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iPadOS 16 on a non M1 iPad is such a disappointment.

Stuey3D

Stuey3D

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 8, 2014
836
953
Northamptonshire, United Kingdom
So I have a 1TB 12.9” 2018 iPad Pro with a Magic Keyboard and have always felt that it wasn’t being used to it’s full potential because of the OS.

So when I see the new iPadOS16 I start to think finally the iPad will be able to use more of its potential, however all of the good features are restricted to M1 only iPads.

Now I get that the M1 is a big step up however the A12X is no slouch hell Apple even used to the A12Z to run MacOS in the developer transition kits and that is the same chip just with an extra graphics core and some more RAM.

Now I get that a lot of this is due to RAM however they could’ve put a cut down version of Stage Manager on to older iPads with a lower App limitation for simultaneous running apps. However that is not my big issue with iPadOS16 on older iPads.
I am absolutely gutted that connecting a 2nd screen still results in the same letterboxed mirrored screen as you always got before, now they could’ve made it extend even without Stage Manager and you could’ve simply had one app on the 2nd screen and another on the iPad screen.
And also what is the deal with the new extra dense screen mode only being available for M1 iPads heck the screens have the same resolution again there is no reason my older Pro cannot run that feature.

Right now it feels like Apple are trying to justify putting an M1 into the new iPads vs a hypothetical A15X even though they are the same chip in all but name.

If I had a 2020 Pro I would be even more gutted right now, as those are a helluva lot newer even though they are effectively still a 2018 model just with more ram and an extra GPU core.

For me on the older iPad this just feels like iPadOS 15, nothing has fundamentally changed and I still have a device that feels like it’s still not being used to it’s full potential because of a very limited OS.
 
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I mean the hardware is 4 years old, right? 4 year old iPhones and Macs often don’t get true best hardware features either.
 
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Dwalls90 said:
I mean the hardware is 4 years old, right? 4 year old iPhones and Macs often don’t get true best hardware features either.
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It’s 4 year old pro grade hardware though and the 2020 model is almost identical hardware. I’m sorry there is no excuse for how much has been cut back. The 2nd screen support being the same mirroring as before is unforgivable with hardware as powerful as this, heck even Samsung has been sticking dex into their phones for years now so its not as if the hardware isn’t capable.
 
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So Samsung had dex back in 2017 so a mobile phone which has far less power than the 2018 iPad Pro has much more software versatility when it comes to 2nd screens/Keybaord & Mouse support. Hell low end windows laptops have been able to extend their screens for longer than I can remember.

Now as I said I understand the hardware is older now but its still more than capable of running all the new software features Apple announced, ok with some limitations when it comes to amount of open apps etc due to RAM.
 
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FangRock said:
I think I'm done with iPad, I won't buy another one, with the phone and MacBook I feel like I have all bases covered.
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Yeah I only got mine because I got it with a huge discount from my mobile phone provider in 2020 and its been a great device to sit and browse the web on and consume media, but I’ve always felt that iOS/iPadOS has held the iPad back as it has more power than my wife’s 2020 intel MacBook Air but less capability. iPadOS 16 looks like it goes some way to make the iPad a much better device and closer to a laptop but the reduction in features for older Pro iPads is a real bummer.

I think that any iPad from the 2018 Pro and up (4GB RAM+) should have gotten Stage Manager in some form, and all iPads should’ve got the ability to properly extend the screen and run 2 full screen apps at once when a keyboard/mouse/second screen is connected.
 
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Yea I am kind of in this boat as well. I was a huge iPad guy, even went to using it full time, but I bought the 14 inch MacBook Pro and have been considering ditching my iPad altogether and just going with the 14 Pro Max. I have been disappointed with the speed of iPadOS development.
 
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Zimmy68 said:
I hear what the OP is saying. The 2018 iPad Pro is a beast and was never fully utilized.
The problem is the new iPadOS is specifically built around the M1 and new memory.
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I understand that and to be honest Stage Manager isn’t the bit I’m most annoyed about, its the half baked way that the iPad still handles the 2nd screen if you don’t have an M1 iPad. You cant be telling me that the 2018 iPad with all of its power couldn‘t run a web browser on one screen and MS Word on another for example.

Apple targeting the headline new features at just the M1 iPads will alienate a lot of customers and may make them think twice about another iPad purchase in the future. I mean the poor brand new iPad Mini doesn’t get any of the new features even though it could run them easily, now again Stage Manager I can understand on such a small screen but loosing the ability to extend the system onto a 2nd screen is just a joke.
 
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Yeah with my new iPad Mini 6 (A15) I am rather disappointed. I presume the hardware is capable of outputting different things to different screens? But even if not it would be nice if I could even just turn off the iPad screen and just use the external screen at full res rather than naff mirroring with everything massive. The iPad Mini would most benefit from dock-ability!
I'm gonna need to sell this for an upcoming iPad Mini 7 with M1/2 aren't I?!
 
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Dwalls90 said:
I mean the hardware is 4 years old, right? 4 year old iPhones and Macs often don’t get true best hardware features either.
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Well, my iPad Air 4 is a 1.5 years old and has a “respectable” 4GB of RAM. Not any better. ;)
 
vitaminjuk said:
Yeah with my new iPad Mini 6 (A15) I am rather disappointed. I presume the hardware is capable of outputting different things to different screens? But even if not it would be nice if I could even just turn off the iPad screen and just use the external screen at full res rather than naff mirroring with everything massive. The iPad Mini would most benefit from dock-ability!
I'm gonna need to sell this for an upcoming iPad Mini 7 with M1/2 aren't I?!
Click to expand...
That’s exactly what they want 😊
 
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FangRock said:
I think I'm done with iPad, I won't buy another one, with the phone and MacBook I feel like I have all bases covered.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately that is how I am feeling after yesterday. I too have a 2018 IPP and even if I could only have maybe 2 or 3 apps tops in the new multitasking that would be okay it would be at least something. The iPad has so much potential, but if only a couple year old iPads are going to start loosing features. Will have to see how future iPad updates do to determine if I buy one again
 
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Thing is right now Apple are in the perfect position to really make their devices next level useable.

As now all the Apple devices are using the same silicon and the apps are now all becoming optimised for that silicon they could do what a Samsung tried with their Dex thing but actually make it great. Imagine an iPhone with USB C that when connected to a USB C dock can turn into a Mac how awesome would that be? Thing is the technology/architecture is there to make this a reality but Apple are really intent on selling you every device separately rather than making one device that can do everything.

This is why I am so annoyed about the older iPads being left out because they’ve had the power to do this for a long time and with the Magic Keyboard the iPad actually makes a comfortable laptop, in fact I rarely take my 2018 iPad Pro off the keyboard and often forget it’s an iPad when I’m sat browsing the web.

The other thing that’s annoying is the stuff they’ve still left out on iOS/iPadOS. Want to format external storage devices? Yeah that’s not happening. Want to add music from external sources to your music library? Nope that’s not happening either. Want to create smart playlists for your music? Nope not happening.

However if you have a Mac you can do all these things. The iPad is so close to being a full computer like Apple claims it to be yet it’s held back by stupid software choices by Apple.
 
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It’s much easier to support the latest as well from a testing perspective. I think it’s a combination of cost savings and planned obsolescence.
 
Wizec said:
It’s much easier to support the latest as well from a testing perspective. I think it’s a combination of cost savings and planned obsolescence.
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Yeah there is that stance, but that doesn’t explain the brand new iPad Mini which is less than a year old being left out of the latest features. Now Stage Manager I can understand due to screen size but the gimped external monitor support is not right.
 
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cthompson94 said:
Unfortunately that is how I am feeling after yesterday. I too have a 2018 IPP and even if I could only have maybe 2 or 3 apps tops in the new multitasking that would be okay it would be at least something. The iPad has so much potential, but if only a couple year old iPads are going to start loosing features. Will have to see how future iPad updates do to determine if I buy one again
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I mean its not like the 2018 iPad Pro cant already run 2-3 apps at once already, Stage Manager is just a much easier way of managing those apps altogether, which is why its absence is even more annoying.
956BA467-1B9A-4A76-A374-971208590825.png
 
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Stuey3D said:
I mean its not like the 2018 iPad Pro cant already run 2-3 apps at once already, Stage Manager is just a much easier way of managing those apps altogether, which is why its absence is even more annoying.View attachment 2015435
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you are correct, I should have worded my comment better, I certainly would prefer the cleaner look of stage manager since you can have all those apps open at once. I have seen comments in various threads talking about the ram being only 4gb, but if the apps can already be open fully why can't we have the cleaner switcher
 
cthompson94 said:
you are correct, I should have worded my comment better, I certainly would prefer the cleaner look of stage manager since you can have all those apps open at once. I have seen comments in various threads talking about the ram being only 4gb, but if the apps can already be open fully why can't we have the cleaner switcher
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Yeah sorry it wasn’t a dig at your comment it was backing it up, the 2018 iPP is more than capable of running Stage Manager even in a cut down form due to the RAM. The 2018 iPP can easily run multiple apps simultaneously and all stage manager is is a fancy window manager, the apps themselves are the same so this omission is a kick in the balls from Apple.
 
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