by Jason Snell
It’s official: iPadOS 16 won’t be released next month
Brian Heater of TechCrunch reports that Apple has made official what Mark Gurman reported early this month—that iPadOS 16 won’t be released at the same time as iOS 16:
In a comment to TechCrunch, the company notes, “This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.”
Stage Manager is a big step. It needs more time. The iPad is not turning into the Mac, but iPadOS getting a release date that’s closer (or identical?) to the macOS release date isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, rumors are that Apple will have a big October event to promote the Mac and iPad. That would be the right time to announce the release of iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura.