Apple could finally fix one of the iPad’s strangest omissions later this year, with new rumors suggesting that iPadOS 18 could deliver – yes – the Calculator app.
If you own an iPad you may not need a giant touchscreen calculator, or have noticed that the feature – which has lived on the iPhone and Macs for years – was missing. But according to a trusted MacRumors source, Apple is planning to bring the Calculator app to its tablets at WWDC 2024 on June 10.
The app will be restricted to iPads that can run iPadOS 18, which seems understandable given the huge power demands of a calculator app. According to other recent rumors, the update will come to all iPads that can run iOS 17, except the iPad (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9 (2nd generation) and the iPad Pro 10.5.
It also seems the Calculator app itself is going to get an upgrade. According to some digging from AppleInsider, Apple’s Notes app is due to get a new ‘Math Notes’ feature that will help it talk to the Calculator app so that you can do some quick sums (something that’s already possible in Microsoft’s OneNote app).
This (hopefully) won’t be the biggest iPadOS 18 upgrade we see announced in June, and it isn’t great news for the third-party iPad apps like PCalc that have filled the gap for years, but we’re kind of looking forward to turning our iPad into a giant calculator.
What else is coming for the iPad?
Apple has now set a launch date for its new iPads, with the “special Apple event” kicking off on May 7 at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST, which is midnight AEST on May 8 in Australia. So if you’re in the market for a new tablet, we’d recommend holding fire for a couple of weeks.
The launch is expected to deliver a new iPad Pro with an OLED scree and M3 chip, with two new iPad Air 6 models and a new Apple Pencil providing solid support (Tim Cook unsubtly confirmed the latter on Twitter / X by stating “Pencil us in for May 7”.
What if you already have an iPad and want a bit more than a new Calculator app? Well, iPadOS 18 is likely to bring some improvements, although rumors about exactly what those could be are thin on the ground. The arrival of the iPhone’s Journal app has been mooted, and it’s possible that some iPads could bring the AI-powered improvements that are strongly rumored for iOS 18.
Either way, the iPad series is likely to get a much-needed hardware and software refresh over the next couple of months, which means that our guide to the best iPads is likely to get a big shakeup soon.