iOS 9 for iPad: split screen, picture-in-picture video, ability to use keyboard as trackpad
Context & Ripple Effects
The split-screen reveal lands where the May roadmap leak predicted: dual-app viewing was flagged as the headline iPad feature headed for WWDC, alongside multi-user login and larger 'iPad Pro' models. Today's announcement confirms two-thirds of that picture shipping in iOS 9, paired with the same-day QuickType keyboard update that turns the on-screen keyboard into a trackpad-style surface for cursor placement and cut/copy/paste.
The timing matters because the iPad has been positioned as a consumption device while laptops handle work. iOS 9's multitasking trio — split view, picture-in-picture video, keyboard-as-trackpad — is Apple's first systemic answer to that gap, and the related coverage already shows the ecosystem responding.
First-order effects
- iPad owners gain true side-by-side app use and floating video playback in iOS 9, but only developers who adopt the new multitasking APIs get full benefit — apps built at fixed sizes degrade to letterboxed panes.
- Text editing changes immediately: the keyboard doubles as a cursor trackpad, reducing the reach-and-tap fumbling that made long-form writing on the iPad awkward.
Second-order effects
- App makers move fast to claim the new surface: within about sixteen months Dropbox ships its own iPad picture-in-picture video support, showing third-party apps treating these modes as table-stakes rather than novelties.
- Hardware follows software — the OS X beta pointing to an iPad Mini 4 supporting split-view apps signals Apple gating multitasking capability to newer devices, giving buyers a concrete reason to upgrade rather than stay on older iPads.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence holds, each iOS release layers another laptop behavior onto the iPad — and it does: by 2017 Apple follows up with a full multitasking overhaul adding drag-and-drop and a Files app tying into cloud services like Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive. The structural direction is the iPad converging on laptop-class productivity, with Apple using software updates to segment its own tablet line into tiers of capability.
- That convergence pressures the PC market from below and forces accessory and cloud-storage vendors to design for a two-app, windowed iPad workflow rather than a single-fullscreen one.
The trend: Apple is incrementally rebuilding the iPad as a laptop replacement through successive iOS multitasking releases, with each version pulling more professional workflows off the Mac.