My iPad is slow and laggy after iPadOS 26 update

My best bet is for you to make a back up of your whole ipad. Erase the device completely then restore with your back up again. I had the same issue and the problem persisted many ways. Restart. Hard restart. Killing all apps and notifications. Turning off background apps running in the background at the same time. Nothing worked. Then i backed up my ipad on to iCloud everything. All my information and as well in the computer just for a double peace of mind. And i restored the iPad pro and is not m1 i have a late ipad 2020 11 inch so its not even M1. And my ipad now flows like water at 120 fps no latency but well. That fixed my issue. So i hope this fixes your issue as well. 👍

just providing my experience and what fixed the horrible lag. So hope this helps 👍

hmibrooklyn wrote:

There are few, if any, bugs that affect absolutely all users and configurations. When a problem is reported widely, it is a safe bet that there is some general issue, and the universal common factor is the OS. One of the reasons that tech support often asks for system logs is to search for other common factors.

But the fact that not everyone is affected or affected the same way, doesn't rule out OS issues.

The way to determine that is to Factory Reset the device and do not restore from a backup to test. You then have a device that contains the software as if it were new. That is a direct comparison to everyone else with a default setup, so any issue you experience that is unique to you, points to a local network or hardware problem.

Restarting did the trick! It now run’s smoothly.

SUCCESS!!!!

the recently released iOS 26.3 made a HUGE performance improvement on BOTH my 11” M1 iPad AND my iPhone 16 Pro!!!!!

Man, what an awful experience.

to address some of the other comments; it’s clear this is not at all an isolated / per device / random occurrence. I work in I.T. And if you think it is normal to have to fully reinstall an entire OS merely to get an update to NOT cripple your devices, well…. That says it all really…..

Either way; update to 26.3 and good luck, everyone!

DrJonesUSA wrote:

Most of us here, from what I can gather, and certainly including myself, absolutely do NOT fall into that category.

I installed iPadOS 26 easily 1+ month ago. Any & all background services, indexing, optimization; whatever; should have long since been completed.

Did you see the date of post and that it was addressed to the OP at that time who asked the question on September 16th? With iOS 26 being released on September 15th there is still file indexing and background processes being performed and it is way too early to be making any comparisons. Many of us are not having any battery issues beyond that initial indexing that Apple says you should expect. It has been seen that takes 3-5 days and was the case for me as well.

Why can’t some people just admit & acknowledge that apple makes mistakes - they have objectively made many in the past - and they need to admit it when they do, and quickly roll out a fix?

Of course any Software can have bugs and that would include from Apple. That is the whole purpose for updates that provide bug fixes. With that being said, you also have to realize that the apps installed on the iPad can also contain bugs that have a serious impact on Battery performance. The current version is 26.1, with another one in the works and being tested now, not only by Apple but from other users too who have chosen to be a beta tester.

In some cases, such as Meta apps, it may not necessarily be a bug and simply the case that your battery must be used for their information harvesting of your data. That is their business model and they post billions of revenue each quarter while letting you use their apps for free. No judgement on my part, it is just some users can't fathom that to be true and no matter what would say it is Apple doing it.

The way to determine if it is actually iOS is to remove the third party apps and test to compare. The alternative is to do the Factory Reset and yes I would recommend to do an archived backup with a computer as the iCloud backup will be overwritten. Restoring from a backup will just put you in the same state with those apps. What is not acceptable is a user not willing to do that or say they cannot live without Instagram (or whatever) and still blame Apple for that app causing the battery to drain.

To fix this issue (temporarily), it’s best to go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Turn on Reduce Transparency. If continues, do a factory reset.

I also have got the iPad Pro 2nd Gen 11“ (2020) and was super disappointed about the extreme lagging performance of iPadOS 26. I’ve also tried to deactivate animations, transparency, disable widgets. The only thing that helped was following your tip and delete, reset and restore from backup. Thanks for this helpful input!

Adam_Electric wrote:

And i restored the iPad pro and is not m1 i have a late ipad 2020 11 inch so its not even M1. And my ipad now flows like water at 120 fps no latency but well. That fixed my issue. So i hope this fixes your issue as well. 👍

just providing my experience and what fixed the horrible lag. So hope this helps 👍

l2ez4_41 wrote:

Dear Apple Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am writing to request the re-enablement of iOS 18 signing for my device. My iPad model is iPad13,18 (10th generation Wi-Fi). After updating to iPadOS 26.1, my device has become significantly slower. Despite several days passing, the performance has not improved. Additionally, my iPad has 4GB of RAM, which is not sufficient for the smooth operation of iOS 26.1.

Therefore, I would like to request the possibility to downgrade back to iOS 18, as it was previously signed and is still available via OTA. I kindly ask for your assistance in re-enabling the signing for iOS 18 for my device.

Thank you very much for your support and understanding.

Please understand the Apple Support Community is a user-to-user technical forum. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitor nor participate here. As such, if you hope to reach Apple through these forums, you will be disappointed.

Apple invite submission of comments and requests via its Product Feedback portal. If you would like Apple to reconsider is policy and/or technical decisions, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to make a request:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

LotusPilot wrote:

l2ez4_41 wrote:

Dear Apple Support Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am writing to request the re-enablement of iOS 18 signing for my device. My iPad model is iPad13,18 (10th generation Wi-Fi). After updating to iPadOS 26.1, my device has become significantly slower. Despite several days passing, the performance has not improved. Additionally, my iPad has 4GB of RAM, which is not sufficient for the smooth operation of iOS 26.1.

Therefore, I would like to request the possibility to downgrade back to iOS 18, as it was previously signed and is still available via OTA. I kindly ask for your assistance in re-enabling the signing for iOS 18 for my device.

Thank you very much for your support and understanding.

Please understand the Apple Support Community is a user-to-user technical forum. Contributors here are all end-users, just like you. Other than the site Moderators, Apple neither monitor nor participate here. As such, if you hope to reach Apple through these forums, you will be disappointed.

Apple invite submission of comments and requests via its Product Feedback portal. If you would like Apple to reconsider is policy and/or technical decisions, this would be the most appropriate channel through which to make a request:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

To add too… once Apple pulls downgrading to the previous iOS firmware it’s gone forever. I think Apple gives user 24 hours to be able to revert to the previous iOS firmware.

aaa1155 wrote:

Same problem here as others seem to be experiencing … iPadOS 26 has made Safari on my M1 iPad Pro completely ususable.

Sounds like you are having a network issue. Do you have a VPN installed?

No trouble browsing with Safari on my end. Have you tried resetting your Network Settings at Settings > General > Transfer or Reset [Device] > Reset > Reset Network Settings. This will reset your WiFi password, so it will need to be entered again the first time you log into WiFi.

I have a 256GB Mini with 73GB available and still the only (temporary) fix to recurrent lagging is a restart. With the codicil that the restart is itself an issue, as the slide to power off is often unresponsive.

iPad Pro M1 Terabyte model here, and after updating to iOS26 has brought sticky screens, stop-motion movement, unusable websites, and Safari feels like Mozilla Netscape circa 1998. The new experience of overheating where the back is hot to fry an egg, apps freeze, windows stick, and notes now make me angry. I open to write, no keyboard, try and close it - tap, tap, tap, TAP! OK, swipe away notes, to move on… oh wham!, the AI writing tools pop up out of nowhere! Where’s my keyboard again. OK overheating again, alert it has stopped charging. I need some fresh air. OK, Let’s get back to work, swipe, swipe, OK why can’t I get past my lock screen- no face id launching, no keyboard. Swipe! This is the new experience now, no restart the iPad up from a hard shut down. OK, back, wait where is my virtual keyboard again?

and my Apple Pencil will not connect. Apple needs to fix this or they will have larger groups of customers getting louder and frustrated that their expensive iPad Pro has become a relic. If this was just an oddity on my device, it would be one thing, but my neighbor and my sister-in-law now ( both with M3) have stuck screens and hot plates to brew coffees on. Both for the first time have experienced overheating.

p.s. this actual form field was stuck and my keyboard again again, so I had to post then edit my message here to fix some typos. 😤

I got the same performance problems with my iPad Pro Max M1 and iOS 26.1. Very slow ...

But I have a guess why that is on some and not all older iPads: iOS 26 might be running slow on iPads with a weaker battery. When my iPhone 15 Pro Max is fully charged, it runs like butter with iOS 26. When the battery gets weaker, it starts to hang. My iPad Pro Max has an older Battery. I will have it replaced soon and I wouldn't be surprised if iOS 26 is going to run smooth again then.

John Scott1 wrote:

Yeah I didn’t like windowed feature anyway on my 11 inch iPad Air m3. Full screen is best and maybe does help with battery life? I have only owned my iPad Air for a few weeks and it came with iPad Os 18.7. Still have mixed feelings on 26 so far. Feels a bit more sluggish then 18 and iPad gets warmer then I am used to with 18.

Tell Apple:

Product Feedback - Apple

I agree. With 26.1 installed, I still get laggy scrolling at least every 3-4 days, for which the temporary cure is a complete shutdown and restart...with the added feature that about half the time the shutdown slider is non-responsive, and it takes another one or two times of dismissing and calling up that screen to be able to shut down.