Apple finally released the much-awaited iPadOS 15 to the public. Apple announced iPadOS 15 in June at WWDC 2021, and it has been in the beta state ever since. The September 2021 event just went by, and the iPad and iPad Mini seems very promising, mainly because of the new hardware and iPadOS 15.
The new iPads will start shipping from 24th September, just a few days before, the iPadOS 15 is rolling out on older iPads so that the whole lineup runs on the latest version of the operating system.
So if you own an iPad and thinking about whether your iPad will support the latest iPadOS 15 or not, then this page will answer your question.
Here is a list of iPads that support iPadOS 15
- iPad Pro (5th generation)
- iPad Pro (4th generation)
- iPad Pro (3rd generation)
- iPad Pro (2nd generation)
- iPad Pro (1st generation)
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad Air (2nd generation)
- iPad (8th generation)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad Mini (5th generation)
- iPad Mini (4th generation)
If you own one of these iPads, you must have got the alert in the Settings app saying ‘software update available’ on the top. If the alert does not appear, you do not have to worry about it because Apple releases in batch and might take some hours to appear. Meanwhile, you can also check it manually in Settings>General>Software Update, and there it should pop up if the update is available.
What’s new in the iPadOS 15?
The new iPadOS 15 promises robust features for professionals, and it makes the iPads even more capable and purposeful for everyday tasks. It’s crazy that buyers are considering the iPad Pro over full-fledged notebooks because of the seamless experience it offers, and the iPadOS 15 takes this versatility further with the host of new features.
New Multi-Tasking Toggle
With the iPadOS 15, the multitasking has been changed, and it is a little more seamless than before. It gets a toggle on the top that gives you various options such as split view, slide over, and an option to create a center window with dual apps open in the background.
For instance, if you have Mail and Calendar open side-by-side on your iPad and you need to compose an E-mail, you can tap & hold, and the compose window will open on the center, with a view of inbox and calendar on the back.
Quick Notes
The iPads are by far the best note-taking devices, and the iPadOS takes it further. Quick Notes enables you to make notes anywhere without even opening the Notes app. You can just swipe up from the corner with your finger or Apple Pencil, and the Quick Notes will appear.
It is a super handy feature if you are watching a video or reading an article, and you need to make quick notes, then you can just swipe up from the corner and take quick notes without a pause.
SharePlay
SharePlay is entirely a new experience, and it is the first time exclusively available on the iPadOS 15. It lets you binge-watch shows and movies together with your friends and family and have a talk over FaceTime. It gives you synced playback and controls to hear the reactions of the person on the other side.
SharePlay also lets you listen to your favorite music albums synced with your friends, and it lets you have shared queues.
Share Your Screen
Share Your Screen is a very basic yet one of the most needed features of 2021. It lets you have a view of your friend’s screen over FaceTime so that you both can plan your next trip together.
FaceTime, Spatial Mode & Mic Modes
Spatial Audio takes the FaceTime experience to the next level. It delivers sound from the person’s direction on the screen, giving a more natural video call feel. It makes a massive difference during those group FaceTimes.
Moreover, there are various mic modes such as Voice Isolation and Wide Spectrum. Voice Isolation silents the background noise and focuses on the voice of the person on the screen. The Wide Spectrum is ideal to use when you want to make the person on the other side hear some music or sound that is important.
FaceTime now supports all platforms, and you can share a link to your friend on Android & Windows.
iMessages & Memoji
The iPadOS 15 gets the ‘Shared with you’ section, where you get all your photos shared with your friends and family tailored in one album. The shared with you option is also present in Safari, Apple Music & Podcasts.
Memoji now gives you more options to express yourself with various stickers and outfits to choose from.
Focus
Focus lets you choose what notifications should appear while doing various things. It enables you to create multiple modes such as Work, Home, Personal, and you can choose whichever suits you.
It also lets you signal your status with friends so that when you have Focus enabled, your friends will know.
Notification Summary
Notification summary is a new feature, and it is the first time in Apple’s operating system. It is an intelligent notification feature that delivers you a summary at your desired time to catch up with all notifications.
Safari Extensions
Now you can install supported extensions on an iPad as you would do on MacBook. It takes your iPad browsing experience to the next level. This will be very useful if you work on the Internet a lot and you are used to extensions.
Live Text
Live texts analyses text and information from the pictures you take and let you directly act on it. For instance, if there is a phone number in a photo, the iPad will give you an option to call with a tap.
It can also translate languages.
Spotlight
Spotlight is a very powerful and one of the most popular features of Mac that has been brought to the iPadOS 15.
Spotlight lets you search your whole iPad in one place, whether it be movies, books, contacts, shows, and it is smart enough to search photos based on texts in it.
These are the main highlights of iPadOS 15, and like every year, the first version might not turn out to be the best performer, and you might encounter some issues, but in a month or two, we can expect some minor updates that will make huge improvements.
