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iPadOS 16 Lets Apps Use Storage as Virtual RAM on M1 iPads

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Apple is adding virtual memory swap to iPadOS 16, allowing apps on the recent iPad Pro and iPad Air models to use free and available storage as extra memory for demanding workloads.

m1-ipad-pro-table.jpg

With iPadOS 15, certain apps can use up to 12GB of memory on the highest-end M1 iPad Pro which has 16GB of total RAM. With iPadOS 16 and virtual memory swap, Apple is significantly increasing the amount of memory an app can use by tapping into available storage on the device.

For M1 iPad Pro models, apps can use up to 16GB of memory for the most demanding workloads. Fifth-generation iPad Air models with the M1 chip and a minimum of 256GB of storage also support the feature.

Virtual memory swap and the higher memory ceiling join a list of features coming with iPadOS 16 that are exclusive to the M1 iPad Pro and iPad Air, including Stage Manager. In fact, Apple told Digital Trends that Stage Manager relies on this virtual RAM swap.

Stage Manager is an entirely new way for pro-users to use their iPad, allowing users to have multiple windows of an app opened at once, overlaid on top of each other. Stage Manager also enables full external display support on iPadOS for the first time.

iPadOS 16 is currently available to developers, with a public beta planned in July. iPadOS 16 will be available to all supported iPads later this fall.

Update: Apple's footnote on its iPadOS 16 preview page originally stated that it was the fourth-generation iPad Air that supported the feature, but the error has been corrected.

Article Link: iPadOS 16 Lets Apps Use Storage as Virtual RAM on M1 iPads
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/06/08/ipados-16-storage-as-virtual-memory/
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Bummer it's just M1. I've got the 2020 A12Z iPad Pro and loads of free storage. Did a whole computer as the dev transition kit, but hamstrung relative to M1. Just down to memory capacity?

I knew buying the 2020 was a kinda bad deal at the time, being just the 2018 with only an extra graphics core, and that the next would probably whoop it's ass. But I didn't realise it was such a big jump to the M1 coming to iPad and I'd then have big feature skips rather than just a general performance hit on a pretty damn powerful iPad. 😒
 
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Piplodocus said:
Bummer it's just M1. I've got the 2020 A12Z iPad Pro and loads of free storage. Did a whole computer as the dev transition kit, but hamstrung relative to M1. Just down to memory capacity?

I knew buying the 2020 was a kinda bad deal at the time, being just the 2018 with only an extra graphics core, and that the next would probably whoop it's ass. But I didn't realise it was such a big jump to the M1 coming to iPad and I'd then have big feature skips rather than just a general performance hit on a pretty damn powerful iPad. 😒
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Basically me with A11 iPhone. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Bionic chip, huge performance upgrade over A10. Now almost every feature is A12 and higher

But the glaring problem was that it was a first gen neural enabled phone and the golden rule with apple is… never buy first gen products if longevity is important.


First ipad was weak and likewise dropped quickly with iOS 6. First retina iPad was basically an iPad 2 internally (aside from RAM and slight GPU bump) but with performance issues. Even apple knew this and replaced it months after with the iPad 4. Similarly, first retina iPhone was a just a 3GS internally (A4 was just clocked higher, same gpu ) powering 4x the pixels. All sucked performance wise.

Edit: clarifications.
 
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Piplodocus said:
Bummer it's just M1. I've got the 2020 A12Z iPad Pro and loads of free storage. Did a whole computer as the dev transition kit, but hamstrung relative to M1. Just down to memory capacity?

I knew buying the 2020 was a kinda bad deal at the time, being just the 2018 with only an extra graphics core, and that the next would probably whoop it's ass. But I didn't realise it was such a big jump to the M1 coming to iPad and I'd then have big feature skips rather than just a general performance hit on a pretty damn powerful iPad. 😒
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Same here, absolutely disappointed by this decision. If this is how Apple decides to treat its 2-yr-old ”Pro” device, I’m never buying another ”Pro”.
 
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Is this an indication that actual/physical RAM will remain the same for many years since virtual RAM is now a thing in Apple devices?

I guess I'm still having mixed feelings about A9 and A10 iPads getting iOS 16 but not iPhone 6s series, SE 2016, 7 series...

I still believe iPhone 11/SE 2020 should be the minimum for iOS 16 and iPad 8 for iPadOS 16
 
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saudor said:
Basically me with A11 iPhone. Seemed like a great idea at the time. Bionic chip, huge performance upgrade over A10. Now almost every feature is A12 and higher

But the glaring problem was that it was a first gen neural enabled phone and the golden rule with apple is… never buy first gen products.


First ipad was weak as hell. First retina iPad was basically an iPad 2 but with performance issues. First retina iPhone was a just a 3GS powering 4x the pixels. All sucked.
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I had all those iPads and iPhones and they were great when released. And well reviewed. None of them "sucked" as far as I remembered, until they got a few years old and were no longer up to the task of the current software. Which is basically every product (though the OS/hardware requirements moved more quickly in general back then).

Saying "never buy the first gen iphone/ipad/mac" is mostly meaningless- at this point, any iPad, iPhone, Mac, etc is both a first generation of something, and a second, third, etc etc etc generation of something else. In 2 years people will be complaining about the current 13" iPad Pro missing some feature and "you should've skipped it" because it was the "first generation" product with a mini LCD display, or it had the "first generation" M1 chip. Your advice is basically to never buy anything, something better might be released later ;)
 
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winxmac said:
Is this an indication that actual/physical RAM will remain the same for many years since virtual RAM is now a thing in Apple devices?

I guess I'm still having mixed feelings about A9 and A10 iPads getting iOS 16 but not iPhone 6s series, SE 2016, 7 series...

I still believe iPhone 11/SE 2020 should be the minimum for iOS 16 and iPad 8 for iPadOS 16
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I would guess no. Seeing as 16GB was the maximum memory the M1 could address, it makes sense the highest spec'ed iPad M1 would have 16GB. But the M2 is able to address 24GB of memory. My guess is that the highest spec'ed M2 iPad Pro will probably have 24GB. Maybe. It's Apple's choice, but 24GB can be used for the M2.
 
singularity0993 said:
Same here, absolutely disappointed by this decision. If this is how Apple decides to treat its 2-yr-old ”Pro” device, I’m never buying another ”Pro”.
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Ditto. It feels so much like a ploy to get us to spend more money. "We know iPads last a long time. We're not making money during that time. We recently missed our quarterly and took a hit on our stocks. How can we placate wall street and our stock holders?" And the sad part? It will work...
 
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I believe this is how Steve Jobs describe OS7 in one of the interviews

3e6meus.jpg
 
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And for iPad with 128gb of internal memory? The memory swap will be just limited to a lower amount of memory, right?
 
If you've got a non-M1 iPad, you're really getting nothing out of iPadOS 16. No new lockscreen from iOS, and everything that is new in iPadOS is M1-exclusive. Worst of both worlds. But hey, after 12 years, finally a weather app...
 
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Kylo83 said:
Amazing all this power for YouTube and Facebook, I mean the iPad is so slow we needed this lol give us final cut
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iPads are being used for far more than that.

They are being used on factory floors, in real estate (mobile), retail, content creators (art and graphics) and now with stage manager have Dex like capabilities.

iPads will not replace Macs or mimic Mac workflow - they are evolving (slowly albeit) into a true third form factor/computing workflow.
 
blackcrayon said:
I had all those iPads and iPhones and they were great when released. And well reviewed. None of them "sucked" as far as I remembered, until they got a few years old and were no longer up to the task of the current software. Which is basically every product (though the OS/hardware requirements moved more quickly in general back then).

Saying "never buy the first gen iphone/ipad/mac" is mostly meaningless- at this point, any iPad, iPhone, Mac, etc is both a first generation of something, and a second, third, etc etc etc generation of something else. In 2 years people will be complaining about the current 13" iPad Pro missing some feature and "you shuold've skipped it" because it was the "first generation" product with a mini LCD display, or it had the "first generation" M1 chip. Your advice is basically to never buy anything, something better might be released later ;)
Click to expand...

They might have be ok for you personally but the general consensus was that they were low performing and devs had a hard time making apps for iPad 3 because of that Retina display. Even apple knew this and the iPad 4 came just months after.

By first gen, I mean something that affects performance. A Retina display demands significantly more GPU horsepower. A display type doesn’t. M1 is basically an enhanced A14X with a new name. I should have been more clear here: With some exceptions, whenever there’s a meaningful spec bump, it’s time to buy as historically, they last longest. A12z is basically the 2018 spec so it gets shafted. iPhone 6 was so close a 5s performance wise so they died together. It was also the first to use scaling on the 6+ (uses more GPU). Same with iPad 2/3. iPhone 7 is the odd one out as with A11 but the neural engine performance became the deciding factor
 
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