Sources: iPadOS 16 will have a redesigned multitasking interface, letting users resize app windows and offering new ways to handle multiple apps at once
Wildcards: Mixed reality headset and more Macs Brian Heater / TechCrunch : What to expect from Apple's WWDC 2022 keynote Kif Leswing / CNBC : Apple's big annual conference kicks off next week: Here's what to expect Shivdeep Dhaliwal / Benzinga : Is Apple's iPad About To Morph More Into A Computer Than An Oversized iPhone? Ian Sherr / CNET : With iOS 16, Apple Can Add a New Polish to the iPhone Jaron Schneider / PetaPixel : What to Expect at WWDC 2022: iOS 16, MacBook Air, M2, Mac Pro, VR Craig Hockenberry / The Breakroom : WorldWideWeb, Part II John William Sherrod / Your Apple Update : What to expect at WWDC on Monday Mitchell Clark / The Verge : iOS 16, Notifications, and Macs: what to expect at WWDC 2022 Prakhar Khanna / Digital Trends : iPadOS 16: Everything we know about the iPad's next update Abhishek Mishra / Fossbytes : iPad Is A Computer, iPadOS 16 Will Make It Look Like One TechRadar : iPadOS 16 could make your iPad even more like a laptop Wired : Apple's Software Strategy Is More Important Than Ever Abdullah / Gizchina : Apple makes the iPad more like laptops and announces software updates Chris Smith / BGR : iPadOS 16 to bring laptop-style multitasking to the iPad Charlesarthur / The Overspill : Start Up No.1814: Instagram's Iran failings, US rolls toward antitrust, cars v pedestrians, the impending food crisis, and more Mashable : Apple's iPad may be getting a major multitasking update Sami Fathi / MacRumors : iOS 15 Nears Estimated 90% Adoption Ahead of iOS 16 Reveal Next Week Maggie Tillman / Pocket-lint : Apple might show off new iPadOS 16 multitasking features at WWDC 2022 Mat Gallagher / t3.com : iPadOS 16 could let an iPad replace my MacBook Parker : Everything that has me even more excited for WWDC than I was before PYMNTS.com : Apple to Upgrade iPad to Enhance Multitasking and Be More Like a Laptop Jack Purcher / Patently Apple : Apple TV+ adds John Malkovich and other cast member to their Fashion Drama ‘The New Look’ Nadeem Sarwar / SlashGear : iPadOS 16 Could Give Apple's iPad Its Most Controversial Update Kimberly Gedeon / Laptop Mag : Your iPad may get a huge update — here are the new rumored features Luke Filipowicz / iMore : iPadOS 16 could feature more laptop-like multitasking features, says Gurman Kris Holt / Engadget : Apple is reportedly working on a major multitasking update for iPad John Finn / ScreenRant : Major iPad Multitasking & Interface Upgrades Expected At WWDC 2022 Max Buondonno / Matridox : Apple reportedly wants the iPad to be more like a laptop, and iPadOS 16 will make that happen Adnan Farooqui / SamMobile : The iPad may take inspiration from the best thing about Samsung tablets Ali Salman / Wccftech : Apple is Looking to Narrow the iPad-Mac Gap With iPadOS 16's Enhanced Multitasking Changes Brian Westover / PCMag : Apple WWDC 2022: What to Expect and How to Watch MacDailyNews : In significant change, Apple's iPadOS 16 to offer iPad users windowing, advanced multitasking Evan Selleck / iDownloadBlog.com : iPadOS 16 may bring a major revamp to multitasking, making it more like a Mac David Phelan / Forbes : Apple iPad: New Leak Reveals Significant Design Upgrade Just Days Away Mahmoud Itani / XDA Developers : The iPad is finally set to become a laptop replacement with iPadOS 16 Chandraveer Mathur / iPhone Hacks : iPadOS 16 Could Bring an Enhanced Multitasking Experience to iPad Gary Ng / iPhone in Canada Blog : Apple's iPad to Get Laptop-Like Multitasking Features in Next Software Update: Gurman iClarified : Apple to Update iPad With Redesigned Multitasking Interface, Introduce New Lock Screen for iPhone [Report] David Pierce / The Verge : iPadOS 16 will reportedly include some much-needed multitasking improvements Anam Hamid / PhoneArena : Fresh WWDC rumor says iPadOS 16 will make the iPad more like a laptop Macworld : Rumored iPadOS 16 features could make Apple's tablet more like a Mac Livemint : Apple with iPadOS 16 plans to make the iPad more a laptop than a phone. Read here Wesley Hilliard / AppleInsider : Apple wants to make the iPad more laptop-like with iPadOS 16 Juli Clover / MacRumors : Apple Aiming to Make iPad More Mac-Like With iPadOS 16 Multitasking Changes Chance Miller / 9to5Mac : iPadOS 16 to bring ‘redesigned multitasking interface,’ Bloomberg reports Kevin Carpenter / Kingswell : Apple's iOS 16 at WWDC, Unilever, Nelson Peltz, Top Gun, and (Yes) Paramount Sam Kohl / AppleTrack : iPadOS 16 rumored to finally gain laptop-like functionality Tweets: Mark Gurman / @markgurman : New story: Big iPad changes are coming next week at WWDC with iPadOS 16 — including a revamped multitasking interface, window resizing and the handling of multiple apps at the same time. https://www.bloomberg.com/... James Thomson / @jamesthomson : I've been doing a bunch of work in my Catalyst app to move beyond just a single window, using the existing UIWindowScene APIs. It occurred to me that if iPadOS does add a mode for multiple overlapping window support next week, my existing code might all just work. https://twitter.com/... Federico Viticci / @viticci : For the past 6 months, I've been living a double life. As an experiment, I - the iPad guy - used the MacBook Pro as my main computer. I...loved it. Here is my story on how it went. An iPad User's Journey into macOS with the M1 Max MacBook Pro https://www.macstories.net/... https://twitter.com/... Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : I'm super nervous about this. iPad was made for people for whom even the Mac was overly complex and inaccessible The iPad should become a better iPad. Never a Mac. If you want a Mac, buy a Mac. Demand a better Mac, even a touch Mac But let iPad remain an iPad for everyone else https://twitter.com/... Federico Viticci / @viticci : The biggest lesson I learned? macOS lets you have an opinion on how to use your computer. iPadOS still doesn't. I hope that changes with iPadOS 16. I still think the iPad is Apple's best form factor to date. But ‘pro’ users on iPad deserve more. Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Like it or not, the future of Mac & iPad is more intertwined than ever. There are still many ways those bonds can be strengthened that could lead to a better app platform and user/developer experience Craig Hockenberry / @chockenberry : Apple talks a lot about iPadOS being a content creation platform. They even have gone to great lengths to make it happen with Playgrounds. Still, a simple text editor and server feels like a pivotal point to making that a reality. Tom / @bytereview : Excited for big iPad changes but also keeping my hopes in check. iPadOS is great at showing potential then not quite living up to it 😅 https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : If iPad grows a windowing mode with overlapping, resizable windows and multiple apps on screen... ...should AppKit, or an optimized subset of AppKit, come to iPadOS? Like a reverse-Catalyst, even a Carbon. Give AppKit devs a viable path to iPad they've been missing for 12 years @tailosivetech : @reneritchie iPod was made for people who wanted a simple media consumption device. The iPod should become a better iPod. Never a phone. If you want a phone, buy a phone. If you want a camera, buy a camera. But let iPod remain an iPod for everyone else /s Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : For me, an M* Mac laptop is no substitute. The era of fixed-form laptops is over for me, it's been a decade since my last. I'm not excited about the M-series Mac lineup at all, but that anybody is, 12 years after iPad showed something new, is a colossal failure of vision at Apple Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : Lots of “But Apple put an M1 in the iPad so all that power...” M1 is “just” A14X. Previous iPads had A12X/Z, A10X. Hell, iPad 3 had A5X The marketing created a ton of expectational debt, but it's really how all premium iPads have rolled since the before times... Tyler Stalman / @stalman : @reneritchie I still never remember how to lunch multitasking after all this time Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : The iPad software strategy hasn't been that hard to predict over its lifetime Step 1: Cherry pick the best parts of what Surface is doing Step 2: Wait 5-10 years Step 3: Now it's on iPad! 🤪 (Drafting table iPad when?) Craig Hockenberry / @chockenberry : I made a new FREE app: a web server for developers and designers. Simple, efficient, and it runs on all your devices. Even on an iPad. https://blog.iconfactory.com/ ... Sami Fathi / @samifathi_ : Watch @Apple give us true multitasking, app windows, and Pro apps with iPadOS 16 but no Calculator or Weather app. #WWDC22 Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : I'm curious if this is tweet from a few months back is accurate with @markgurman reporting that iPadOS 16 will let users resize app windows, or just a fake/coincidental leak. [@MajinBuOfficial tweet from March: “Apple is developing a smart system for iPadOS. Apps will continue to open full screen but automatically shrink when connected to keyboard and trackpad. Internally it is called Apple Mixer. We don't know if it will be included in iPadOS 16 or not, It should be M1 iPad exclusive."] Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Composed a long thread about my feelings on iPad, then discarded it — because we're 12 years on and having the same debates; if Apple hasn't figured it out yet, I don't think they ever will. Hard to have any faith in AR being future of computing when Apple fumbled iPad so badly Jeremy Burge / @jeremyburge : This is great stuff, but I do hope it can all be turned off for those that use iPadOS for its simplicity. The fact that split screen controls cannot be disabled in the current iPadOS causes consistent and regular confusion for every elderly family iPad user I know. https://twitter.com/... John Voorhees / @johnvoorhees : Feeling better all the time about the conclusion of this story based on the latest from @markgurman https://twitter.com/... My final pre-WWDC Monterey check-in for @ClubMacStories members. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Christopher Lawley / @chris_lawley : Interesting! It's time for the iPad to evolve and I hope this is it. Pro apps are th other side of the coin that need to be addressed. https://twitter.com/... Ray Wong / @raywongy : SYSTEM PREFS “Redesigned apps for macOS are coming as well, including a revamp to System Preferences, its app for managing a Mac's settings.” https://twitter.com/... Federico Viticci / @viticci : You have my attention. https://twitter.com/... Miles Somerville / @someofmiles : I'm sure the iPadOS 16 changes will be significant. But I think you'll be disappointed yet again if you're expecting this update to turn the iPad into a legitimate laptop replacement. https://twitter.com/... Parker Ortolani / @parkerortolani : also in here are some good Apple Watch tidbits “changes to watch faces, system navigation and several of the device's apps” 👀 https://twitter.com/... Max Weinbach / @maxwinebach : @reneritchie Ok but isn't having the option to do multi window good? Apple doesn't force people to use features like those Tommy Igoe / @tommyigoe : @reneritchie Maybe I'm missing something but Why be nervous about it. Apple has done this before. They're very good at adding additional choices and power that only exist underneath the simple interface that existed before so a user isn't forced. Or maybe I just don't understand the concern. Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : @stroughtonsmith Like reverse Front Row — Docked, it's a Mac, take it off, it's an iPad! Max Weinbach / @maxwinebach : @ByteForByte @reneritchie Every apple product is for everyone, masses and nerds included Matt Birchler / @mattbirchler : @reneritchie I never quite follow this logic. No one complains that macOS is basically the same as Windows despite both having very similar windowing options. Just feels like we've had this “don't make the iPad a Mac” about cursors, files, split view, etc. over and over. Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : @MaxWinebach Curated choice? They spent years making fun of the Surface being a “toaster fridge” so it's be ironic if 15 years later the iPad became a touch Mac, and we all suffered with bad File apps and multi-windowing indecision? Parker Ortolani / @parkerortolani : sounds like Monday is gonna be hella fun. big updates all around. my favorite kind of beta cycle. https://twitter.com/... Brian Tong / @briantong : Sounds good, but I'll wait to see it in action. You'll likely be able to do this on every iPad. The biggest want from iPad Pro Users is to be able to TAP INTO ITS POWER with Pro level Apps connected to the Ecosystem. We're 5 years in and counting. https://twitter.com/... Joseph Akbrud / @byteforbyte : @MaxWinebach @reneritchie Gestures are overloaded and it's easy to inadvertently do something. iPads are for the masses not just us nerds. Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : @reneritchie when it has Hypervisor support and you can install VMWare or the like to run any legacy OS you want 😁 Mark Gurman / @markgurman : WWDC is going to be pretty jam packed. I'm expecting some significant upgrades with iOS 16 and watchOS 9 as well, including lots of app upgrades on the Apple Watch, in addition to a low-power mode. I'm expecting Messages upgrades and a new iPhone lock screen as well. Nils Ahrensmeier / @nilsahrde : Finally! Apple is planning to make iPadOS more “multitasking”, making the iPad more of a computer rather the iPhone, @business reports. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : @stroughtonsmith At what point should it just run macOS in that mode? Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : @reneritchie Buying a Magic Keyboard case and choosing to put an iPad in it is a really important modal signal that the OS doesn't pay enough attention to. An iPad that understands that is a better iPad Michael Kukielka / @detroitborg : Maybe this time they'll get it? https://twitter.com/... Maximiliano Firtman / @firt : I assume that they didn't test PWAs, and we will find 100 bugs for them on the rumored new desktop-like interface for iPadOS. Surprise me, Apple! https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/... Nick Turner / @newsynick : Even after all these years, the iPad feels like it's just an iPhone with an oversized screen. Apple's latest upgrades could change that https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @markgurman Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Apple typically doesn't release the updates to consumers until the fall — around the same time that it ships new devices. However, Apple will release initial beta versions to developers next week. Public beta tests for more users will begin sometime next month. Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : iPad could have, should have, been so much more than the Mac, but for over a decade Apple has strangled it with wavering, lethargic first-party OS & software support, and an App Store that puts Apple's interests ahead of its users https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already expanded iPadOS 15’s multitasking controls, widgets, and App Library; the reported redesign pushes that work from managing app combinations toward a more desktop-like workspace. Apple subsequently introduced the approach as Stage Manager multitasking.
The feature’s importance is also visible in the later iPadOS 16 release delay tied partly to multitasking work, indicating that window behavior had become a core OS delivery issue rather than a minor interface refinement.
First-order effects
- iPad users gain a workflow centered on adjustable app windows and simultaneous app use, replacing a more constrained multitasking model.
- Apple must make window management reliable across iPad configurations; the later developer beta’s support for older A12X and A12Z iPads shows that hardware compatibility became part of the rollout.
Second-order effects
- App developers face a stronger expectation that their interfaces remain usable at varying window sizes and alongside other active apps.
- Feature parity becomes more visibly differentiated across iPad models and display setups, as the older-chip beta did not include external-monitor extension.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues this direction, iPadOS product differentiation will increasingly rest on desktop-style workflow capabilities rather than tablet-specific single-app interaction.
- The iPad’s software roadmap is moving toward iterative convergence with desktop windowing while Apple retains control over which hardware configurations receive the full experience.
The trend: Apple is steadily repositioning iPadOS around flexible multiwindow workspaces, making the iPad more suitable for desktop-like task management.