iPadOS 26 is finally nudging me towards upgrading my 2020 iPad Pro

• What it’s like using a 2020 iPad in 2025
• Is Apple nudging people towards new hardware?

One thing we didn’t see at Apple’s September 9 event was a new iPad. That made sense to a degree, since there was enough to talk about with new Apple Watches and the iPhone 17 lineup, particularly the iPhone Air. At the same time, the radio silence felt a bit odd, since the company has made a splash with fall iPad announcements in the past. However, not to fear — Apple finally dropped the hammer earlier this month by announcing a new M5 iPad Pro, which definitely has more than a few tempting upgrades.

I’m not in a position to buy a new iPad anytime soon. Covering September 9 did lead me to reflect on the prospect, however, in tandem with the release of iPadOS 26. The more I use iPadOS 26, the more pressure I feel towards making the leap. Part of this stems from genuine feature advancements in the OS — but there’s a little more going on than that. Regardless, I find myself sitting on a fence.

What it’s like using a 2020 iPad in 2025

Hard and soft barriers

If there’s any five-year-old iPad that can hold out in the modern tech landscape, it’s my 11-inch iPad Pro. I don’t stress it that much compared to some people, admittedly — the only work apps I run are Slack and Asana — but its A12Z chip is still fast enough to support Liquid Glass and three iPhone-sized apps simultaneously. During the workday, I use my Pro as a kind of second screen for keeping tabs on music, messages, notifications, and smart home controls. This frees up my laptop for more important tasks — namely research, image editing, and jamming out writing projects.

For what I’m currently doing, there’s no strong reason to upgrade. My iPad even has some features the latest non-Pro models don’t, namely Face ID and a 120Hz ProMotion display. That’s something I had expected to change by now. It might in the next few months, who knows — since Apple has settled on the notion of cheaper iPads being limited by processor power, it feels arbitrary to impose a 60Hz refresh rate as well, considering that Samsung’s budget Galaxy Tab A11 has a 90Hz panel. It’s hard to go back to 60Hz once you’ve got used to scrolling through apps and home screens at ultra-smooth framerates.

Speaking of graphics, while Liquid Glass does work, it almost feels tailor-made to drive upgrades.

I am operating within invisible walls, though. Because my Pro lacks an M-series processor, it’s only allowed to mirror content to an external monitor or TV, not create an extended desktop. And the most advanced apps won’t run well or at all — I’m thinking of titles like Logic Pro and DaVinci Resolve. I could technically launch Resolve, but trying to edit a video with the bare minimum specs would be excruciating. Blackmagic recommends an M1 iPad or better.

Where there aren’t hard barriers for my tablet, there are soft ones. iPadOS 26 does let you open more than three or four apps (finally), yet the practical ceiling of that depends on both processor power and RAM. In the case of a 2020 iPad Pro, four apps seem to be the most it can manage before things become noticeably slow, and that’s without launching anything graphics-intensive. Even a 2D game like Stardew Valley would probably tip things over the edge.

Speaking of graphics, while Liquid Glass does work, it almost feels tailor-made to drive upgrades. Its added graphical effects slow down an A12Z just enough that dragging and resizing windows becomes an uncomfortable chore. Mildly uncomfortable, perhaps, but that’s significant on a touch-based device where you expect instant response. It’s not hard to imagine iPadOS 27 becoming a breaking point for some users, at least if Apple tries to push visual flair any further.

Is Apple nudging people towards new hardware?

The complex answer

On one level, I don’t doubt it. Customers have been going longer and longer between iPad purchases, sometimes beyond the five-year mark — a dilemma for a company that wants you to sign up for an annual iPhone Upgrade Program. Indeed, if you’re looking to save money, a refurbished 2021 iPad Pro is not only viable in 2025, but enough to get around all the barriers I’ve been talking about. I might see if I can find a 13-inch, 2022 refurb — the extra screen space would do more for my productivity than an M4 or M5 chip, especially if I could put the savings towards a Magic Keyboard.

At the same time, I don’t really begrudge Apple. Critics like myself have long complained that outside of media consumption and illustration, there hasn’t been much reason to use an iPad instead of a Mac or Windows PC, which tends to be more flexible. My current iPad dates back to an era when “Pro” signaled little more than a few extra perks. To fix that, Apple was inevitably going to have to improve iPadOS’s multitasking capabilities at the cost of performance on older hardware. An M4 iPad Pro running iPadOS 26 is a radically different beast — with the right apps and accessories, many people should be able to use one as a true laptop replacement. Some people are making go of one as a 4K video workstation, foreshadowing how powerful every iPad is going to be by the time we get to iPadOS 30.

Apple’s going to have to prove that it’s worth forking out extra for a new model instead of scanning for deals on yesterday’s news.

Will I upgrade by spring 2026? Probably not, if I’m honest — unless my iPad breaks down, or there’s a sudden influx of cash. I’d probably get more value from a cheap Windows laptop that could serve as backup to my primary machine, or as a (more) compact travel workstation. An iPad isn’t even my best portable gaming option anymore, not when I have a Steam Deck OLED my wife gave me as a gift. I can’t play Cyberpunk 2077 on an iPad without resorting to cloud services like GeForce Now.

Apple seems to be headed in the right direction, so there is a chance I’ll give in to temptation. Even then, however, it’s going to have to prove that it’s worth forking out extra for a new iPad instead of scanning sites like Amazon and Best Buy for deals on yesterday’s news.