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iPadOS 16
Fourth major release of iPadOS, the tablet operating system developed by Apple Inc.

iPadOS 16 is the fourth major release of iPadOS, Apple's operating system for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was announced at Apple’s WWDC on June 6, 2022, alongside iOS 16, macOS Ventura, and other OS updates. iPadOS 16 introduced enhanced multitasking and features optimized for iPads with the Apple M1 chip and later. The public beta was released on July 11, 2022, followed by the final version on October 24, 2022 (as iPadOS 16.1). It is the last version supporting the first-generation iPad Pro and certain models without Apple Pencil compatibility, such as the fifth-generation iPad.

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Features

See also: iOS 16 § Features

Freeform

Main article: Freeform (Apple)

Freeform is a whiteboard app that lets users collaborate together in real time. It was released with iPadOS 16.2.

Weather

For the first time, Apple's Weather app is available on the iPad. It was originally only available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Lock screen

The date and time on the lock screen have bold text and display the date above the time to match iOS 16, but lacks the customization features, which were later added in iPadOS 17.

Passkeys

iPads are able to sign into websites that implement WebAuthn using just the user’s passcode or biometrics.

Stage Manager

On iPads with Apple A12X Bionic, Apple A12Z Bionic, Apple M1 and Apple M2 processors, Stage Manager displays up to four apps at a time in adjustable windows. In addition, on iPads with Apple M1 and later, external displays are now driven using Stage Manager instead of screen mirroring, enabling display scaling on external displays.

Display scaling mode

On iPads with Apple M1 processors and later, and iPad Pro 11-inch with Apple A12X Bionic and A12Z Bionic processors,5 Display scaling mode allows more view space in apps by increasing the pixel density of the display.

Reference Mode

On the iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) and (6th generation) with Liquid Retina XDR display, the iPad can be used in "Reference Mode" for color-graded work. This extends to Sidecar, as long as the Mac being connected to has Apple Silicon.

Spoken Content

As with iOS 16, some already supported languages have received additional voices (including "Novelty" voices for English), and voices and support have been added for the following languages:

Notes

More text indentation features are added, as well as the ability to create column tables.

Files

Allows the changing of file extensions and showing all file extensions.

Photos

  • Touch ID, Face ID or passcode is now required to view the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums, unless the user turns this off in Settings.
  • Photos can now detect duplicate photos or videos. The user can choose to delete the duplicates or to merge them, so that the device retains the higher quality photo with relevant data from the duplicate(s).

App toolbar

Allows the customisation of toolbars to add tools, as well as editing the position of tools.

Criticism

iPadOS 16's Stage Manager feature has been criticized by various sources for only being supported by certain iPad models with an M1 chip or M2 chip owing to strict performance requirements. In an interview with TechCrunch, Craig Federighi explained: “It’s only the M1 iPads that combined the high DRAM capacity with very high capacity, high-performance NAND that allows our virtual memory swap to be super fast”.6 It was later discovered that the feature is disabled for older devices by an internal setting.7 Due to criticism, a single-screen version of Stage Manager was added on 2018 and 2020 iPad Pros in iPadOS 16.1 beta.8 Apple later provided a statement to Engadget, stating that “…customers with iPad Pro 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”.9

External display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads was delayed until further notice by Apple due to instability, and was brought back in the iPadOS 16.2 update.101112

Stage Manager was also criticized for being "hard to use" and some reviewers and critics called the feature "fundamentally misguided".13

The lack of iOS 16's lock screen customization features was also criticized by reviewers such as David Pierce from The Verge.14 iPadOS had a hidden lock screen customization app named PosterBoard which included the iOS 16’s lock screen customization features in iPadOS 16 Beta 1.15

Supported devices

iPadOS 16 requires iPads with an A9 or A9X SoC or later, which means it drops support for the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 4, both with an A8 or A8X SoC. This also marks the second time Apple has dropped support for older 64-bit iPads. The iPad (5th generation) is the only supported iPad without Apple Pencil support. Alongside dropping support for the iPad Mini 4, the iPad Mini (5th generation) is the only supported iPad with the exclusive 7.9-inch display.

iPads that support iPadOS 16 are as follows.

Release history

Further information: IPadOS version history § iPadOS 16

The first developer beta of iPadOS 16 was released on June 6, 2022. The first public release, iPadOS 16.1, was officially released on October 24, 2022.

Previous releaseCurrent releaseCurrent beta releaseSecurity response
iPadOS 16 releases16
VersionRelease date
16.1October 24, 2022
16.1.1November 9, 2022
16.2December 13, 2022
16.3January 23, 2023
16.3.1February 13, 2023
16.4March 27, 2023
16.4.1April 7, 2023
16.4.1 (a)May 1, 2023
16.5May 18, 2023
16.5.1June 21, 2023
16.5.1 (a)July 10, 2023 (pulled after 10 hours)
16.5.1 (c)July 12, 2023
16.6July 24, 2023
16.6.1September 7, 2023
16.7September 21, 2023
16.7.1October 10, 2023
16.7.2October 25, 2023
16.7.317December 11, 2023
16.7.418December 19, 2023
16.7.519January 22, 2024
16.7.620March 5, 2024
16.7.721March 21, 2024
16.7.822May 13, 2024
16.7.923July 29, 2024
16.7.1024August 7, 2024

See Apple's official release notes, and official security update contents.

References

  1. Burns, Matt (June 7, 2021). "iPadOS 15 announced at WWDC, features improved multitasking and surprising Swift Playgrounds features". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021. https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/07/ipados-15-announced-at-wwdc-features-improved-multitasking-and-improved-swift-playgrounds-support/ ↩

  2. Cipriani, Jason (June 7, 2021). "iOS 15 and iPadOS 15: How to download and install Apple's latest software". CNET. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/ios-15-and-ipados-15-how-to-download-and-install-apples-latest-software/ ↩

  3. "iPadOS 16". Apple. Archived from the original on October 18, 2022. Retrieved October 18, 2022. https://www.apple.com/ipados/ipados-16/ ↩

  4. "First public iPadOS 16 release will actually be iOS 16.1, in October". AppleInsider. August 23, 2022. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022. https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/08/23/first-public-ipados-16-release-will-actually-be-ios-161-in-october ↩

  5. "iPadOS 16 Beta Expands 'Zoomed Out' Display Option to Older 11-Inch iPad Pros". MacRumors. September 29, 2022. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2022. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/29/ipados-16-beta-display-zoom-expansion/ ↩

  6. "IPadOS 16's Stage Manager will only work on M1 iPads — here's why". June 14, 2022. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022. https://www.tomsguide.com/news/ipados-16s-stage-manager-will-only-work-on-m1-ipads-heres-why ↩

  7. "Apple could theoretically enable Stage Manager for older iPads in iOS 16". June 16, 2022. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022. https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/06/16/apple-could-theoretically-enable-stage-manager-for-older-ipads-in-ios-16 ↩

  8. Clover, Juli (September 27, 2022). "New iPadOS 16.1 Beta Expands Stage Manager to Older iPad Pro Models, Delays External Display Support". MacRumors. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/27/ipados-16-1-stage-manager-older-ipads/ ↩

  9. "The latest iPadOS 16 beta brings Stage Manager to older iPad Pro models". Engadget. September 27, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022. https://www.engadget.com/apple-ipad-os-16-stage-manager-for-older-i-pads-171218520.html ↩

  10. "Apple will bring Stage Manager to more iPads after all with iPadOS 16.1". GSMArena.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. https://www.gsmarena.com/apple_will_bring_stage_manager_to_more_ipads_after_all-news-55967.php ↩

  11. Loyola, Roman. "Apple expands Stage Manager support to older iPads, delays key feature". Macworld. Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022. https://www.macworld.com/article/1075992/stage-manager-support-a12x-a12z-ipad-pro.html ↩

  12. Espósito, Filipe (December 13, 2022). "iPadOS 16.2 brings these improvements for Stage Manager, plus AirTag tracking alerts". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved December 15, 2022. https://9to5mac.com/2022/12/13/ipados-16-2-improvements-stage-manager/ ↩

  13. "Apple Criticized for 'Fundamentally Misguided' Approach to Stage Manager in iPadOS 16". August 19, 2022. Archived from the original on August 22, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2022. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/08/19/apple-criticized-ipados-16-stage-manager/ ↩

  14. Pierce, David (July 11, 2022). "iPadOS 16 preview: jack of all trades, master of some". The Verge. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022. https://www.theverge.com/23203481/apple-ipados-16-preview-stage-manager-collaboration-weather ↩

  15. Espósito, Filipe (June 11, 2022). "iPadOS 16 beta 1 has secret debug menu that enables custom lock screen – sort of". 9to5Mac. Archived from the original on November 13, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2022. https://9to5mac.com/2022/06/10/ipados-16-debug-menu-custom-lock-screen/ ↩

  16. "About iPadOS 16 Updates". Apple Support. October 11, 2023. https://support.apple.com/HT213408 ↩

  17. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  18. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  19. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  20. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  21. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  22. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  23. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩

  24. Only available for devices not supported by iPadOS 17: iPad (5th generation), iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 1st generation) and iPad Pro (9.7-inch) ↩