Last month, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported that iPadOS 19 is going to heavily focus on multitasking/productivity improvements when it comes to using iPadOS. As you may know, although the iPad’s hardware is far ahead of its time, particularly the iPad Air/Pro, the software has been holding the iPad back from its becoming a potential laptop replacement. So it looks like we’re going to see a plethora of improvements on how we use both our iPad and iPhone when it comes to multitasking (more on that in a later article).
Earlier this week, Majin Bu reported that the upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models could come in a ‘sky blue’ finish. Now, he’s back with more details on what those enhancements on iPadOS could look like. First, iPadOS 19 may adopt a menu bar akin to the existing one in macOS. This menu bar will summon when the user attaches an iPad to a Magic Keyboard accessory, giving them more flexibility and utilization when using the built-in trackpad to access specific commands. We’ve had the redesigned tab bar in Apple’s apps, so having this feature is another step forward.
Secondly, Bu expects the second-generation of the existing Stage Manager feature to come to iPadOS 19. This feature also activates in extended display mode when an iPad is attached to a Magic Keyboard accessory. What Bu expects from the soon-to-be-improved Stage Manager is much smoother window management for increased productivity. Currently, Stage Manager can be found in select iPad Air/Pro models, and we’ve have this feature on Macs since macOS Ventura as well.
My take on this is that this could be the most exciting update that iPad users have been waiting for in a long while. Last year’s iPadOS 18 was a bit underwhelming in the number of enhancements it brings, not to mention that Apple heavily promoted Apple Intelligence features that have had a rocky start since then. Plus, many (if not all) those features are available on the latest iPhone and Mac models too. So it’s great to see Apple shifting gears by focusing on refinements like this, particularly when it comes to multitasking on iPad, especially if customers want to potentially replace their laptop with something as powerful as the iPad Pro for instance.
