We expected iPadOS 16 to arrive in final form in September, alongside iOS 16, but while the latter will likely arrive in September, sources now claim that iPadOS 16 has been pushed back to October.
This according to “people with knowledge of the subject” talking to Bloomberg (opens in new tab)who claim the delay is at least in part because iPadOS 16 is so ambitious and could benefit from the extra development time.
Key to this update is Stage Manager, a feature that is already available in beta versions of the software and that aims to transform iPad multitasking, with the aim of improving productivity and bringing tablets closer to the functionality of a Mac. So it’s a big change and something Apple isn’t including in iOS 16, so the iPhone software probably needs less work.
But this is not the only reason given for the delay. It would also apparently allow Apple to focus more on iOS 16 in the coming weeks, so even if that needs less extra attention, both OS updates could get more attention as a result of this delay.
Furthermore, this delay would also mean that iPadOS 16 comes closer to the launch of the iPad Pro 2022 and iPad 2022, which suggests these new slates won’t arrive until October or later.
We’d take those claims with a pinch of salt for now, but the article was written by Mark Gurman, who has a solid background of information about Apple.
While this rumored delay is unconfirmed, it would certainly make sense, as in our hands-on impressions of the iPadOS 16 beta, we’ve noted that Stage Manager is a nice feature, but currently quite flawed.
We found it could be surprisingly clunky and unintuitive, so it could definitely benefit from some additional development time to make it more polished.
Meanwhile, iOS 16 appears to be in much better shape, passing through our hands-on iOS 16 beta, so it should be relatively straightforward for Apple to finish in September.