Keeping up to date with version numbers and release dates can be tricky – which is why we’re trying to figure out the iPadOS 17 release date. When is iPadOS 17 going to come out? We take a look at all current speculation and take some educated guesses to help you out, with some data to back it up.

Before you look forwards to iPadOS 17, it may also be worth asking yourself: what is iPadOS 16 compatible with? This will give you a good indication to whether your current iPad will be able to upgrade to iPadOS 17 once the release date rolls by.

There is a ton of research you can do if you want to try and pinpoint when iPadOS 17 is here, so we’ve compiled all our findings in one place to make it easy for you. While you wait for this latest version of the following iPadOS 16.

iPadOS 17 release date prediction

So, with everything we’ve check out so far, when will the iPadOS 17 release date be? We predict that iPadOS will release at a similar time as iOS 17 – given their past history of releasing at the same time.

Although this can’t be said for certain and falls to the side of speculation, it’s certainly a good indication. Version 16.4 and the multiple other recent versions mentioned earlier all released on the same date together. They certainly have a tendency to be announced at the same time regardless.

That means that our current prediction is that iPadOS will release during mid-September 2023, provided the 17.0 version is fully released to the public as usual. Like with the release of iPadOS 16, we can always see slight deviations if Apple feels it must be done (possibly meaning another delay to October). See the release date history below for more details.

iPadOS release date history

Before we reach a verdict on the release date for iPadOS 17, some of the best research you can do is by going back and looking at previous version releases. The reason for this is that we tend to see a pattern developing which helps us determine an approximate time frame for when iPadOS 17 arrives.

With that in mind, let us take you through the most recent releases of iPadOS you can enjoy using right now on your Apple tablet.

iPadOS 16.1: October 24th 2022
iPadOS 16.2: December 13th 2022
iPadOS 16.3: January 23rd 2023
iPadOS 16.4: March 27th 2023
iPadOS 16.5 beta 1: March 28th 2023

These release dates for the previous iPadOS versions have the same history as iOS, which is important to note.

As for the official / full public versions, here’s how it looks.

iPadOS 13: September 19th 2019
iPadOS 14: September 16th 2020
iPadOS 15: September 20th 2021
iPadOS 16: October 24th 2022 (as iPadOS 16.1)

So, you’ll notice that the trend of mid-late September is strong. iPadOS 16 wasn’t fully released to the public until 16.1 however, so this meant that there was a delay to account for. The releases for iPadOS 13, 14, and 15 coincided with the release for iOS 13, 14, and 15 respectively. We of course expect to see this again as mentioned.

Features we hope to see in iPadOS 17

Now with the release time predictions out of the way, we thought we should share our thoughts on new features to hope for or even expect.

Some of these changes are expected to be similar to those in iOS 17. Uniformity seems to be the key to keeping both Apple phones and tablets on par which each other in terms of quality. Rumors do reveal that Apple may be focusing a chunk of their efforts this year to the Apple Reality Pro however.

Native app upgrades

Perhaps some of the first improvements you’ll notice once you upgrade to iPadOS 17 will be changes to the ‘native apps’. These are your usual tools and widgets which come pre-installed on the device. Some of these apps which are predicted to be upgraded include the Calendar, Mail, and News.

It’s worth nothing that both iPadOS and iOS 16 included new voice options for a number of languages. So, it would be nice to see this addition extended to a greater number of languages in iPadOS 17.

Other than that, it’s hard to pick out any particular upgrade for Apple’s native apps. There always seems to be smaller quality-of-life upgrades across the board. However, you may be surprised to hear that the Weather app was only first released for iPads in iPadOS 16, so possibility for big additions is not unheard of.

Third-party apps

One big thing to mention is the possible inclusion of third-party app stores. The iconic Apple App store may be seeing an extension, reportedly due to new European Union rules Apple need to abide by. This is also the case for iOS 17 – big changes ahead, for Europe at the very least.

It’s no secret that Apple like to keep their app store clear of any third-party apps, but things may change once iPadOS 17 is here. A European Union ruling (the Digital Markets Act) means that Apple have to comply and allow third-party app stores on their platform.

Apple have to comply with the ruling by March 2024, so iPadOS 17 may lay down the groundwork at the very least. It will be interesting to see how this develops and how Apple reacts to the new rules. One important note though: since the ruling doesn’t actually require companies to comply until March 2024, it could mean another year before we actually see any major changes.

Multi-user support

The next feature we’ve been craving is the support for multiple users on the iPad. You may actually be surprised to learn that iPadOS currently only supports one user at a time. If Apple really want the iPad to be seen as an ideal replacement for a laptop, then multi-user support is a must. We already see this in Macs, Apple TVs, and even HomePods, so why not on your iPad?

An interesting side note is that this seemingly glaring oversight actually seems to be by design. iPads designed specifically for education and schools already do support multiple users / profiles. We hope to see Apple change their tune with this particular feature and bring it to all kinds of iPads with iPadOS 17.

iPadOS 17 Live Speech & Personal Voice

One feature confirmed to be coming to iPadOS 17 is ‘Live Speech’. The official Apple reveal confirmed this will be included on both iPhone and iPad. Live Speech acts as part of the text-to-speech feature. This can be used while chatting with others – typing out a message on your iPhone (or iPad in this case) will read the message out loud to the person you’re calling. This is a fantastic accessibility feature for those that have lost the use of their voice.

Personal Voice is another interesting feature coming to iPadOS 17. What this does is essentially turn you into an AI voice, so you can make use of these text-to-speech features with your own voice. Recording just 15 minutes of audio into your iPad (by reading randomized prompts) will pick up on your voice to recreate it using machine learning, securely and privately.

iPadOS 17 device compatibility

We’re yet to see an official announcement for which devices will be compatible with iPadOS 17. For now, we can look back to the previous iPadOS version and see which devices are currently supported.

iPad Pro (9.7-inch and 10.5-inch): All generations.
iPad Pro (11-inch and 12.9-inch): 1st generation or later.
iPad / iPad Mini: 5th generation or later.
iPad Air: 3rd generation or later.

We expect to see even older generation iPads hold on to compatibility, but it’s entirely possible to see a couple of them drop off once we shift over to iPadOS 17. You’ll have to check which iPad device and generation you have to understand what this means for you.

iPadOS 17 release date FAQs

Will my iPad support iPadOS 17?

We’re yet to find out officially which iPad models will support iPadOS 17. There are multiple models to account for, with the iPad, iPad Pro, iPad mini, and iPad Air having differently compatibility on previous iPadOS versions across their generations.

You can check out iPadOS 16 compatibility over on Apple support to see how your particular model fares right now for reference.

Is iPadOS 17 out yet?

Right now, iPadOS 17 is not currently released to the public. We’ll be making sure that we keep you up to date as and when it’s out.

Our prediction is a good place to start if you want to know when iPadOS 17 is expected to come out.

iPadOS 17 release date speculation : Final word

So, that was everything we know so far regarding the iPadOS 17 release date. As soon as more rumors – or preferably facts – come to light, we’ll be here to report it.

We hope to see a bundle of new features or improvements once iPadOS 17 releases. Stay tuned for developments moving forward as we get closer to an official announcement from Apple.

iPadOS 17 release date prediction: when does iPadOS 17 come out?

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