Apple’s Stage Manager is coming to more iPads  

M1 processor is no longer required

To everyone’s surprise, Apple decided to bring one of the most important features of the new iPadOS to more iPads. Stage Manager is essentially a new multitasking system that was only available on iPads with M1 chips.

Now, this feature also comes to the third and fourth generation iPad Pros with the A12X and A12Z processors. However, support for using Stage Manager with external displays remains exclusive to M1 chips, and won’t become available yet, at least until an upgrade comes later in the year.

We introduced Stage Manager as a new way to multitask with multiple, resizable windows on both the iPad screen and a separate external display, with the ability to run up to eight apps simultaneously on the screen. This support is only possible with the full power of the M1. Customers with 3rd and 4th generation iPad Pros have expressed strong interest in this experience on their iPads. In response, our teams have been working hard to find a way to bring a version of this to these systems, supporting up to four apps on the iPad screen at once. Stage Manager external display support on M1 iPads will be available via software update later this year. – Apple representative

Stage Manager is available in beta 3 of iPadOS 16.1, and is expected to come to macOS Ventura in October.