Apple has today confirmed that it will release the next big version of the iPad’s software, iPadOS 16, on 24 October, 2022.
The confirmation came as Apple announced new products via press release today. The iPadOS 16 announcement was a footnote attached to releases confirming the arrival of new iPad and iPad Pro tablets, with the company confirming that we have less than a week left to wait.
Apple’s iPadOS 16 update has been in beta testing since the company announced it during WWDC in June, but some of its new features have proven troublesome. While editable iMessages, the ability to unsend emails, and more have all worked as expected, one big addition hasn’t. Stage Manager, a new window-based multitasking system for iPad owners, has had its fair share of problems during development, but it’s now ready to go.
Stage Manager was ultimately the season Apple didn’t ship iPadOS 16 alongside iOS 16 last month, choosing instead to spend more time on development. Apple is already testing iPadOS 16.1 with developers as well as those on the public beta program, suggesting we could see a further update arrive in due course.
Apple says that the update will ship as standard on its new tablets, while it will also be available as a free software update for iPad (5th generation and later), iPad mini (5th generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), and all of the company’s iPad Pro models.
