Apple has officially given iPadOS 16 a release date. In addition to announcing new iPad Pro hardware today, Apple has announced that iPadOS 16.1 will be released to all iPad users on October 24. iPadOS 16 includes a number of changes for iPad users, headlined by Stage Manager’s controversial new Multitasking feature.
iPadOS 16.1: New Features and Devices
In most years, the major “fall” version of iPadOS is available alongside the accompanying iOS update. However, this year Apple delayed iPadOS 16 to October and released iOS 16 in September as originally planned. This means that the release of iPadOS 16.1 next week will be the first version of iPadOS 16 available to the general public.
iPadOS 16 includes some changes to the iPad experience, but most notable is Stage Manager’s new Multitasking feature. This feature brings a whole new windowing system to the iPad. Users can create multiple different “phases” with windows of different sizes for multiple applications, and then easily switch between each of those phases.
At the initial announcement, Apple said Stage Manager would only be available on M1 iPads, including the most recent iPad Air and iPad Pro. However, a few weeks ago, the company pulled back, saying that the 2018 and 2020 iPad Pro models could also use Stage Manager.
In a future release of iPadOS 16, Stage Manager will also add appropriate external monitor support to the iPad. However, this feature is only limited to the M1 (and now M2) iPad Pro models.
Other new features in iPadOS 16:
Messaging app updates: edit, unsend, mark as unread, and more Mail app updates: unsend, extended links, scheduled sends, and more Screen scaling: A new display scaling setting increases the screen’s pixel density so you can see more in your apps Weather app on iPad Brand new Home app “Desktop-Class Apps” with customizable toolbars, new context menus, find and replace, multi-select context menus and more.
iPadOS 16.1 will be released on October 24. It will be available for all iPad Pro models, the iPad Air 3rd generation and newer, the iPad 5 and newer, and the iPad mini 5 and newer. It comes pre-installed on the new M2 iPad Pro models.
FTC: We use auto affiliate links that generate revenue. More.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: