iPad Air 4 and iPadOS 26 Multitasking Memory Usage

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iPad Air 4 and iPadOS 26 Multitasking Memory Usage

I'm a bit confused about memory usage using multitasking options In iPadOS 26. I mostly use full screen apps In the multitasking Windowed Apps mode. I also use Slide Over, which is not available in the multitasking Full Screen Apps mode.

When I switch between full screen apps in multitasking Windowed Apps mode, they always seem to completely reopen, as if they had been quit. This does NOT occur in multitasking's Full Screen Apps mode, in which it simply switches to the other open app. I repeatedly switched between two (2) full screen apps and was forced to wait for each to reopen every time I switched from one to the other. At the time, those were the only two (2) apps that I had open. I switched them to windows, rather than full screen, to resolve the problem. Another solution would have been to temporarily switch to multitasking's Full Screen Apps mode.

My iPad Air 4 only has 4GB memory which might be a contributing factor, but it has sufficient memory to simply switch to the other app in Multitasking's Full Screen Apps mode, without reopening them. Does this issue occur in iPad models with more memory? That is, is this due to iPadOS design or the amount of memory on an iPad? Would this be resolved if I purchased an iPad with more memory?

As an aside, Apple has said that quitting and reopening apps uses more battery power. My iPad appears to be using more battery power than it did in iPadOS 18, even months after the upgrade. I'm wondering whether the constant restarting of apps is causing at least part of the battery drainage.

iPad Air 4

iPadOS 26.3

Posted on Mar 3, 2026 3:44 AM

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Answer 1

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LotusPilot

Level 10

322,338 points

Mar 3, 2026 8:17 AM in response to BevInTX

By design, iPadOS will always use all (or nearly all) of its available RAM to maximum performance - this being true regardless of the RAM configuration of the iPad model - and will actively "swap" active processes between [fast] RAM and [slower] flash storage. This swap process, while quick, takes a finite period of time, this being noticeable in terms of relative performance between iPad models.

By example, current models of iPad Pro M5 have either 12GB RAM (256/512GB storage models) or 16GB RAM (1TB/2TB storage models - whereas your current iPad has 4GB. Given that your iPad Air has between a third and quarter of the iPad Pro's available RAM, with all other performance factors set aside, your iPad Air will be spending considerably more time swapping data and processes between fast RAM for execution than its big brother. This obviously has significant impact upon system performance. Swapping also has implications for battery utilisation.

Choosing a newer iPad model will noticeably improve App performance over your current iPad. In addition to having more RAM, the newer iPad will also benefit from a faster and more powerful CPU/GPU.

The impact of fully closing and restarting Apps versus resuming a dormant App is a little more complex. Consider that an App that is dormant will have been swapped to flash-storage - where it consumes no power and has few allocated system resources.

By contrast, force-closing an App will fully release all associated resources; re-launching an App requires the App to be fully reinitialised - this process being more CPU intensive - and uses more power - than would otherwise be the case by simply swapping a dormant App back from its dormant state.

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Answer 2

BevInTX Author

Level 1

42 points

Apr 27, 2026 6:42 AM in response to LotusPilot

This is just an update to say that I did end up getting a M5 iPad Pro, so that I could get the maximum amount of memory available in the current iPad lineup. As you recommended, it's been a big improvement overall in memory usage. It has the added benefit of better Bluetooth :-). So thanks again, for taking the time for that excellent explanation that you provided.

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