The open-source 3D software Blender is working on a full-featured app for the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil support, the team announced.
Blender, which has previously been limited to desktop platforms, including Intel-based Macs and Apple Silicon Macs, will support multitouch gestures on the iPad and eventually offer the full set of features found in the desktop version.
The approach will bring more task-oriented user interfaces with reduced information density. According to the announcement, this will be achieved by “extending existing input methods, and improving workspaces and application templates, running on top of a regular Blender build.”
Blender is coming to iPad Pro with Apple Pencil support
Since the desktop version of Blender is packed to the gills with advanced features, porting its eponymous app to the iPad fully will take some time. For the inaugural version, the team is focusing on features such as basic selection, object manipulation and sculpting.
Future updates will introduce additional features, such as the storyboard and Grease Pencil tool, AirDrop and iCloud support and more. The interface uses a single window to minimize window switching. All the important tools are available to choose from via floating toolbars and a collapsible menu. You’ll also notice floating panels for Apple Pencil and pen input replacing the app’s Tool Settings header.
The team has no intenton to dumb down the app to make it accessible to all types of users. “There is no specific intention of simplifying or tailoring Blender to appeal to an audience that might not be familiar with Blender or 3D,” the team explains. Quite the opposite, Blender is focused on optimizing the app for touch.
“The audience is Blender users,” the team wrote. “There is no distinction between desktop or tablet users, the same way mouse/keyboard and graphic tablet users are treated equally.”
They will demonstrate the iPad version of Blender at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver. However, no release date has been confirmed as of yet. Once the iPad version has shipped, the company will focus on versions for the Microsoft Surface, Huawei MatePad and Wacom MovinkPad.