Why is the Apple calculator app not on the iPad?

iPad doesn’t have a built-in App - however, there are many excellent third-party Calculator Apps available from the App Store.

One of the very best calculators in the App Store - that happens also to be both completely free and without any advertisements whatsoever - is Sci:Pro Calculator:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sci-pro-calculator/id684978583

For a “paid” alternative, perhaps consider PCalc:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pcalc/id284666222

Before the first iPad in 2010, Apple's development team did have an iPad calculator ready to go, but it was just a scaled-up version of the iPhone app. Steve Jobs caught wind of it and quickly nixed it, and there wasn't enough time to design an iPad-optimized calculator before the iPad hit shelves.

-Google

Hey there CalculatorForiPad,

We understand you're wondering why there is no calculator app for iPad. We'd be happy to point you in the right direction for this.

Please leave feedback about what you'd like to see on iPadOS here: Product Feedback - Apple

Regards.