Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is usually pretty reliable with such things, has a new report claiming that iPadOS 16 will be delayed by about a month. Citing the common “people in the know,” Gurman says that instead of releasing the new iPhone and iPad operating system updates at the same time, Apple will release iOS 16 in September as expected, but iPadOS 16 will release in October. .
It’s not unusual for macOS to follow a few weeks after iOS, but the iPad software has always been updated on the same schedule as its iPhone sibling. Since iPadOS split from iOS in 2019, the two operating systems have arrived on the same day. Gurman says all of Apple’s software updates this year are slightly behind schedule (the public betas launched a little later than usual, for example), but not drastically.
According to Gurman, there are several reasons for the delayed release:
- It would better align with rumors of new iPad hardware (M2 iPad Pros and a new entry-level iPad with USB-C).
- It gives Apple more time to troubleshoot Stage Manager, the new iPad and Mac multitasking interface.
- It will free up resources to run on iOS 16, so it will be in better shape upon its September release.
It could also mean that Apple’s second fall event will focus on Macs and iPads. In recent years, Apple’s iPad releases have been somewhat unpredictable, and this year the M2 iPad Pro could appear alongside the M2 Macs. As for macOS Ventura, it’s also expected to release in October, although that’s been typical in recent years.
As usual, Apple declined to comment on its report.
