Apple has today released the seventh developer beta of iOS 16, simultaneously announcing that iPadOS 16, which was rumored to be facing a release delay, will indeed be rolled out later than usual and not alongside iOS 16, which is expected to be made available publicly in September.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple said it would release iPadOS 16.1 on its own schedule, separately from iOS 16, confirming that there will be no iPadOS 16 version, and that iPadOS 16.1 will include Stage Manager support from launch.
Despite Apple never officially sharing a planned release date for iPadOS 16, the new update for iPad was widely expected to release in September, alongside iOS 16, which separate reports have claimed is on schedule and unaffected by the delay.
This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman was first to report on the iPadOS 16 delay, claiming earlier this month that engineers required more time to fix bugs with the Stage Manager multitasking feature.
iPadOS 16 includes many of the core features of this year’s flagship iPhone release – iOS 16 – with the exception of Lock Screen updates. The update includes shared tabs and bookmarks in Safari, Stage Manager – a new way to multitask on iPad with resizable windows and multiple overlapping windows in a single view, a new Weather app built specifically for iPad, a redesigned Game Center dashboard, and more.
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