Stage Manager for more iPad models
For a long time, Apple's limited Stage Manager only worked on certain tablets. This is now changing – and the new window mode is also being widely distributed.
iPadOS 26: New window functions and more.
(Image: Apple)
Apple has finally managed to give its tablets adequate window management: With iPadOS 26 next fall, the time has come. At the same time, the company has also succeeded in bringing the previously rather unloved Stage Manager function, which was much more limited, to more devices. This is shown by the compatibility information on Apple's website.
Jump to more devices – even standard iPad
With iPadOS 18, Stage Manager could only be used on the iPad Air of the fifth generation and newer, the iPad Pro 11 from the first generation, the iPad Pro 12.9 from the third generation and the iPad Pro with 13 inches and M4 SoC. Surprisingly, with iPadOS 26, a standard iPad from the 8th generation, an iPad Mini from the 5th generation and an iPad Air from the 3rd generation can already – be used in addition to the models mentioned for iOS 18 –.
Videos by heise
This shows that window management using Stage Manager is apparently not as big a technical problem as Apple made it seem – rather that the feature was intended to differentiate cheaper from more expensive (and newer) devices. However, the company did not provide any specific details.
Better windowing than Stage Manager
However, the Stage Manager remains a crutch. As before, it only allows a specific window arrangement and not completely free distribution in windowed mode (“Windowed Apps”). Many users are therefore likely to simply switch to this new mode. Apple has also made various other changes to the Stage Manager functions that come with iPadOS 26: For example, the “Split View & Slide Over” modes are disappearing, whereby the split view can now also be done in windowed mode via a free window distribution.
In an interview, Apple software boss Craig Federighi pointed out that the new window system works “much more efficiently” and that the company was therefore able to abandon the previous restriction to iPads with M chips as the reason for the Stage Manager compatibility of older devices. The question may be asked why it took so long. Stage Manager has been around for several years, and window systems are not rocket science.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
