I am surprised you have a persistent connection at all, as connections have typically dropped after about 20 seconds when using iPadOS 26.x.
I would update the bluetooth firmware (see separate post with instructions), and also ensure that buffer size is minimized in SWAM (if running standalone) or in AUM (when running SWAM in AUM).
The buffer makes a big difference, and the default SWAM buffer is way too large. In particular, the combination of BLE MIDI and large buffer results in a noticeable latency.
BLE MIDI is a tad less responsive than USB MIDI, but as long as the buffer is minimized it’s very playable - although the lowest possible latency is achieved with USB MIDI + small buffer.