iPadOS 16 could be delayed by a month, states new report

A new report in Bloomberg says that Apple will delay the release of iPadOS 16 by a month. That would mean an October release, one of the only times it didn’t release alongside iOS.

According to Mark Gurman’s sources, iPadOS 16 is delayed partly because of the new multitasking features coming to the operating system. The biggest feature is Stage Manager, which is also coming to macOS 13 Ventura.

This new feature lets users group apps together, then multitask between the groups. It’s a neat feature but only compatible with M1-powered iPads.

That incompatibility with non-M1 powered iPads is also a contributing factor to the planned delay, according to the report.

That puts the release schedule for Apple’s operating systems as:

• iOS 16: September, releasing with the iPhone 14 range
• macOS Ventura : October (macOS 12 was Oct 25, 2021)
• watchOS 9: September, alongside the Apple Watch Series 8
• iPadOS 16: October, possibly later still with new iPad releases

Will the delay to iPadOS 16 bring it in line with new product releases? We’ve previously reported on a new USB-C base iPad coming this fall. Bloomberg has also said a new M2-powered iPad Pro is on the way.

The last time Apple delayed iPadOS was in 2019. iOS 13 was released, and iPadOS 13 was released five days later. A month delay is more substantial but would make sense if new hardware is also planned.

Even with the delay, some of the planned features for iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 won’t be ready at launch. These include a redesigned CarPlay interface with the ability to pay for gas, the whiteboarding app for iPad, Freeform, and Live Activities, which lets apps pin statuses to the lock screen.

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Joe Rice-Jones

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