Video: Testing Stage Manager on iPadOS 16 With an External Display

[theotherphil]

Apple explicitly made this claim. See:

“Apple's Craig Federighi Further Explains Why Stage Manager is Only for M1 iPads”

Apple's Craig Federighi Further Explains Why Stage Manager is Only for M1 iPads

Following the WWDC keynote last week, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi spoke with TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino about the...

www.macrumors.com

Also the iOS 16 preview page on Apple’s website, footnote 5, “[Stage Manager is] Available on iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation), and iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation).”

Apple stated:

Apple asserted that Stage Manager "requires large internal memory, incredibly fast storage, and flexible external display I/O, all of which are delivered by iPads with the M1 chip.….It's only the M1 iPads that combined the high DRAM capacity with very high capacity, high performance NAND that allows our virtual memory swap to be super fast.

"Now that we're letting you have up to four apps on a panel plus another four – up to eight apps to be instantaneously responsive and have plenty of memory”. This is the experience we're going to carry into the future.

“We didn't want to constrain our design to something lesser, we're setting the benchmark for the future."

What MacRumours forums claim:

The original Mac had overlapping windows on a Motorola 68000 with 128KB ram. Just sayin' 😜

Planned obsolescence. A12z and Core 2 Duos could run macOS with less than 8 GB RAM

For peoples defending Apple, they should consider that a paltry A12Z could handle the full version of MacOS without problems in the developper Mac mini they sent...

People have been multitasking and using multiple apps back when we had 2 gb memory, 1 core processors, 5200 rpm hard disks.

If the A12Z is capable of running full Mac OS on the dev Mac minis 2 years ago, the latest iPad mini can run this feature.

Well, not really. The A12Z had 16Gb in the DTK and swap was available. 2018 iPP’s had 4Gb RAM, the iPad mini has 4Gb and the 2020 iPP had 6Gb and their SSD’s are 4-6X slower than the SSD’s in the M1 iPP.

I don’t want to go back to the Win 95 days. Yes, you could have multiple overlapping windows on low spec machines but let’s be honest, everything about that experience sucked in comparison to today’s hardware. The MR website alone is taking 600Mb RAM right now on my MBP….that would have been impossible to load and run on machines of that era, even if they could “have multiple overlapping windows”.



And when we have a look at what developers say:

If you think Apple did this strictly for marketing reasons, then load up Xcode and build a test app that shows how you can animate multiple 6K windows full of assorted controls, images, 3D scenes, and videos at 60 - 120 FPS. If you're not capable of doing that, then perhaps you aren't qualified to be critiquing Apple's decision. Personally, I've been developing graphics software for decades, and what they are doing seems challenging and impressive.

It’s hard to go into details, but to me, that’s way more complex than just having windows placed on fixed positions. Here we have interaction between windows (dynamic resize and placement), animations when switching between spaces, very fluid resizing (it feels way different than in a mac), etc., and you have to consider that all mentioned before must be maintained for 8 spaces, taking into account that you should never expect an iPad to slow down like a Mac can.

And animations are not just aesthetic enhancements, as I have already read, they can contribute in a major way to how something feels, and ultimately determine if people will use it. For example, I can imagine many of you here (before using it) could have considered the inertial scrolling of the original iPhone a visual gimmick, but without it, UX would’ve been completely different and worse.

I am 100% behind Apple not compromising user experience when introducing new features. Look at Samsung and Android for an example of features that get introduced across numerous SKU’s and the variable performance it produces.

Apple are setting a baseline standard…the minimum performance that we can expect going forward when using Stage Manager. I see Stage Manager being used not only in iPads, but Macs and in a VR/ AR environment where it makes much more sense. This is where users will be really glad of those extra animations and shadows and lighting.

 

[Realityck]

Apple are setting a baseline standard…the minimum performance that we can expect going forward when using Stage Manager. I see Stage Manager being used not only in iPads, but Macs and in a VR/ AR environment where it makes much more sense. This is where users will be really glad of those extra animations and shadows and lighting.

While Stage Manager is exciting for iPad with an external display ($$), it's just another presentation manager of sorts. A further step forward in the utilization of iPads and Macs together along with Mac collaboration additions with Ventura, and Universal Control added iPadOS 15.x and MacOS 12.x.

 

[Cognizant.]

I use magnet which I reckon is very similar (I would have thrown the macbook out the window without it) but I still find window management to be inferior, for example cascade windows is missing, shake window to reveal the desktop is missing and snap to the top will often reveal mission control instead of maximising the window.... plus the close, minimise and maximise behaviour drives me crazy, is super complicated and adds to the windows mess... plus I really don't like the fact that I should be using 2 different paid apps (magnet and Yoink) to do what Windows has built-in. Other than window management I borderline prefer macOS but damn this **** is frustrating.

They are similar. Rectangle lets you drag windows to the top of the screen to maximize them. But yeah, not all the features are there.

 

[Cognizant.]

You can do that on macOS to. 🤷‍♂️

With third party apps, yes. Not by default.

 

[theotherphil]

With third party apps, yes. Not by default.

Press and hold the maximise screen control….you the get the option to place 2 windows side by side. You can also option click the maximise screen control

 

[Cognizant.]

Press and hold the maximise screen control….you the get the option to place 2 windows side by side.

I didn’t know that, but this still isn’t the same as shortcut keys, which I use about 6 or more different window management shortcuts constantly. There’s also top of screen, bottom of screen, center screen, quickly moving windows between displays and instant maximize without having to ever use my mouse.

 

[theotherphil]

I didn’t know that, but this still isn’t the same as shortcut keys, which I use about 6 or more different window management shortcuts constantly. There’s also top of screen, bottom of screen, center screen, quickly moving windows between displays and instant maximize without having to ever use my mouse.

There are several shortcuts that can help you navigate macOS without ever having to lift your fingers from the keyboard.

• Command (⌘) + H: This hides the windows of the frontmost app.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + H: This hides the windows of all apps exceptfor the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + M: This minimizes the frontmost window.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + M: This minimizes all the windows of the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + N: This opens a new window (or document, depending on the app).
• Command (⌘) + W: This closes the frontmost window.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + W: This closes all the windows of the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + Tab: This switches to the next open and most recently app.
• Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + Tilde: This switches to the next most recently used window of the frontmost app.
• Option (⌥) + Command (⌘) + D: This toggles on and off Dock Hiding. If you need a little more room on screen, consider hiding your Dock.
• Control (⌃) + Down Arrow: This shows all the windows of the frontmost application.
• Control (⌃) + F4: This moves the keyboard focus to the active window. Pressing it again moves keyboard focus to the next window.
• Control (⌃) + F5: This moves the keyboard focus to the floating window.
• Command (⌘) + `: This moves keyboard focus to the next window.

You can use your Mac's trackpad or a Magic Mouse to activate certain shortcuts for windows management.

Trackpad gestures​

• Quickly show your desktop by spreading your thumb and three fingers apart on the trackpad.
• Swipe up with three or four fingers to open Mission Control.
• Swipe down with three or four fingers to open App Exposé.
• Swipe left or right with three or four fingers to switch between desktop and app Spaces.

 

[Cognizant.]

There are several shortcuts that can help you navigate macOS without ever having to lift your fingers from the keyboard.

• Command (⌘) + H: This hides the windows of the frontmost app.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + H: This hides the windows of all apps exceptfor the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + M: This minimizes the frontmost window.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + M: This minimizes all the windows of the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + N: This opens a new window (or document, depending on the app).
• Command (⌘) + W: This closes the frontmost window.
  • Command (⌘) + Option (⌥) + W: This closes all the windows of the frontmost app.
• Command (⌘) + Tab: This switches to the next open and most recently app.
• Shift (⇧) + Command (⌘) + Tilde: This switches to the next most recently used window of the frontmost app.
• Option (⌥) + Command (⌘) + D: This toggles on and off Dock Hiding. If you need a little more room on screen, consider hiding your Dock.
• Control (⌃) + Down Arrow: This shows all the windows of the frontmost application.
• Control (⌃) + F4: This moves the keyboard focus to the active window. Pressing it again moves keyboard focus to the next window.
• Control (⌃) + F5: This moves the keyboard focus to the floating window.
• Command (⌘) + `: This moves keyboard focus to the next window.

You can use your Mac's trackpad or a Magic Mouse to activate certain shortcuts for windows management.

Trackpad gestures​

• Quickly show your desktop by spreading your thumb and three fingers apart on the trackpad.
• Swipe up with three or four fingers to open Mission Control.
• Swipe down with three or four fingers to open App Exposé.
• Swipe left or right with three or four fingers to switch between desktop and app Spaces.

Yes I use most of those, but they are nothing like the snap window management I’m referring to. macOS still does not have this baked in and it’s integral to my workflow, so I’m glad there are third party options.

 

[S.Muza]

Not sure if Apple did any survey to understand whether customers need the Stage Center feature. We all know, that almost every iPad user asked for full-size monitor support and extended monitor feature. Yet, they came up with the Stage Center to justify the M1 chip requirement (at least it looks like that to me).

 

[The Game 161]

A listen between the iPad Pro and M2 MBA laptop comparing display & speaker quality starts at 2:58 time point.

Discussing stage manager at 8:00 time point. Various issues are documented during the length of this video.

Always enjoy their content

 

[Macative]

I’ve never seen a more false statement about macOS in probably ever.

Obvious sarcasm. Window management on windows is awful. You obviously just don't know how to use it on macOS.

 

[Cognizant.]

Obvious sarcasm. Window management on windows is awful. You obviously just don't know how to use it on macOS.

This must be sarcasm.

 

[Aknot]

Does stage manager require the apple magic keyboard?

I would also like to know this, can I use my Apple standalone keyboard and trackpad and get the full feature with external display on my M1 iPad?

 

[Wackery]

I would also like to know this, can I use my Apple standalone keyboard and trackpad and get the full feature with external display on my M1 iPad?

Still haven’t figured it out, but it seems like it’s the case?

 

[Aknot]

Still haven’t figured it out, but it seems like it’s the case?

From what little information I could find it seems to be the case, if nobody has tested I will test once the public beta is released.

This is all I could find:

https://appletoolbox.com/ipad-multitasking-how-to-use-stage-manager-on-ipados-16/#Do_You_Need_A_Magic_Keyboard

 

[Boil]

Does stage manager require the apple magic keyboard?

No...

...can I use my Apple standalone keyboard and trackpad and get the full feature with external display on my M1 iPad?

Yes...

 

[Macative]

This must be sarcasm.

Nope, there is nothing even approaches the fluidity or functionality of Mission Control and Expose on Windows. Windows is horridly 1 dimensional by comparison with horrible access to the desktop. Imagine Moving windows out of the way, grabbing a file on the desktop, and moving them back and dropping the file in one of them on Windows...a basic thing that was figured out on macOS 20 years ago.

I use both daily, and window management on Windows is a disgrace.

 

[Cognizant.]

Nope, there is nothing even approaches the fluidity or functionality of Mission Control and Expose on Windows. Windows is horridly 1 dimensional by comparison with horrible access to the desktop. Imagine Moving windows out of the way, grabbing a file on the desktop, and moving them back and dropping the file in one of them on Windows...a basic thing that was figured out on macOS 20 years ago.

I use both daily, and window management on Windows is a disgrace.

There is nothing that even approaches the fluidity or functionality of macOS in general on Windows. But macOS doesn't have the same snap window functionality as Windows, and I use this far more than Control and Expose (not saying those aren't good features because I use them too). There are things Windows can do that macOS can't and vice versa. But of the things that macOS can't do natively, I can gain most of that functionality with third party apps such as Rectangle or Magnet. But there are a thousand reasons I will never use Windows for my workflow is because of the example you just mentioned, as well as drag and drop pretty much being a systemwide functionality that Windows has never had and probably never will. Windows sucks, I just wish macOS would natively implement the way Windows does snap windows. I'm not talking about the countless things I enjoy in macOS over Windows, I'm literally just talking about snap windows, which to me is one of the most important aspects of my workflow.

 

[Searing]

This makes me incredibly angry. All I want to do is use my very expensive HDMI adapter with my iPhone and play Fantasian in 16:9 connected to my TV or monitor. In what sane world is an iPad Pro M1 required to enable the correct aspect ratio when using the HDMI adapter.

iPhone connected to monitor should be 16:9 like an Apple TV. Same as any other device.

 

[Searing]

Nope, there is nothing even approaches the fluidity or functionality of Mission Control and Expose on Windows. Windows is horridly 1 dimensional by comparison with horrible access to the desktop. Imagine Moving windows out of the way, grabbing a file on the desktop, and moving them back and dropping the file in one of them on Windows...a basic thing that was figured out on macOS 20 years ago.

I use both daily, and window management on Windows is a disgrace.

Windows can do everything that the Mac can do, I don't even know what you are talking about. You can indeed use non-fullscreen windows and drag and drop files in Windows... ever heard of "windows key + D" in windows?

 

[Macative]

Windows can do everything that the Mac can do, I don't even know what you are talking about. You can indeed use non-fullscreen windows and drag and drop files in Windows... ever heard of "windows key + D" in windows?

Works like garbage on Windows. Sounds like you've never actually used either of them.

 

[Macative]

There is nothing that even approaches the fluidity or functionality of macOS in general on Windows. But macOS doesn't have the same snap window functionality as Windows, and I use this far more than Control and Expose (not saying those aren't good features because I use them too). There are things Windows can do that macOS can't and vice versa. But of the things that macOS can't do natively, I can gain most of that functionality with third party apps such as Rectangle or Magnet. But there are a thousand reasons I will never use Windows for my workflow is because of the example you just mentioned, as well as drag and drop pretty much being a systemwide functionality that Windows has never had and probably never will. Windows sucks, I just wish macOS would natively implement the way Windows does snap windows. I'm not talking about the countless things I enjoy in macOS over Windows, I'm literally just talking about snap windows, which to me is one of the most important aspects of my workflow.

I've used BetterSnapTool for a long time. There is no need for the Mac to natively implement it.

 

[Cognizant.]

I've used BetterSnapTool for a long time. There is no need for the Mac to natively implement it.

There’s no need because of third party apps. But what if those apps went away?

 

[Cognizant.]

I've used BetterSnapTool for a long time. There is no need for the Mac to natively implement it.

I asked you a genuine question and you responded with a laughing emoji. I’m glad we can have a legitimate conversation.

 

[Macative]

I asked you a genuine question and you responded with a laughing emoji. I’m glad we can have a legitimate conversation.

It's a ridiculous question. Beyond ridiculous. You have nothing to offer this conversation.