Apple confirms that iPadOS 16 will be delayed, releases iPadOS 16.1 beta
Three weeks ago, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg had the scoop that Apple would be delaying iPadOS 16, mainly due to needing more time to work on Stage Manager, Apple’s new multitasking interface for macOS and iPadOS. Tuesday Apple confirmed the news to Brian Heater of TechCrunch:
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.
They don’t mention Stage Manager by name, but we can read between the lines. There are no other major new features for iPadOS that aren’t shared with iOS. I wrote at the beginning of August about the controversy surrounding Stage Manager and its requirement that the iPad have an M1 processor. No mention here of that changing. But there’s also been a lot of feedback from beta testers about the fit and finish of Stage Manger on iPadOS still having room for improvement. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it out myself yet. As I said at the time, I don’t have any problem with Apple taking a little more time to get such a key new feature further developed.
I do find this phrase interesting: “As its own platform… we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule.” Sure, in part that’s just Apple handwaving away concerns over the delay, but I do it’s clear that they see iPadOS as something distinct from iOS and want to reinforce that point here.
That Apple released a developer beta of iPadOS 16.1 is interesting. For one thing it speaks to how close to release iOS 16 is. We’re likely just two weeks away from the unveiling of the iPhone 14, and thus only three weeks until the iPhone 14 starts arriving in stores. That means we’re likely only about three weeks away from the release of iOS 16. The 16.1 beta also heavily implies that, despite iPadOS being a distinct platform from iOS, Apple wants to keep the iPadOS and iOS version numbers in sync, so iPadOS 16.1 will rollout at the same time as iOS 16.1.
There’s no mention of the word “October” in Apple’s comment, which was the timeframe that Mark Gurman highlighted specifically in his piece on August 3. 4-6 weeks between iOS 16 and iOS/iPadOS 16.1 would be sensible, so October would still be in play, but Apple clearly doesn’t want to commit to that right now.
I still think Apple intentionally leaked the delay to Gurman three weeks ago. That way any negative press hit then and not in mid-September as new iPhones were rolling out. And now they’ve made official acknowledgment of the delay to TechCrunch at a time when this is already old news. Nice PR management.