New iPadOS 16.1 Beta Expands Stage Manager to Older iPad Pro Models, Delays External Display Support

The most recent beta of iPadOS 16.1 expands the controversial Stage Manager feature to older iPads, allowing it to work with iPad Pro models that have an A12X or A12Z chip, according to information Apple provided to Engadget.

Stage Manager Extension Thumb 1
The beta also removes the external display support from ‌Stage Manager‌ for the current time, with the feature set to return in a later iPadOS 16 update. Apple's statement on the matter:

We introduced Stage Manager as a whole new way to multitask with overlapping, resizable windows on both the iPad display and a separate external display, with the ability to run up to eight live apps on screen at once. Delivering this multi-display support is only possible with the full power of M1-based iPads. Customers with iPad Pro 3rd and 4th generation have expressed strong interest in being able to experience Stage Manager on their iPads. In response, our teams have worked hard to find a way to deliver a single-screen version for these systems, with support for up to four live apps on the iPad screen at once.

External display support for Stage Manager on M1 iPads will be available in a software update later this year.

During the iPadOS 16 beta testing period, ‌Stage Manager‌ has been limited to the M1 ‌iPad Pro‌ models that were released in 2021, and the ‌M1‌ iPad Air. Every other iPad was unable to use the feature, including 2018 and 2020 ‌iPad Pro‌ models that use the A12X and A12Z chips. Apple maintained that it was not able to offer acceptable performance on non-M1 iPads because the feature requires "large internal memory, incredibly fast storage, and flexible external display I/O" provided by the ‌M1‌ ‌iPad‌ models.

Apple was reportedly unsatisfied with the ‌Stage Manager‌ experience on older ‌iPad Pro‌ models. "Certainly, we would love to bring any new experience to every device we can, but we also don't want to hold back the definition of a new experience and not create the best foundation for the future in that experience. And we really could only do that by building on the ‌M1‌," said Apple's Craig Federighi.

Apple has received ongoing criticism for limiting such a major feature to its newest hardware, leading the company to figure out a way to expand the functionality to additional iPads. The removal of the external display feature in ‌Stage Manager‌ may be what is allowing Apple to offer a suitable experience on non-M1 hardware, but when external display support is reintroduced, it will be limited to the ‌M1‌ ‌iPad‌ models and will not be available on the 2018 and 2020 ‌iPad‌ Pros.

‌Stage Manager‌ is now available on all ‌M1‌ iPads along with the 11 and 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ models from 2018 and 2020, so long as the latest iPadOS 16.1 beta is installed. Note that Apple is calling this beta iPadOS 16 beta 10.

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...

Top Rated Comments

fel10 Avatar
40 months ago
So the whole “older iPad Pros can’t handle stage manager” was just BS from apple?
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdnz Avatar
40 months ago

So why did Apple say it was only for m1 they must have lied when they said they couldn’t bring it to older ipads
Apple's developers reported to management that they found out they can switch a boolean value in the configuration files to enable Stage Manager.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cyberius11 Avatar
40 months ago

I miss the days Apple told us what we wanted and needed and not listen to the public and change things, it’s like they are not the leaders anymore
So listening to consumer feedback and improving their product is a bad thing? Weird take.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wanha Avatar
40 months ago

So the whole “older iPad Pros can’t handle stage manager” was just BS from apple?
Federighi said the experience wasn't up to their standard on older iPads, not that it couldn't be done.

And now that Apple listened to all you complainers, this is your reaction?

Man, you just can't win with some people.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
moabal Avatar
40 months ago
If you complain enough, Apple will eventually listen!
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1557750 Avatar
40 months ago
Wow, I didn’t see that coming. Good on them!
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)