Apple confirms iPadOS 16 is 'on its own schedule' and will be delayed

Apple has confirmed that iPadOS 16 won't be released with iOS 16 this year.

In a statement to Techcrunch, the company said: "This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule.

"This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update."

If it isn't clear to you, it means that iOS 16 will ship first later this year, and then iPadOS 16 later.

Furthermore, Apple will skip iPadOS 16 and go straight to iPadOS 16.1. They have just seeded the first beta of iPadOS 16.1 to developers.

This confirms earlier reports that Apple was looking to delay the launch of iPadOS 16 as it faces criticism for its implementation of Stage Manager – one of iPadOS 16's most prominent new feature.

Federico Viticci, a prominent iPad user and advocate, recently called on Apple to delay the launch of iPadOS and said that Stage Manager "crashes every few minutes" and that there were "UI glitches everywhere."

He even said iPadOS 16 should ship in Spring 2023 if that's how long it's going to take to iron out all of Stage Manager's issues.

Apple didn't say how long iPadOS 16 will be delayed but earlier reports said it could be ready in October.

After all, Apple is rumoured to be launching new iPads in October which will feature their M2 chip.

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This article was first published in HardwareZone.