One of the most notable features of Apple’s iPadOS 16 system, launched earlier this year, is Stage Manager. This is a new multitasking system for the iPad that overlaps and resizes windows.
But unfortunately, it’s limited to iPad devices with the M1 chip, including the 11/12.9-inch iPad Pro in May 2021 and the iPad Air with the M1 chip earlier this year.
In the latest developer preview of iPadOS, Apple has tweaked it to open up front-of-the-stage scheduling for some older iPad models. This feature will be available on the 11-inch iPad Pro (first generation and successor models) and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (third generation and successor models).
In particular, the feature will be devolved to 2018 models (using the A12X) and 2020 models (A12Z). There are still sacrifices, however, as the scheduling feature is limited to the iPad’s built-in screen and cannot be extended to external displays until these older iPads are on stage.
Apple has also said that iPadOS 16 Developer Beta 5, will remove the external display feature from the Front of House schedule for the M1 iPad models. This is a feature that has been present since the first beta release of iPadOS 16. But foreign media speculate that Apple may reintroduce the feature later this year.
Obviously, we’ll need to try Stage Manager on an older iPad Pro before we can say how well it works, but the A12X and A12Z chips are still very powerful, so hopefully, the experience isn’t any different from that on the M1 iPad. It’s a shame that external display support isn’t included, but it’s still good news for anyone who’s bought Apple’s most expensive iPad in the last few years.
