iPadOS 16 and MacOS release: Apple releases controversial new software for iPad

Andrew Griffin
·2 min read
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Apple has released its controversial new iPad update, iPadOS 16, as well as a major new version of MacOS.

Both updates bring Apple’s devices in line with the iPhone, which received its own iOS 16 update last month. It means that they all have new features such as the ability to edit messages after sending them, improvements to the Mail and Photos apps, changes to the lock screen, and more.

But it is a new feature that has proven by far the most controversial of Apple’s 2022 updates. A new tool, named Stage Manager, aims to make it easier to multitask and switch between different apps – but has received sustained criticism.

Users have accused the feature of being badly designed and confusing to use. Many have also complained that it is being unfairly kept from older devices.

After its announcement at Apple’s WWDC event in June, Apple said that it would only be available on the iPad Pro and Air that include the M1 chip, both of which were recently released.

That prompted outcry from iPad users who said that their older devices should still be able to handle the new tool, and said they were being unfairly kept out from the new tool.

Apple’s software head, Craig Federighi, explained soon after that Apple found that it could not “deliver the full Stage Manager experience on any lesser system”.

Then, in September, Apple said that most of the experience would come to older devices. While only M1 devices would be able to use it with multiple displays, recent iPad Pros would have their own version, Apple announced.

While that subdued the criticism over the compatibility, critics continued to accuse the feature of being under-developed and in need of further work. Users complained that it did not perform as well as it should and that it was still hard to use.

Apple delayed the release of iPadOS 16 from its usual September release date and into October, apparently in an attempt to fix the Stage Manager feature before release.

Apple has also introduced Stage Manager on the new version of MacOS, Ventura, though it came without the same criticism of design, performance and compatibility.