Apple’s Craig Federighi discussed the development of the iPad’s new multitasking system, emphasizing efforts to make it more widely compatible across devices.
“We decided this time: make everything we can make available,” Federighi said, acknowledging the high demand for Stage Manager, the previous multitasking feature.
The updated windowing system benefits from numerous optimizations, allowing a broader range of iPads to support the new multitasking model. While there are no limits on the number of windows you can open, restrictions remain on how many can be actively updated simultaneously. Full multi-monitor support is still limited to higher-end, faster iPad models.
Federighi explained, “We re-architected our windowing system and the way that we manage background tasks and processing, which enabled us to get more performance out of other devices compared to when Stage Manager first launched.”
Stage Manager is still available in iPadOS 16 as an optional multitasking mode that users can enable instead of the new window-based system. Both multitasking styles can also be disabled, preserving the traditional iPad interface familiar for simpler use cases.
The $349 base iPad is expected to benefit significantly from iPadOS 16’s new multitasking features. However, despite closer UI elements to macOS, Apple continues to differentiate the iPad and Mac as distinct products. This separation includes decisions like not adding touchscreens to Mac computers, reinforcing that some Mac capabilities will remain unavailable on the iPad.