With iPadOS 16, Apple introduces a great new iPad feature: Stage Manager. Apple had planned on making it only work with the latest M1 iPad Pro and M1 iPad Air, but the company is back on that.
Stage Manager: now also for older iPad models
In the latest beta of iPadOS 16.1, Apple has expanded Stage Manager compatibility. The iPadOS 16 feature is now also available on the iPad Pro 2018 and iPad Pro 2020. They are equipped with an A12Z and A12X processor.
This will allow you to use Stage Manager on the following iPads:
- iPad Pro 2021
- iPad Air 2022
- iPad Pro 2020
- iPad Pro 2018
The fact that Apple is expanding Stage Manager to more iPads is striking, because the company previously stated that it did not provide a good experience with iPads without an M1 processor. Only apps with M1 chip would be powerful enough to run eight apps simultaneously, which makes Stage Manager possible.
To enable Stage Manager on older iPads, there is a small limitation: support for external screens is missing. This also means there’s support for up to four apps on the iPad screen at once. Apple confirms this in a response to Engadget.
Also with M1-iPads there is no support for external screens with Stage Manager yet. The ability for Stage Manager on external displays will be added in a later software update, Apple said.
Response Apple
To Engadget, Apple gave the following statement about Stage Manager:
We introduced Stage Manager as a new way to multitask with overlapping windows that can be resized on both the iPad screen and a separate external display, with the ability to run up to eight live apps simultaneously on the screen. The multi-display support is only possible with the full power of M1-based iPads. Customers with the 3rd and 4th generation iPad Pro have shown great interest in experiencing Stage Manager on their iPads. In response, our teams have been working hard to find a way to provide a single-screen version for these iPads, with support for up to four live apps on the iPad screen simultaneously.
What is Stage Manager?
iPadOS 16’s Stage Manager makes it possible to have four iPad windows open at the same time. It is possible to adjust the size of the open windows, giving you more of a macOS experience. Other open apps and windows are reduced in size on the left side of the screen.
Unlike iOS 16, iPadOS 16 is not out yet. The software will be released in October. We don’t know a specific date yet.
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iPadOS 16: Stage Manager is coming to more iPads after all!
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Where is iPadOS 16?
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Apple confirms: iPadOS 16 will be released later than hoped
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Good news: iOS 16 is ready (but you’ll have to wait for iPadOS)
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Opinion: Stage Manager on iPad doesn’t deliver on promise (iPadOS 16)