Nah, it doesn’t matter what Apple would do. Everyone knows that “negative apple” gets clicks, so that’s what they would do regardless of what Apple did.
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Apple Explains Why Stage Manager is Limited to M1 iPads in New Statement
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And Dex, regardless of the performance of the system, works with a tiny selection of apps. I’m sure if Apple severely limited the apps that worked with it, they could have it work with more older systems.
As always, only make a purchase on released feature set. It’s all bonus if more come down the road. They obviously gave it a lot of thoughts so pre-M1 can be left behind:
1. 16GB max per app
2. 8 apps max
3. External display to 6K
Few apps will call for 16GB in reality, and most people don’t have expensive 6K display. Old iPads can definitely run stage manager without external display support, and/or if each app can only use less ram. But that doesn’t contribute to more iPad sales.
1. 16GB max per app
2. 8 apps max
3. External display to 6K
Few apps will call for 16GB in reality, and most people don’t have expensive 6K display. Old iPads can definitely run stage manager without external display support, and/or if each app can only use less ram. But that doesn’t contribute to more iPad sales.
So what happens when a jailbroken ipad can enable stage manager
Problem is this is a feature I'd actually want. I wish I could trade Siri away for this.
So you are telling me that back in the old days when computers only have 1 or 2GB of (much slower) memory, with CPUs much slower than something like the A9X in the first 9.7 iPad Pro, they can't do multi-window or multitasking operations? 🤨
People's lives in those days must be horrible!!!!!
People's lives in those days must be horrible!!!!!
Apple will make sure this doesn't happen. Probably by not including Stage Manager code in non-M1 models.
40 years ago computers with 33 MEGAHERTZ processors and 64 KILOBYTES of RAM had SNAPPY windows and preemptive multitasking AND SMOOTH SCROLLING. Don't believe me? Find someone with an Amiga 1000 and have them fire it up off the 800KB floppy disk. Apple is that special combination of smiling while lying sociopathy and authoritarian incompetence, which in the modern world makes them the richest company in the world.
It's not that outrageous that they withheld a marquee feature for the latest generation. They do it every year when they release a new iPhone. Usually the reason is either obvious or they just say it's because the new chip is so great.
On the Mac side there's been exclusives for Apple Silicon/M1 even when new Intel machines had just released or even came out at the same time or after.
It is frustrating, but let's be honest, if I want to really get stuff done, I'm using a Mac.
On the Mac side there's been exclusives for Apple Silicon/M1 even when new Intel machines had just released or even came out at the same time or after.
It is frustrating, but let's be honest, if I want to really get stuff done, I'm using a Mac.
Speaking specifically to the Stage Manager function (and not displaying to '6K monitors'), I don't buy their reasoning at all. Operating systems have had multiple applications/windows on screen simultaneously for decades. There's absolutely zero reason why my 2018 iPad Pro shouldn't be able to use the Stage Manager feature to some degree. I could understand them tailoring the experience for older iPads (i.e. restricting how many apps can be open - kind of like how Procreate restricts layers by how strong your device is) but to restrict this feature entirely outright is honestly pathetic of them.
I see people complaining about people complaining that their four year old tech is not getting the latest features. I don't expect my iPad Pro to run top-tier programs the same as the latest iPad Pro, like I wouldn't expect my iPad Pro to do anything AR related as well as the latest iPad equipped with LIDAR... but would I expect it to be able to run some kind of window manager? Absolutely, no question. They were well-built devices that were frankly overpowered for their time and to this day, still run exceptionally well with whatever you throw at it.
I see people complaining about people complaining that their four year old tech is not getting the latest features. I don't expect my iPad Pro to run top-tier programs the same as the latest iPad Pro, like I wouldn't expect my iPad Pro to do anything AR related as well as the latest iPad equipped with LIDAR... but would I expect it to be able to run some kind of window manager? Absolutely, no question. They were well-built devices that were frankly overpowered for their time and to this day, still run exceptionally well with whatever you throw at it.
Uh, nothing “happens.” They didn’t say it was technically impossible, just not the experience they want out there, yes, probably for internal reasons. The same way I know my (M1) iPad could — and should, in my opinion — have the Lock Screen widgets in iPadOS 16 but Apple only has them on iOS for now. It’s not hard to critique them but it’s their call. If I was that chuffed by this or that, I’d look for a product that better suited my needs. Even when I don’t fully agree with a business choice (which is all any of this ever is, consumer products are not a charity), Apple still wins out for me over other options.
First thing first, it’s Apple that came up with the statement. My reaction was simply for Apple to back up what they have claimed. I mean there probably won’t be too much uproar if Apple stayed silent like usual. But I guess whoever in Apple marketing is snobby enough to want to to prove something without actually backing it up with hard evidence.
If Apple were honest to what they claimed, being transparent and actually showed people that stage manager performed poorly in their tests in previous gen iPads, it would actually be more beneficial as more people would be more inclined to upgrade and they trust Apple’s statement.
The chip may be powerful enough, but the storage and display connection isn’t. They’d have been accused of deliberately slowing down the A12Z iPad if they launched a feature that’s unresponsive.
Don’t worry, Apple is ready to play chess with you when you pick new Macs as well. Looking at the $200 ram upgrade right now. 😂
The A12Z alone can’t run MacOS. It was augmented with 16GB of dedicated RAM in the developer kit.
The iPad mini 6 is the latest generation. In fact the A15 processor is newer than the M1, and the Mini itself is the newest iPad you can buy aside from the spec bumped (but otherwise identical to prior gen) Air.
The A15 chip benchmarks higher than every other non-M1 Apple chip (including A12X/Z).
The Mini’s Achilles Heel is RAM, which I have 2 things to say about:
1. Apple would have known about Stage Manager when designing the iPad Mini 6, so gimping it to not be compatible was a decision they made, not a case of dealing with legacy hardware.
2. Surely a ‘lite’ version of Stage Manager could work on the Mini. Perhaps 4 apps max instead of 8, or even just 1 app on an external display and another on the inbuilt display.
The M1 chip is based on the 5NM architecture from the A14 bionic, so the A14 in the iPad Air 4, and even more refined A15 from the Mini 6 are more than capable of the CPU processing required for Stage Manager (and probably the A12X/Z also), but Apple have made it very clear that Stage Manager is very RAM dependant (which makes sense in order to keep multiple windows running with live applications).
The M1 Ipad Air and Pro both have base 8GB RAM, with the higher storage M1 IPP models having 16 GB RAM, so naturally the iPads with less than 8 GB RAM will miss out on this feature.
Maybe what Apple is saying is true. But still bad that the previous generation iPad Pro is not getting these features.
If only older iPad Pros had that much RAM. If they have less, it's a decision Apple made not to do it.
Too bad Apple can't look 2 years into their own product roadmap to figure out that 6GB RAM might be a "Pro" problem.
By the time iOS 16 ships it will be mid-life and was never sold with this as a feature.
As others mentioned above, a line needs to be drawn somewhere, and apple has decided that its M1. I'm not saying i agree with their decision, but i can at least see why they would make it from both a software development, maintenance and support perspective.
What was the point of Selling these as pro devices when they couldn’t do any more than the entry level iPad.
The better screen (promotion, truetone, and almost HDR on the 10.5), much better speakers, and at the time, pencil support, non-bluetooth keyboard support, extra memory and much faster CPU/GPU.
They were aimed at more intensive apps, and they run/ran those apps faster.
I've got a 10.5 pro that won't get this, and for the life of the device so far it has been way better than the non-pro ipads of the time.