Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in tech right now, which is why 2024 is the year we expect AI to emerge in a big way on iPads.
The centerpiece of that transformation is likely to be iPadOS 18, a new version of Apple’s venerable tablet operating system that could offer a number of notable updates that make even the best iPads a little more useful.
The company is rumored to be unveiling a new 2024 iPad Air and 2024 iPad Pro this year at Apple’s Let Loose event on May 7, at least one of which may come with a new Apple M4 chip integrated. If that works, we’ll most likely hear about a ton of new AI features in iPadOS 18, as the company is likely interested in talking about how the Neural Engine built into its chips is optimized for AI workloads.
We’ve heard little more than rumors up to this point, but here’s everything we know so far about iPadOS 18 and what we expect before Apple’s big event in May.
iPadOS 18: rumored release date
Since Apple has not yet publicly confirmed that it is running on iPadOS 18, there is no official release date for the next version of the iPad operating system.
But we can make some pretty educated guesses about when we can expect it to arrive. Apple often talks about new versions of its operating systems at its summer developer conference, so we expect iPadOS 18 to be unveiled at WWDC 2024 in June.
If Apple follows its usual roadmap, the first public beta of iPadOS 18 will arrive shortly after, likely in July, and the final version will arrive sometime in September.
iPadOS 18: compatibility predictions
Every year, some iPads stop supporting the latest version of iPadOS, and iPadOS 18 is likely no different.
We’re just guessing, but based on the support curve for iPadOS 16 and iPadOS 17, it seems likely that iPadOS 18 will support the third-generation iPad Air and second-generation iPad Pro, along with new models of either iPad.
What’s harder to guess is whether it will also support iPads without Apple’s M-series chips inside. The most recent Apple iPad (2022) and Apple iPad mini (2021) still run on the weaker A-series chips (A14 Bionic and A15 Bionic) that powered older iPhones, instead of the M1-M3 chips with the ones that run newer iPads and MacBooks. .
While at least some of the iPadOS 18 features will likely be supported on the latest iPad and iPad mini, we’ll have to wait and see what Apple has to say about it.
iPadOS 18: new features expected
We’ve heard almost nothing yet about what to expect from iPadOS 18 in terms of new features, but there are a few rumors worth keeping an eye on while we wait for official news from Apple.
In particular, Bloomberg reporter and Apple expert Mark Gurman believes the company will unveil its new M4 chip alongside the new iPads at Apple’s Let Loose event, focusing on talking about its artificial intelligence capabilities. Gurman says this could lay the groundwork for Apple to delve into new AI features from now just iPadOS 18, but iOS 18 and perhaps the successor to macOS Sonoma.
Regardless of how AI-focused the next version of iPadOS is, you can count on you’ll also hear about some basic updates it’ll bring to Apple’s tablets. We’re talking basic stuff like the report that iPadOS 18 could finally give the iPad a calculator app, along with a new calculator app for the Mac.
It’s also very likely that we’ll see some new iPadOS 18 features that take advantage of the new hardware, like the new Apple Pencil 3 that’s rumored to be arriving this year. Evidence of code supporting a “squeeze” feature for an unreleased Apple Pencil product was found in the iPadOS 17.5 beta code, so there’s good reason to think iPadOS 18 may ship with some fancy new moves for the Apple Pencil .
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There hasn’t been an overwhelming amount of innovation in iPads in recent years, so it’s understandable to see a lot of excitement around iPadOS 18 this year.
The iPad is one of the best tablets you can buy for browsing the web, watching videos, or playing games, but it has struggled to earn a reputation for being very good at anything else. Fans have been trying to use the tablet as their primary computer for years, but the iPad still can’t match the usefulness or versatility of the best laptops and the best MacBooks.
The arrival of iPadOS 18 could change all that, as Apple could make a big show of implementing AI on the device in a way that makes the iPad a more useful and versatile device. The near-seamless voice controls and transcription in iPadOS 18 could make the iPad a much more capable productivity tool, for example, while AI-powered editing tools could make the tablet the most useful home movie machine. that I have ever had.
We’ll have to wait and see what Apple has in store for us.
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