New iPad Pro and iPad Air Will Have Day-One Software Update With These Release Notes

by

The new iPad Pro and iPad Air will begin arriving to customers over the next 24 hours. It appears that the initial batch of the devices will have a special build of iPadOS 17.4 preinstalled, but an iPadOS 17.5 software update will be available in the Settings app right away, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.

M4 iPad Pro and Air Feature
iPadOS 17.5 has a special build number of 21F84 on the new iPads, and modified release notes that mention improved document scanning:

Apple News+
• Offline mode in Apple News+ gives you access to the Today feed and News+ tab, even when you don't have an internet connection
• Quartiles is a new and original daily word game that is now available in Apple News+
• Scoreboard in News+ Puzzles gives you access to new player data for Crossword, Mini Crossword and Quartiles, including stats and streaks

Tracking Notifications
• Cross-Platform Tracking Detection delivers notifications to users if a compatible Bluetooth tracker they do not own is moving with them, regardless of what operating system the device is paired with

Document Scanning
• Document scanning is improved on the new iPad Air and iPad Pro

The new iPad Pro models with the M4 chip are equipped with "adaptive True Tone flash" for improved document scanning. It is unclear if the feature requires iPadOS 17.5, or if the update simply further optimizes the functionality.

iPad Pro Improved Document Scanning
With adaptive True Tone flash and AI, the new iPad Pro can eliminate shadows on scanned documents, as Apple explained in a press release:

It also now features a new adaptive True Tone flash that makes document scanning on the new iPad Pro better than ever. Using AI, the new iPad Pro automatically identifies documents right in the Camera app, and if a shadow is in the way, it instantly takes multiple photos with the new adaptive flash, stitching the scan together for a dramatically better scan.

Improved document scanning will be available in the Camera, Files, and Notes apps, and third-party apps will be able to offer the feature too.

The new iPad Air does not have adaptive True Tone flash, so it is unclear how document scanning is improved on those models, as Apple indicates.

iPadOS 17.5 was already released on Monday for all other iPads, with a build number of 21F79 and no mention of improved document scanning.

Related Forums: iOS 17, iPadOS 17

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
Read Full Article • 116 comments
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Read Full Article • 106 comments
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
Read Full Article • 154 comments
govee floor lamp

CES 2026: Govee Announces New Matter-Connected Ceiling and Floor Lights

Sunday January 4, 2026 5:00 am PST by
Govee today introduced three new HomeKit-compatible lighting products, including the Govee Floor Lamp 3, the Govee Ceiling Light Ultra, and the Govee Sky Ceiling Light. The Govee Floor Lamp 3 is the successor to the Floor Lamp 2, and it offers Matter integration with the option to connect to HomeKit. The Floor Lamp 3 offers an upgraded LuminBlend+ lighting system that can reproduce 281...
Read Full Article • 53 comments
airpods pro 3 glitter

AirPods New Year's Deals Include Up to $99 Off AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Sunday January 4, 2026 8:04 am PST by
Now that the calendar has flipped over into January, steep discounts on popular Apple products have become more rare after the holidays. However, if you didn't get a new pair of AirPods recently and are looking for a model on sale, Amazon does have a few solid second-best prices this week. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a...
Read Full Article • 16 comments
Belkin 25W Battery magnetic

CES 2026: Belkin Announces Magnetic Ring Power Bank, Modular Dock, and More

Sunday January 4, 2026 3:02 pm PST by
Belkin today announced a range of new charging and connectivity accessories at CES 2026, expanding its portfolio of products aimed at Apple device users. UltraCharge Pro Power Bank 10K with Magnetic Ring The lineup includes new Qi2 and Qi2.2 wireless chargers, magnetic power banks, a high-capacity laptop battery, and USB-C productivity accessories, with an emphasis on higher charging...
Read Full Article • 17 comments
m4 macbook air blue 2

iPadOS and macOS 26.2 Double 5GHz Wi-Fi Bandwidth for Wi-Fi 6E Devices

Monday January 5, 2026 1:57 pm PST by
With the release of iPadOS 26.2 and macOS Tahoe 26.2, Apple has improved the Wi-Fi speeds for select Macs and iPads that support Wi-Fi 6E. Updated Wi-Fi connectivity specifications are listed in Apple's platform deployment guide. The M4 iPad Pro models, M3 iPad Air models, A17 Pro iPad mini, M2 to M5 MacBook Pro models, M2, M3, and M4 MacBook Air models, and other Wi-Fi 6E Macs and iPads now ...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Read Full Article • 201 comments

Top Rated Comments

julesme Avatar
julesme
22 months ago
Document scanning in Notes is one of the best & most under-appreciated iOS features. I still come across people who don’t use it and /or have never heard of it. Happy to see Apple continue to improve it.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cirillo Gherardo Avatar
Cirillo Gherardo
22 months ago

Document scanning in Notes is one of the best & most under-appreciated iOS features.
Eh. Document Scanning itself is great. Document Scanning in Notes is the clunkiest most confusing thing on the entire OS. Most people are just trying to get a JPG or a PDF to send somewhere. But its part of a note, and really unclear how to share just the document, and then scanning itself is really unclear when it comes to multi page document vs multiple documents. It's a real mess that needs to be simplified. I wish the camera app had scanning built in and AI document detection, because no one ever opens Notes to do this. I always see people just open the camera and start taking a picture of a document ...perfect moment for AI to step in handle it like a scan instead of a photo.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
TechnoMonk
22 months ago
Hope the true tone flash comes to future iPhones, i find it uncomfortable to scan with my m1 iPad Pro.May be the lighter M4 iPad Pro is better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ps3zocker Avatar
ps3zocker
22 months ago

Hope the true tone flash comes to future iPhones, i find it uncomfortable to scan with my m1 iPad Pro.May be the lighter M4 iPad Pro is better.
True Tone flash has been on the iPhone for years. Is it adaptive though, I don't know? What's the "AIs" job in this?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechnoMonk Avatar
TechnoMonk
22 months ago

True Tone flash has been on the iPhone for years. Is it adaptive though, I don't know? What's the "AIs" job in this?
It takes multiple scans and stitches together to remove the shadows. I have problems occasionally with scans from my 13 PM, needs some maneuvering to eliminate shadows.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
reubs Avatar
reubs
22 months ago

The Files app does the same thing but the functionality is kind of hidden. But using the Files app you can select where to save the document directly which makes sharing easier, and it defaults to multi document mode.

I agree that it’s clunky to scan a pdf into a note. Maybe it makes sense for Apple executives who only ever talk to people who also extensively use Apple Notes.
I had no idea you could scan in the Files app!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments