Apple skips iPadOS 16.0 and releases iPadOS 16.1 later

Apple will not release iPadOS 16.0 and will continue with a release of iPadOS 16.1. The first beta was released this week. The company says the release will come some time after iOS 16.0 for iPhones.

Apple is taking that step, because iPadOS has more features of its own this year compared to iOS, the company tells Techcrunch. “This is a big year for iPadOS. It’s a proprietary platform with features designed for iPad only, so we have the flexibility to keep our schedule for the release of iPadOS. This fall, iPadOS comes out after iOS, as iPadOS 16.1 in a free update.”

It is the first time that Apple completely separates the release of iOS and iPadOS. It’s also the first time Apple has skipped an iPadOS x.0 release altogether since iPadOS 13.1. Apple doesn’t say why it chose to do so.

It was previously rumored that Apple would like to delay iPadOS. Apple is introducing Stage Manager as a new part of iPadOS 16, a feature that displays apps and windows on the left side of the screen so that users can switch between them more quickly.

Developers criticized Stage Manager for bugs, a confusing interface, and lack of compatibility with most iPads. Stage Manager only works on iPads with an M1 soc, so the iPad Pro 2021 and this year’s iPad Air. In addition, Apple probably wants to release iPads later in the fall and to coincide with the release of iPadOS 16.1. Most likely, iOS 16 will be released in September, with iPadOS 16.1 released in October.