iPadOS 27

iPadOS 27 is the latest version of iPadOS, the software that runs on the iPad. Apple demoed iPadOS 27 at WWDC, and it's now available to developers. A public beta is coming in July, with a launch to follow this September.

Apple has different operating systems for the iPhone and the iPad, but they share many similarities. Most of the features that are available in iOS 27 are also available on the iPad. There are sometimes features exclusive to Apple's larger-screened devices, but this year, almost all capabilities are cross-platform.

iPadOS 27 introduces Siri AI, an overhauled version of Siri that's much smarter and more capable than before. iPadOS 27 adds new Apple Intelligence features in apps, updated parental controls, and performance improvements that speed up your iPhone.

Siri AI uses generative AI models and it performs more like ChatGPT or Claude than the prior version of Siri. Siri can hold back-and-forth conversations, and it has access to your personal data so it knows more about you and can complete complex tasks. It can search across Mail, Messages, Notes, Reminders, Calendar and other apps to find things for you. Siri has broad world knowledge and can search the web to answer questions for you on any topic, plus it is able to see what's on your screen so you can ask for more information about what you're looking at. Siri can also take action in apps, doing things like drafting emails, adding events to Calendar, and adding Photos to an album.

There is a standalone Siri app where you can talk to Siri, revisit existing conversations, and see a history of your chats. On the iPad, the app has a dedicated sidebar and support for windowing. The Siri app is available on compatible iPads, Macs, iPhones and more, and conversations sync across devices. Siri lives at the top of the iPad's display, and swiping down from the top of the display brings up a new Search or Ask interface that replaces the Spotlight Search interface. Apple rebuilt the search index for Siri AI, so content is indexed faster and it brings up more relevant results, especially in the Mail app.

You can type to Siri from Search or Ask, say Hey Siri, or activate Siri with the top button, and you'll see a new Siri animation. Concise Siri responses show up at the top of the screen, and you can swipe down for more information or to ask a follow-up question. You can upload files and photos by tapping on the "+" button. On the M4 iPad Pro/Air and later with 1TB+ storage, you can set a custom voice for Siri, with personalized pace and expressivity. Apple's newest iPads also support improved dictation capabilities with special on-device AI models.

Visual Intelligence has expanded to the iPad, and it can be used whenever you take a screenshot to get information on what you're looking at, with options to highlight specific information with Apple Pencil. Visual Intelligence has new capabilities, and it can tell you the nutritional info from a meal, import multiple events to your calendar at one time, split up a receipt for you, import contacts from a business card photo, or import a membership card into the Wallet app.

Siri is integrated into apps with systemwide context menus so you can select text or images and then ask Siri about your selection. With the Write with Siri feature, Siri can generate text from scratch, correct your grammar, or give feedback on your writing. Siri can even write in your own style when composing email and text messages, and it works with handwritten notes. For the AirPods, Apple added a redesigned Settings interface and custom EQ for personalizing AirPods sound by adjusting lows, mids, and highs.

The Photos app has AI photo editing tools. Clean Up is better at removing objects from images and filling in missing areas, and there are Reframe and Extend options. Extend lets you change the crop of an image, using AI to generate new fill, while Reframe combines AI and spatial images so you can change the perspective or composition of a photo. iCloud Shared Albums support full-resolution sharing, and friends with Android and Windows devices can contribute images to iCloud albums. There's also a new 30-day expiration option and an option to sync content immediately to iCloud for quicker uploads.

Any set of photos or videos can be played as a slideshow, and you can save a video frame as a photo. Apple added a Captured by Me collection in the Photos app. With the new Selection View, you can review and modify metadata like location for multiple images, and there is support for keywords and star ratings.

Safari can automatically organize tabs, bookmarks, and Reading List by topic, create custom extensions for you based on natural language prompts, and monitor webpages for changes with Notify Me, letting you know when an update is detected. The Passwords app uses AI to change weak and compromised passwords for you, upgrading them to strong passwords. When saving files or folders, Apple Intelligence will suggest names based on content.

Image Playground was overhauled, and it generates images in any style, including photorealistic. You can create images of people, modify images using descriptions for small changes, and make tweaks with touch gestures. Image Wand in Notes can now transform a rough sketch into a photorealistic image. Apple also updated Genmoji to be faster and better quality. Image Playground supports creating wallpaper, Contact Posters, images for social media, and more with different aspect ratio options. Image generation and similar resource-intensive AI features will have daily usage caps with more access tied to paid iCloud+ plans, but Apple's AI features will be otherwise free.

The Shortcuts app can create shortcuts for you based on natural language requests. Just tell it what you want a shortcut to do, and the app will generate it automatically with AI. On the iPad, Shortcuts now supports Magic Keyboard triggers so you can have a shortcut run when you attach a keyboard. Calendar and Reminders support natural language for adding and modifying events and tasks. The Maps app uses aerial imagery and Vision Intelligence models for enhanced Flyover with sharper, more lifelike detail. The Journal app supports generative writing prompts for writing inspiration.

In the Home app, HomeKit Secure Video supports 4K capture, and it uses AI to summarize activities from video footage. Multiple notifications are aggregated, and it can stitch together footage from multiple cameras for a complete picture of what's happening. It also supports searching for specific moments.

Mail makes intelligent suggestions for taking action on content with apps, and in Messages, there are AI suggestions for actions you might want to take like inserting a photo or sharing a location. Sending large photos and videos no longer slows text conversations, and there is a send indicator for outgoing messages. Tapback notifications are now consolidated, so you get fewer notifications.

The Phone app has Call Context, a feature that brings up relevant on-device information you might need when calling a business for help, like a flight number. The Music app has new artist pages and AutoMix has more immersive transitions. The Clock app supports setting alarm volume independent of system volume.

There's now a Liquid Glass slider for customizing translucency level, and Apple updated Liquid Glass to improve readability. Toolbars are more uniform to make text headings and larger groups of controls more legible in apps like Mail, and sidebars extend to the edges of windows instead of float. Sidebar icons are also once again colorful, and Apple now uses menu bar icons selectively to make it easier to find commonly used actions. Liquid Glass icons have more detail and sharpness, and navigation bars, menus, and buttons have more depth and separation. The Home Screen supports extra large widgets for apps like Calendar, Photos, and Music.

Apple focused on performance improvements across iPadOS 27, and everything feels faster. Apps launch quicker, AirDrop transfers are faster, the keyboard loads quicker, swapping Home Screen pages is speedier, and App Library is faster. Browsing files on iPad and transferring them to an external USB drive is up to five times faster, and it is just as fast as Finder on a Mac.

Gestures for closing, switching, and dragging windows are quicker, and multitasking is faster. Context menus in iPadOS open faster when using a cursor, and Apple expanded the CPU scheduler to all iPadOS 27-supported iPads for faster performance.

App names show in the iPad's status bar to make it easier to see which app is active, and it's quicker to get to the menu bar by tapping on or hovering a cursor over the app name. iPhone apps that run on iPadOS can be resized to be bigger.

Apple is updating parental controls and introducing child safety features in iPadOS 27. Screen Time has been redesigned, and parents can see the apps and websites children are visiting and make adjustments in real-time. Time Allowances let parents set the amount of time children can use app categories like Entertainment, Games, and Social Media, with customizable schedules based on time and day.

Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse require kids to get parental permission for every app download and new website visited in Safari, plus parents can manage contacts and require permission before kids contact someone new. Communication Safety now blocks gore and violence in addition to nudity in Messages and FaceTime.

iPadOS 27 is available on the 6th-generation iPad mini and later, the 9th-generation iPad and later, the 2nd-generation 11-inch iPad Pro and later, the 4th-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and later, and the 4th-generation iPad Air or later.

Registered developers can download iPadOS 27, and Apple plans to release a public beta in July. iPadOS 27 will be released to the public in the fall.

Siri AI is available in English and will expand to other languages in the future. Siri AI for iPhone and iPad will not initially be available in the European Union because of issues with the Digital Markets Act. Siri AI and the new Apple Intelligence features are not available in China.

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iPadOS 27 is available on the following iPads:

• iPad Pro (M4 or later)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation or later)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation or later)
• iPad Air (M2 or later)
• iPad Air 11-inch (4th generation or later)
• iPad (A16)
• iPad (9th generation and later)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)
• iPad mini (6th generation)

iPadOS 27 drops support for the fifth-generation iPad mini, the 8th-generation iPad, the 3rd-generation iPad Air, the first-generation 11-inch iPad Pro, and the 3rd-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

New versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Apple's other software platforms were previewed at WWDC in June. Developers have access to the iPadOS 27 beta right now, but Apple plans to release a public beta in July. iPadOS 27 will launch in September alongside iOS 27.