This week we got the news of the delay of iPadOS until October, which will be released together with macOS. The delay, being bad news, can make all the sense in the world and be the usual from this year.
iPadOS is giving more than one headache to Beta users and to Apple. Its new functionality, Stage Manager, was announced as one of the great novelties of this new version, along with the macOS equivalent, but performance at this point still leaves a lot to be desired, and a delay in its launch seems the most logical thing at this point. Better to receive this functionality when it is well polished than to do it with too many bugs that can end up with a good idea in the garbage can.
As confirmed by Mark Gurman in his latest newsletter (link) iPadOS will not arrive this year along with iOS 16. The iPad version will wait until October, at the same time as the macOS (Ventura) update. The reasons for this update? It seems that there is at least one fundamental: Stage Manager is still very green, and Apple doesn't think it can fix the problems it has for its release this September. For the first time, iOS 16 and watchOS 9 will be released in September, and iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura in October.
This is not without drawbacks, because iPhone and iPad users will see for a few weeks that their iPhone has a slightly different software version than the iPad version, and there will be new features of the iPhone that cannot be used on the iPad, such as new in Messages and the new Home app, among others. Developers will also have some headaches, because when it comes to developing universal applications, valid for iPhone and iPad, they will have to decide whether to add the new features to their application knowing that they will not work on the iPad, or wait until October and launch them with the updated iPad.
However, if we analyze it from another point of view, as Gurman points out in his bulletin, it makes all the sense in the world. If iOS 16 and watchOS 9 are released hand in hand, two closely related versions and for two "inseparable" devices, it is normal for iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura to do the same. The iPad and the Mac are becoming more united, and the Apple tablet already has more to do with its computers than with the iPhone. In fact, Stage Manager will be available on iPads (with M1 processor) and Macs. An accident like this year could mean a change in Apple's software release schedule from now on.
In fact, it is the first time that Apple has made a decision like this with the iPad. Let's remember the disastrous launch of iOS 7, with many problems on the iPhone but especially on the iPad, and yet its launch was not delayed. Apple is not the same as then, and now announced long ago that he was going to prioritize stability over news, but it is still curious that this year he has made a decision like this. Maybe we should start getting used to this situation.