn't expect to get productivity benefits versus using a Mac.
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