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Apple expands Stage Manager to non-M1 iPads, removes external display support from all models

Apple has released iPadOS 16.1 beta 3 to developers. After ten betas since its original announcement during the WWDC 2022 keynote – and a lot of complaints about the Stage Manager feature – Apple is planning to add this function to other iPad Pro models that don’t feature an M1 chip.

The information comes from Engadget. According to the publication, iPad Pro models from 2018 and newer will be able to take advantage of Stage Manager. However, they will not work with an external display. In addition, Apple is also removing external display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads.

That changes with the latest iPadOS 16 developer beta, which was just released. Now, Apple is making Stage Manager work with a number of older devices: it’ll work on the 11-inch iPad Pro (first generation and later) and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro (third generation and later). Specifically, it’ll be available on the 2018and 2020 models that use the A12X and A12Z chips rather than just the M1. However, there is one notable missing feature for the older iPad Pro models — Stage Manager will only work on the iPad’s build-in display. You won’t be able to extend your display to an external monitor.

Stage Manager is the main feature coming to iPadOS 16, and it’s also present on macOS Ventura. This is part of Apple’s plan to better integrate those platforms. With a lot of controversies and developers complaining about how useful and stable this function is, Apple’s now giving a statement:

We introduced Stage Manager as a whole new way to multitask with overlapping, resizable windows on both the iPad display and a separate external display, with the ability to run up to eight live apps on screen at once. Delivering this multi-display support is only possible with the full power of M1-based iPads. Customers with iPad Pro 3rd and 4th generation have expressed strong interest in being able to experience Stage Manager on their iPads. In response, our teams have worked hard to find a way to deliver a single-screen version for these systems, with support for up to four live apps on the iPad screen at once.

9to5Mac will test Stage Manager’s performance with this new beta with M1 iPads – in addition to older iPad Pro models – and will report back.

Last but not least, Apple says it will bring external display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads later this year through a software update.

What do you think about this change? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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