"iPad Screenshots Without an iPad: Capture Them in Xcode Simulator"

You can make App Store iPad screenshots without owning an iPad by running your app in the iPad Pro 13-inch Simulator that ships with Xcode and saving the screen from there. On Xcode 26.6, a capture from that simulator comes out at 2064 x 2752 pixels, which is one of the two portrait sizes App Store Connect accepts for the required 13-inch iPad slot, so the file needs no resizing.

The search results for this question are mostly people who hit the requirement by surprise. Apple's own page explains how to take a screenshot on an iPad you already have, a Reddit thread asks whether an iPhone-only app needs iPad images at all, and a thread on the Ionic forum asks how to get 13-inch captures when the only iPad in reach is a simulator. The answer to that last one is the useful one for most developers: the Simulator renders the iPad screen at the device's full pixel size, the capture is real UI from your real build, and App Review guideline 2.3.3 asks that screenshots show the app in use, which a Simulator capture does. What the Simulator doesn't give you is a finished store slide, and its PNG files carry a detail that trips the upload, both covered below.

Pick the simulator that matches an accepted size

Apple's screenshot specifications list two portrait sizes for the 13-inch iPad display, and a set for that display is required if your app runs on iPad. Smaller iPad classes are filled by scaling the 13-inch set when you leave them empty. Two simulators in Xcode 26.6 produce those sizes directly, and the 11-inch one shows why the choice matters; we booted them and measured the files on October 2, 2026.

Simulator in Xcode 26.6	Capture size (portrait)	Accepted 13-inch size?
iPad Pro 13-inch (M5)	2064 x 2752	Yes
iPad Air 13-inch (M4)	2048 x 2732	Yes
iPad Pro 11-inch (M5)	1668 x 2420	No, that size belongs to the optional 11-inch slot

Either 13-inch simulator will fill the slot, and the iPad Pro gives the newer size and matches the iPad Pro 13" size page; use the Air if the layout you want to show was designed against the 2048-pixel width. Skip the 11-inch and mini simulators for this job, because their captures land in classes Apple fills by scaling and won't fill the required slot.

Boot, stage, and capture from Terminal

If the iPad simulators are missing, open Xcode, go to Settings, then Components, and install the iOS simulator runtime. Boot the simulator first, so the status bar override below has a device to apply to:

xcrun simctl boot "iPad Pro 13-inch (M5)"

Then choose "iPad Pro 13-inch (M5)" as the run destination in Xcode and press Cmd+R to install and launch your build on it. Before you capture, stage the content: sign in to a demo account, load realistic data, and open each screen you plan to feature. The next two commands fix the status bar so every slide shows the same time and a full battery, and save each capture as a file you can upload.

xcrun simctl status_bar booted override --time 9:41 --batteryState charged --batteryLevel 100 --wifiBars 3

xcrun simctl io booted screenshot --type=jpeg ipad-01.jpg

Repeat the last command for each screen, changing the file name. simctl also has xcrun simctl ui booted appearance dark if you want a dark-mode set, and xcrun simctl status_bar booted clear puts the real status bar back when you're done. Pressing Cmd+S in the Simulator window saves a capture to the Desktop as well, which is fine for a quick test but harder to name and repeat.

Why the commands save JPEG

A PNG from simctl io screenshot has an alpha channel even when every pixel is opaque. Our 2064 x 2752 test capture reported hasAlpha: yes in sips, and App Store Connect refuses screenshots that contain transparency, which is the dropped-file case covered in App Store screenshots not uploading. Saving with --type=jpeg gives a file at the same 2064 x 2752 with no alpha channel. If you already have PNG captures, sips -s format jpeg capture.png --out capture.jpg converts them without changing the size. Run the files through the free size checker before you upload; it reads the actual pixel size and the alpha flag in your browser, and it tells you which iPad class each file fits.

For a landscape set, rotate the simulator with Device, then Rotate Left, capture as before, and confirm the file reads 2752 x 2064 before you upload it.

When App Store Connect asks for iPad images you didn't plan

The iPad tab appears because the build you uploaded lists iPad as a supported destination. In Xcode that's the Supported Destinations list on the app target, stored as TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY; a value of 1,2 means iPhone and iPad. If your app really runs on iPad, give it real iPad captures from the 13-inch simulator. Stretching an iPhone capture to 2064 x 2752 distorts the UI and shows a layout iPad users won't see, so it isn't a substitute. If iPad was ticked by accident and you never designed for it, that's a build decision to make in the target settings, and screenshots won't settle it.

From capture to store slide

A Simulator capture is the source material. The finished slide usually adds a headline and a background, and often a device frame, and it still has to be exported at an accepted size with no transparency. The how to make App Store screenshots guide walks through that assembly for iPhone, and the steps carry over to iPad with the 13-inch dimensions. For a single framed image, the device mockup generator puts one capture in an iPad frame, portrait or landscape, and exports a 2400-pixel PNG with no account. That export is a design asset for a landing page or social post, not an upload-ready store slide.

Screenies takes the same Simulator captures and generates a full 13-inch iPad set at 2064 x 2752 from them, with the headlines and slide order planned from your app description. The iPad screenshot generator page shows the flow, and a portrait iPad set and a landscape one are generated as separate batches. An iPad slide costs two credits from a one-time credit pack, so a set built from eight Simulator captures uses sixteen.

Questions about iPad screenshots without an iPad

Do I need a Mac for this? Xcode and its Simulator run only on macOS, so without a Mac you'd need a borrowed one, a hosted Mac, or a friend with an iPad.

Does an iPhone-only app need iPad screenshots? Only if the build declares iPad as a supported destination. Apple marks the 13-inch set as required when the app runs on iPad, so a build whose target lists iPhone alone doesn't ask for one.

Can I use the iPad mini or 11-inch simulator instead? Their captures land in the 11-inch display class, which Apple fills by scaling your 13-inch set, so they can't stand in for the required slot. Use them to check your layout at the smaller sizes, then capture the set itself on a 13-inch simulator.

Does the Simulator capture include the status bar? The capture is the full screen, status bar included. The status_bar override command above sets the time, battery, and Wi-Fi bars so every slide matches.