iPadOS 16 on a non M1 iPad is such a disappointment.

[Stuey3D]

My brother in Christ, we purchased iPads, they’ve always been glorified toys.

Don’t get me wrong, I have an 11” iPad Pro, got it thinking it would be useful.

I now evangelize just getting a MacBook Air. Infinitely more useful and less expensive than the iPad + Keyboard combo.

If I’m being honest the only reason I use the iPad is because the screen is nice. I have a Lenovo Legion 5 gaming laptop which would do everything I can do on the iPad and more, but for chilling out on the sofa the iPad in the Magic Keyboard is just a nice size. Most of the time the Magic Keyboard is nothing more than a glorified iPad stand because without it I would’ve really regretted the iPad purchase as I couldn’t imagine actually having to hold the thing in my hands permanently to use it.

I’m still kicking myself for not getting an 11” MacBook Air when they were about, I would love a modern one of those As for chilling on the sofa that 11” screen size would be amazing.

 

[MajorFubar]

The answer as to 'why' is remarkably simple, though you don't have to like it.

Apple are finally putting a clear line in the sand dividing M-series iPads, which will get all the new 'computer-like' features, and the 'non M-series' iPads which will continue to work just like an iPad of old, albeit with certain cherry-picked new features brought in to enhance the use of your traditional 'works-like-an-iPad' experience, without fundamentally changing that experience.

It's very very clear to me that this is a step in the direction of giving M-series iPad owners the option of a desktop-like experience and opens the door to desktop-class apps being used on iPads, especially now with the revolutionary introduction of swap.

I understand you feeling alienated, but this is how it's going to be.

 

[Stuey3D]

The answer as to 'why' is remarkably simple, though you don't have to like it.

Apple are finally putting a clear line in the sand dividing M-series iPads, which will get all the new 'computer-like' features, and the 'non M-series' iPads which will continue to work just like an iPad of old, albeit with certain cherry-picked new features brought in to enhance the use of your traditional 'works-like-an-iPad' experience, without fundamentally changing that experience.

It's very very clear to me that this is a step in the direction of giving M-series iPad owners the option of a desktop-like experience and opens the door to desktop-class apps being used on iPads, especially now with the revolutionary introduction of swap.

I understand you feeling alienated, but this is how it's going to be.

I get why they are doing it, it doesn’t change the fact that these older “Pro” iPads which are more than capable still are being dropped like lead balloons. I would feel even more p‘d off if I had a 2020 Pro luckily I got mine cheap as it was excess stock the carrier had when the 2020 models got released.

They had to justify that M1 somehow even though we all know it’s just an A14X with a new name. At minimum all the “Pro” iPads should’ve gotten the new features.

 

[Stuey3D]

The answer as to 'why' is remarkably simple, though you don't have to like it.

Apple are finally putting a clear line in the sand dividing M-series iPads, which will get all the new 'computer-like' features, and the 'non M-series' iPads which will continue to work just like an iPad of old, albeit with certain cherry-picked new features brought in to enhance the use of your traditional 'works-like-an-iPad' experience, without fundamentally changing that experience.

It's very very clear to me that this is a step in the direction of giving M-series iPad owners the option of a desktop-like experience and opens the door to desktop-class apps being used on iPads, especially now with the revolutionary introduction of swap.

I understand you feeling alienated, but this is how it's going to be.

The other thing is that the M1 models haven’t even been around that long and I can bet there are significantly more of the older models in the wild which makes this move even more spiteful from Apple.

 

[MajorFubar]

I felt the same when my rather expensive four year old fully loaded 2011 iMac 27" i7 got excluded from certain functionalities in the new Mac OS's. Technically it ran rings round some of the newer new MBPs and even the lower-end newer iMacs, yet it wasn't allowed to play with all the same toys they could play with.

That's just the way Apple works.

There could possibly be some genuine technical reason why some features are not being ported to 'non-M-series' iPads. But you and I both know that's probably not the case.

Apple in their defence would tell you that they haven't taken any features away from your machine, the new OS's do not make your iPad less functional than it was when you bought it, so you have no (legal) right to complain.

 

[Stuey3D]

I felt the same when my rather expensive four year old fully loaded 2011 iMac 27" i7 got excluded from certain functionalities in the new Mac OS's. Technically it ran rings round some of the newer new MBPs and even the lower-end newer iMacs, yet it wasn't allowed to play with all the same toys they could play with.

That's just the way Apple works.

There could possibly be some genuine technical reason why some features are not being ported to 'non-M-series' iPads. But you and I both know that's probably not the case.

Apple in their defence would tell you that they haven't taken any features away from your machine, the new OS's do not make your iPad less functional than it was when you bought it, so you have no (legal) right to complain.

Yeah I know that they haven’t taken features away and a few years ago this was the way Apple used to work, older devices used to get a proper hobbled experience but back in them days hardware progress was very fast which is not the case nowadays. I just guess the last couple of years of iOS/iPadOS updates bringing almost all the features to older devices have spoilt us.

It just feels like a kick in the d**k that something as simple as proper 2nd screen support isn’t being added to the older “Pro” iPads, I’m not even that fussed about stage manager its the dual screen mode that has annoyed me the most.

 

[cthompson94]

Yeah sorry it wasn’t a dig at your comment it was backing it up, the 2018 iPP is more than capable of running Stage Manager even in a cut down form due to the RAM. The 2018 iPP can easily run multiple apps simultaneously and all stage manager is is a fancy window manager, the apps themselves are the same so this omission is a kick in the balls from Apple.

oh no worries, I didn't take it as a dig anyway! I just noticed after your example/comment that I could have worded my original comment better, but yes it certainly is a kick in the balls I agree. Unless things really improve for the iPad (mostly how files are handled) I won't be buying another. Besides getting screwed out of stage manager (which is a step in the right multitasking direction), the iPad just needs a few more either abilities before I could transition away from a laptop (which I hope to do eventually).

 

[sevoneone]

I understand stage manager. But why is my iPad mini 6 with A15 Chip not supporting custom lock screens? There is absolutely no reason for that.

 

[ediks]

I understand stage manager. But why is my iPad mini 6 with A15 Chip not supporting custom lock screens? There is absolutely no reason for that.

actually, no iPad supports that feature

 

[Paddle1]

The brand new iPad mini was much more appealing not even a year ago than it is after this announcement.

I understand stage manager. But why is my iPad mini 6 with A15 Chip not supporting custom lock screens? There is absolutely no reason for that.

No iPads support custom lock screens. The iPhone probably got it with Always-on-Display in mind and the iPad will have to wait. Likely has to do with sizing and space, it will take some effort to optimize that for the various iPads.

 

[Wizec]

One potentially key thing about M1 and higher SOCs is the Unified Memory Architecture. It's possible that paging memory to storage on older SOCs such as the A12 has a lot more latency. If true, then especially when it comes to graphics resources, of which Stage Manager itself, enhanced scaling, and better external monitor support would all require more of, might lead to less than desirable performance in memory swapping situations.

Also, the lowest M1 RAM option is 8GB. That might have also been another convenient line in the sand for Apple to draw for supporting these enhancements. Driving external monitors and the internal display with multiple apps, window resizing and increased scaling all with good performance could be pretty challenging with less than 8GB of RAM.

I still think they could have done it, just looking for possible technical explanations as well.

 

[pugxiwawa]

I feel Apple should've enabled it on older iPad, but having users understanding that using it on non-M1 hardware will incur latency. This actually might help convince more people on older hardware to upgrade.

 

[uhaas]

One potentially key thing about M1 and higher SOCs is the Unified Memory Architecture. It's possible that paging memory to storage on an A12 (non M1 or higher) has a lot more latency. If true, then especially when it comes to graphics resources, of which Stage Manager itself, enhanced scaling, and better external monitor support would all require more of, might lead to less than desirable performance in memory swapping situations.

Also, the lowest M1 RAM option is 8GB. That might have also been another convenient line in the sand for Apple to draw for supporting these enhancements. Driving external monitors and the internal display with multiple apps, window resizing and increased scaling all with good performance could be pretty challenging with less than 8GB of RAM.

I still think they could have done it, just looking for possible technical explanations as well.

Somewhere in a lab or test pipeline they tried it. Someone decided not to do it. It may have been a poor user experience, or may have been motivated by other reasons. But I‘m making an educated guess it wasn’t great. I have an 11” IPP and i split-view 2 apps or the same app all day long, usually Webex and Notes or Teams and Notes. Running multiple apps (or even Picture in Picture) work great, but I’m guessing the graphics performance or video RAM just isn’t there.

I understand stage manager. But why is my iPad mini 6 with A15 Chip not supporting custom lock screens? There is absolutely no reason for that.

Widgets came to the phone before the iPad. I don’t see this is much different. There are more phones, and on the iPad you have to support a different form factor and 2 different orientations: portrait and landscape lock screens.

 

[calstanford]

Somewhere in a lab or test pipeline they tried it. Someone decided not to do it. It may have been a poor user experience, or may have been motivated by other reasons. But I‘m making an educated guess it wasn’t great. I have an 11” IPP and i split-view 2 apps or the same app all day long, usually Webex and Notes or Teams and Notes. Running multiple apps (or even Picture in Picture) work great, but I’m guessing the graphics performance or video RAM just isn’t there.


Widgets came to the phone before the iPad. I don’t see this is much different. There are more phones, and on the iPad you have to support a different form factor and 2 different orientations: portrait and landscape lock screens.

Well it took a good 12 years for the weather app to make it from iphone to ipad, so...

 

[ppj845]

Only way that can kick apple in the butt is that some other companies come up with a perfect one device solution. Samsung seems to be getting close with its phone capable with Dex and foldable capable of becoming tablet. If only Samsung can dual boot its devices into both android and windows when windows becomes capable on ARM

 

[locksmack]

Never mind the 4 year old iPP, I think the Mini 6 is the biggest kick in the balls here. The Mini 6 is barely 9 months old and has a chip NEWER than M1. The A15 iPad Mini is already able to run 3 apps simultaneously in the current multitasking setup, and do it buttery smooth. I can’t imagine there is any technical reason they can’t bring stage manager to the iPad mini.

RAM is about the only downfall for it. I could settle for a more cut down version of Stage Manager with support for say 4 apps, or even just one app on external and another on internal screen.

Let’s hope that Apple decides during beta testing that the IPad Mini (and possibly older iPP and Air 4) can be supported, even if limited.

 

[TimFL1]

The writing was on the wall the second they unveiled the M1 iPad Pro a year ago. It was clear as night and day that investing in Ax Series iPads after that and holding onto one is a bad idea. There is simply too much ground between the 2 chip families to have feature parity down the line.

I get the frustration but you can‘t tell me you didn‘t see it coming.

 

[Stuey3D]

The writing was on the wall the second they unveiled the M1 iPad Pro a year ago. It was clear as night and day that investing in Ax Series iPads after that and holding onto one is a bad idea. There is simply too much ground between the 2 chip families to have feature parity down the line.

I get the frustration but you can‘t tell me you didn‘t see it coming.

And that is the issue, the M1 has only been in the iPad for a year you can bet there are significantly more A series chips out there. Heck their latest iPad the iPad Mini still came with an A15 rather than an M1.

Now don’t get me wrong I could see the older iPads getting reduced features in the future, I just didn’t expect it to be literally the next iPadOS version on devices that are still very powerful and are still not being used to their full potential.

 

[Stuey3D]

One potentially key thing about M1 and higher SOCs is the Unified Memory Architecture. It's possible that paging memory to storage on older SOCs such as the A12 has a lot more latency. If true, then especially when it comes to graphics resources, of which Stage Manager itself, enhanced scaling, and better external monitor support would all require more of, might lead to less than desirable performance in memory swapping situations.

Also, the lowest M1 RAM option is 8GB. That might have also been another convenient line in the sand for Apple to draw for supporting these enhancements. Driving external monitors and the internal display with multiple apps, window resizing and increased scaling all with good performance could be pretty challenging with less than 8GB of RAM.

I still think they could have done it, just looking for possible technical explanations as well.

Now I can imagine the memory/GPU performance potentially being an issue for Stage Manager but for proper 2nd screen support? Even if it was a case of running one app on the iPad screen and one on the 2nd screen properly scaled, that wouldn’t take that much resources I mean windows laptops have been doing that for years with far less capable hardware.

This is an iPadOS release from the bean counters not the engineers.

 

[Prabas]

I just wanted resolution scaling to fit more content on the screen, but no I can’t have that. This is my last iPad purchase ever, it’s literally a stretched up iPhone screen. iPhone and Mac is the way to go.

 

[SoYoung]

iPadOS 16 is a major disappointment for the iPad. I'm beginning to be tired by Apple to always makes the iPad behind the iPhone in term of features. It takes one year later to get full widget and library support and now we don't have the new lock screen update. Even for M1 I don't think its a huge update, Monitor support isn't as good as I expected. You can't use the monitor only and let the iPad itself closed, you have to deal with 2 screens at once and for me, there's no scenario when I need to do this on my iPad.

And aside from that, there's literally nothing new on iPad this year. Its basically 15.6. I know some people say this every year, but this year is honestly one of the worst update I've seen for a while. Apple seriously need to bring some feature to the iPad at a much faster pace.

 

[MajorFubar]

Apple don't do fast pace, their research will have shown their target customer base likes change to happen nice 'n' slow so they don't get too flustered. It's very obviously coming

 

[rui no onna]

One potentially key thing about M1 and higher SOCs is the Unified Memory Architecture. It's possible that paging memory to storage on older SOCs such as the A12 has a lot more latency. If true, then especially when it comes to graphics resources, of which Stage Manager itself, enhanced scaling, and better external monitor support would all require more of, might lead to less than desirable performance in memory swapping situations.

The A12X/Z were actually the first Apple chips to get Unified Memory Architecture. I think they’ve got half the memory bandwidth of M1, though, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[Traverse]

I think it will certainly be a bit cramp on the smaller iPads. Can anyone confirm whether the new display zoom feature discussed is exclusive to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro? Or does that also apply to the 11 inch?

 

[rui no onna]

I think it will certainly be a bit cramp on the smaller iPads. Can anyone confirm whether the new display zoom feature discussed is exclusive to the 12.9 inch iPad Pro? Or does that also apply to the 11 inch?

Yep, it’s on the 11” iPad Pro (and 10.9” Air 5), too.

• Display scaling mode: Available on iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation), and iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation)

It says our models are compatible, maybe I'm doing something wrong. Hopefully someone will chime in.

***Edit: Wow, I'm dumb, More Space is the option to show more info. Whoops!