iPadOS 26 External Display Magic — Did Apple Just Kill the Desktop?

Desktop who? In this stress-test I plug an M-series iPad running iPadOS 26 into a 34-inch ultrawide and see whether the new Liquid Glass UI, Stage Manager 2.0, and true external-display mode finally graduate the iPad from couch companion to daily driver.

What you’ll learn in 7 minutes:

00:22 Gear & Dock – Budget setup using Dell USB-C hub + Logitech Pebble + HDMI.
00:56 First Contact – Stage Manager pops, monitor autoscales (no letterboxing!).
01:25 Mirror vs Extend – Best arrangement for multitasking.
02:12 3-D Notes Demo – New graph tool feels very Mac-like on a big canvas.
03:04 Window Tossing – Tile, snap, and fling apps with Stage Manager 2.0.
04:00 Portrait Dreams – Why rotation is still on my Apple wish-list.
04:59 Lag & Thermals – Dev beta jitters and heavy animation hits (FLIR proof).
05:19 Microsoft Word Test – Desktop-class ribbon on an iPad (finally!).
05:52 Dock Disappears – The bug that made me spelunk for the App Store.
06:47 GoodNotes Full-Screen – Notetaking heaven …