Stage Manager is a new multitasking interface that Apple announced for iPadOS and MacOS during its WWDC back in June. Due to some supposed limitation in older iPads, Stage Manager was only going to be available for iPads powered by M1. In a statement to Engadget, Apple confirms that more iPad Pro models will get the feature with iPadOS 16.1.
We introduced Stage Manager as a whole new way to multitask with overlapping, resizable windows on both the iPad display and a separate external display, with the ability to run up to eight live apps on screen at once. Delivery this multi-display support is only possible with the full power of M1-based iPads. Customers with iPad Pros 3rd and 4th generation have expressed strong interest in being able to experience Stage Manager on their iPads. In response our teams have worked hard to find a way to deliver a single-screen version for these systems, with support for up to four live apps on the iPad screen at once.
External display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads will be available in a software update later this year.
In its current implementation on the iPadOS 16 beta, testers have expressed issues with Stage Manager when active on an external display. For this reason, Apple is delaying external support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads until it can improve its stability.
Stage Manager on iPadOS
Now, while the M1 iPads won’t be able to use Stage Manager until it is released later this year, 3rd and 4th generation iPad Pro models (running A12X and A12Z Bionic chips) will not support the feature through an external display – it will only work on the those non-M1 iPad Pro models’ built-in displays.
iPadOS 16 external display support
iPadOS 16.1 and MacOS Ventura both introduce Stage Manager. Both updates are expected to arrive sometime this fall. MacOS is expected to see the update sometime in October.
