Blender for iPad - Will it Ever Happen?

As a developer/3D artist, I've done a lot of research on this. The main challenge is not the hardware - it's the software architecture. iPadOS doesn't support many of Blender's dependencies, and since it's not an "open" platform like MacOS, you can't install what you want. Both Blender and its dependencies would have to be completely rewritten for iPadOS. The MacOS version shares most code with Windows/Linux, but an iPad version would be almost completely separate. There are also serious limitations in file access, background processing, and Python scripting support. In my opinion, it would make more sense to wait for Apple to open up iPadOS more.

I use Nomad Sculpt and it's amazing for sculpting. I used to use Blender with a Surface Pro 4 years ago until the tablet broke and it was great. Having Blender on iPad would be perfect for modeling with vertices and planes. Cycles might need to be removed due to heat issues, but Eevee should work fine - it's already decent in Nomad Sculpt even on my 8th gen iPad.

For those who say iPads are underpowered, the latest Pro models with M-series chips literally run on the same silicon as MacBooks! Mine handles complex Procreate projects without breaking a sweat. Sure, you won't be doing massive scene renders, but for modeling and Eevee, it's more than capable.

Where can I download blender 4 ipad?? checked app store but nothing comes up?? is it only 4 android????

@davidmep it's not possible. There is only Nomad for sculpting and texturing, Prisma 3D and Naomi for animation.

The real stumbling block here is the licensing. Blender's GPL license is incompatible with the App Store terms. Unless Apple changes its policy (which might happen in the EU), an official App Store release is impossible.

The M-Series port already exists, but distribution is the problem.

What we really need is a companion app. Do modeling and texturing on the iPad, then sync to the desktop for rendering and complex scenes.

I already use my iPad for sculpting in Nomad and texturing in Procreate - native Blender support would complete the mobile workflow perfectly.

just get nomad sculpt + use sidecar lol

Blender already has great UI scaling and area management. The biggest hurdle would be hotkeys and precision control. It can work with a mouse only, but that is not ideal. With a keyboard attached, most problems would be solved.

The touch interface would need some clever gesture implementation, but its definitely doable.

The Blender team has already ported it to Apple's ARM chips (M series) and done the low-level optimizations for the ARM architecture, including Metal API support. That's about 50% of the work.

The remaining challenges are UI adaptation for touch, file system limitations, and most importantly - App Store licensing issues.