Blender is building a full-featured iPad app, but it's not clear when it will be released

AppleInsider

Blender is working on a native iPad version of its popular 3D creation suite, with the goal of delivering a complete multitouch experience tailored to artists who rely on tablets.

A current mockup of the potential Blender for iPad app

In an update posted to its developer blog, the Blender team outlined early plans to bring its eponymous app to the iPad Pro. But it didn't stop there, and also suggested that the app could make an appearance on other devices, like the Microsoft Surface, Huawei MatePad, and Wacom MovinkPad.

The first version will focus on sculpting and basic object manipulation, with hopes of bringing tools like the Grease Pencil and storyboarding later.

The team's current mockups show a single-window workflow that prioritizes screen real estate and quick access to tools via floating UI elements and contextual overlays. Menus are collapsed by default, and the usual Tool Settings header has been replaced with floating panels tailored to pen input.

Blender's long-term goal is a fully native experience across touch-first platforms, complete with multi-touch gestures, AirDrop, and iCloud support on iOS, and new input handling features.

So, while the initial testing ground is the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, Blender says the project's design principles will benefit all tablet and desktop users. Usability upgrades, such as a "Quick Favorites" editor, interactive shortcut overlays, and icon-supported sidebar tabs, will appear in both the desktop and tablet versions.

Blender says a live tech demo will be shown at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver, with follow-up discussions and design workshops planned for Blender HQ and the Blender Conference later in 2025. The company also encourages developers with experience in tablet and iOS design to reach out.

These are still very early-stage plans. Blender doesn't have a timeline for release, either.



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mike eggleston

This is very exciting! I know that 3D Printer designers will love the ability to use touch to manipulate 3D objects!

cloudy

I've been using Blender for over a decade and wrote Apple many times to complain for how comically bad Blender support was on Apple devices for many years (like when GPUs couldn't be used because Apple prematurallly deprecated support). So it's great to see Mac support improving over time and now Blender coming to iPads. Sculpting and Grease Pencil are the obvious candidates for iPad support and the Blender Foundation will hopefully start with an iPad companion app to Blender first before trying to bring all of Blender over to iOS.

bloggerblog

cloudy said:

I've been using Blender for over a decade and wrote Apple many times to complain for how comically bad Blender support was on Apple devices for many years (like when GPUs couldn't be used because Apple prematurallly deprecated support).

Why did you write Apple and not Blender? 

cloudy

bloggerblog said:

cloudy said:

I've been using Blender for over a decade and wrote Apple many times to complain for how comically bad Blender support was on Apple devices for many years (like when GPUs couldn't be used because Apple prematurallly deprecated support).

Why did you write Apple and not Blender? 

Because Apple screwed up by prematurely deprecating support before making sure that major 3D applications like Blender would work with those new libraries. I bought a PC just to be able to use Blender and other 3D apps. Imagine having applications that can’t see your GPU and the performance hit you take. Blender is not responsible for the OS. Blender is not some generic app it’s very important in the 3D community because it’s free and very versatile.

danox

???

What is Apple supposed to do if a company/developer makes a market decision not to do anything or do bare minimum, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the makers of Blender, who appear to be doing more than Autodesk or Adobe these days when it comes to supporting the Mac/iPad platforms.

https://opendata.blender.org/benchmarks/query/?compute_type=OPTIX&compute_type=CUDA&compute_type=HIP&compute_type=METAL&compute_type=ONEAPI&group_by=device_name&blender_version=4.3.0

What’s noteworthy in this table is that Apple jumped 40 positions from 52nd the M2 Ultra to the M3 Ultras12th spot on the list of devices that run Blender. 

https://blenderartists.org/t/the-blender-macos-and-general-apple-thread/1467856/4110

“ Quote from website “ Note that the iOS version for Blender is already feature complete. It’s “just” a mater of compiling Blender for the right targets. But there’s practicality no changes to the actual code of Blender specific to e.g. iOS.

And the way the UI will work for targets like iOS or Android is that Blender already has the capability to fully (and I mean fully) customize the layout and UI through python scripts. There are “App Templates” designed for this exact purpose: launch Blender with a customized environment. E.g. by hiding unnecessary many options, having just a single full-screen editor, showing gizmos in the interface, changing shortcuts (and showing menus instead), etc. etc.

Blender on the iPad, once it’s fully out, might feel much more streamlined and polished than people might think now, because they are so so used to the desktop Blender experience. Once there’s an actual iOS app template, that will change.” end quote….

Note: The iPad version of Blender will be demoed at SIGGRAPH 2025. Hopefully this means Blender will be coming to the next generation of the Vision Pro in some capacity.

https://helm.news/2025-07-25/blender-is-developing-ipad-app-easier-d-modeling-set-debut-live-demo.html

bloggerblog

cloudy said:

bloggerblog said:

cloudy said:

I've been using Blender for over a decade and wrote Apple many times to complain for how comically bad Blender support was on Apple devices for many years (like when GPUs couldn't be used because Apple prematurallly deprecated support).

Why did you write Apple and not Blender? 

Because Apple screwed up by prematurely deprecating support before making sure that major 3D applications like Blender would work with those new libraries. I bought a PC just to be able to use Blender and other 3D apps. Imagine having applications that can’t see your GPU and the performance hit you take. Blender is not responsible for the OS. Blender is not some generic app it’s very important in the 3D community because it’s free and very versatile.

Oh yeah that must've sucked. Apple does make unpopular decisions at times, many of us got burned in the past. Hope they'll do better at easing such transitions.