Apple iPads could finally get a native calculator app in 2024 with iPadOS 18

Apple’s first iPad, launched in 2010, lacked many native applications, including a calculator, weather and more. It’s been more than a decade, but iPads still don’t have native calculator applications. However, that will change this year with iPadOS 18.

The Verge has reported that Apple plans to introduce a native calculator in iPads running its next-generation operating system, which the company will unveil at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 10.

Why the original iPad didn’t have a calculator

The first-generation iPad would get a redesigned version of the iPhone calculator. However, prior to launch, then-CEO Steve Jobs noticed the recycled calculator app on the iPad prototype. Jobs didn’t like the calculator app, which was essentially just a comprehensive iPhone calculator app, and instructed Scott Forstall, the iPad’s lead developer, to build a new iPad calculator or remove it from the device to delete. As the iPad’s launch drew closer, the developers decided to ditch the calculator app entirely.

Why iPads Still Don’t Have a Calculator App

During an interview with American YouTuber Marques Brownlee, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi said that Apple will only release a calculator app if it can do something “clearly new in that area.” “We want to do it if we can do it right,” he added.

Besides the calculator app, the iPads also did not have a Weather app. It was in 2022 that Apple finally integrated it into iPads.

According to media reports, Apple might redesign the calculator app for the upcoming macOS. The company will likely add a similarly designed calculator app for the iPads. So by not being impressed with the iPhone’s calculator app on the iPad, Apple can finally be satisfied with the MacBook’s

First print: April 24, 2024 | 1:21 p.m IST