iPadOS 26 more love for old iPads????

[L13145]

Hello I’m slightly confused if someone can help clear this up?

When stage manager was introduced, this would only work on iPad Air 5th gen and later.
iPad OS 26 brings window management to iPad Air 3rd gen and later and they made a big deal about how it works on all iPads getting the upgrade.

Why is this newer window management system able to support the older iPad Air 3 and 4, but stage manager was specifically 5th or later?

As someone with an iPad Air 4th gen this is great news, but makes me wonder if stage manager would’ve worked just fine.

 

[Le0M]

The fact that windows management is made available also for iPad 9th gen (and maybe older?) is a VERY surprising move on Apple's part, and also a very welcomed one!
Couldn't believe my eyes!

 

[anthdci]

To be honest I am surprised it is compatible with my 2018 11' iPad Pro, I've just installed it since it's a device I don't use all that much (hence not getting a newer one), and it's very choppy. If they don't improve that over the betas I think I'll downgrade it before they stop signing iPadOS 18, because it's not a good experience.

 

[Hyuga]

To be honest I am surprised it is compatible with my 2018 11' iPad Pro, I've just installed it since it's a device I don't use all that much (hence not getting a newer one), and it's very choppy. If they don't improve that over the betas I think I'll downgrade it before they stop signing iPadOS 18, because it's not a good experience.

Dont worry, its mess even with M4 iPad Pro.

Usually first betas have full telemetry and debug enabled what further increases battery usage and performance issues.

 

[LogicalApex]

Hello I’m slightly confused if someone can help clear this up?

When stage manager was introduced, this would only work on iPad Air 5th gen and later.
iPad OS 26 brings window management to iPad Air 3rd gen and later and they made a big deal about how it works on all iPads getting the upgrade.

Why is this newer window management system able to support the older iPad Air 3 and 4, but stage manager was specifically 5th or later?

As someone with an iPad Air 4th gen this is great news, but makes me wonder if stage manager would’ve worked just fine.

No one will ever know the true answer since Apple will keep those details close to the chest.

My speculative answer though.

They rightfully got a ton of pushback on their lame reasoning for artificially limiting Stage Manager that they had to expand support for it. They also probably have enough details that Stage Manager and windowing support on the iPad has not been well received by users or developers. I mean well received enough to drive meaningful sales increases for users.

Expanding it to all iPads is a strong attempt to get developers on board. They can design apps with the feature in mind as it is supported across the lineup. They then hope increased developer traction can help drive user adoption.

 

[eclipse01]

To be honest I am surprised it is compatible with my 2018 11' iPad Pro, I've just installed it since it's a device I don't use all that much (hence not getting a newer one), and it's very choppy. If they don't improve that over the betas I think I'll downgrade it before they stop signing iPadOS 18, because it's not a good experience.

interesting, another post says its running great on their IPP 2018

 

[Polaroid]

interesting, another post says its running great on their IPP 2018

Runs well on my IPP 2018, might have been my post you saw - I have bugs and such but multitasking is fluid and runs well for me

 

[rui no onna]

The fact that windows management is made available also for iPad 9th gen (and maybe older?) is a VERY surprising move on Apple's part, and also a very welcomed one!
Couldn't believe my eyes!

I just installed it on my 9th gen and Safari's a lot choppier and slower. Control Center is barely visible depending on background.

Glad I didn't use one of my nicer iPads as guinea pig. Performance is probably better on a faster iPad but the UI still needs tweaking.

 

[MagicHAM]

The fact that windows management is made available also for iPad 9th gen (and maybe older?) is a VERY surprising move on Apple's part, and also a very welcomed one!
Couldn't believe my eyes!

I was surprised by this as well, trying it out on my 3rd generation iPad 12.9inch.

And to those who have the Beta 1 installed and a re experiencing issues, this is a beta, what would you expecting from a first beta? Of course there would be some issues, it is a Beta.

 

[rui no onna]

I was surprised by this as well, trying it out on my 3rd generation iPad 12.9inch.

And to those who have the Beta 1 installed and a re experiencing issues, this is a beta, what would you expecting from a first beta? Of course there would be some issues, it is a Beta.

Betas can vary in quality.

I also used 16, 17 and 18 dev betas and apart from some performance glitches, I didn't experience any major usability issues. They were stable enough that I found them OK to use as daily drivers on the M1 iPad Air.

The UI changed a lot this time and there are visibility issues and other glitches. Hence, I'll keep beta testing limited to the iPad 9th gen until it improves.

P.S.
I thought Stage Manager was introduced 15. Apparently, that was 16 and that was pretty rough, too.

13 was probably the worst iOS beta I’ve used though. Even after stable, I think it took like 13.2 or 13.3 before I found it acceptable enough to install on my daily drivers.

 

[anthdci]

interesting, another post says its running great on their IPP 2018

Don't get me wrong, mine is hardly in the best condition, I wouldn't be surprised if it is throttling a bit due to battery degradation. It's been left unused for long periods and been flat during that time. Which is why I am ok to put the early beta on it. Just have to see how it goes over the next few betas.

 

[Atomic1977]

Truth is betas are just betas and  like any other company will kill off any old product not capable of running the Latest software. That’s how it’s always been.

 

[Le0M]

I just installed it on my 9th gen and Safari's a lot choppier and slower. Control Center is barely visible depending on background.

Glad I didn't use one of my nicer iPads as guinea pig. Performance is probably better on a faster iPad but the UI still needs tweaking.

Oh absolutely!
Still full of bugs and UI glitches.
I was just talking about the features!

 

[Devyn89]

My guess is whatever weird way they made stage manager work it was pretty resource intensive so they wanted it for the M powered iPads only. They new windowing system seems much less intensive on the system and so can come to more devices.