Alongside iOS 16, Apple also announced iPadOS 16 during its WWDC 2022 event. This time, it is getting most of the features that its iPhone counterpart is getting, instead of being one generation late the way iPadOS 15 was. But beyond that, it is also getting a lot of features that it can call its own, rather than just improvements across the ecosystem.
Starting with the one that seemingly only the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with the M1 chip gets, is a feature that Apple calls Reference Mode. This is one for creative professionals doing work like review and approve, colour grading, and compositing, where colour accuracy and consistent image quality are especially important. This ensures that, whether you use the iPad Pro as a standalone device, or a secondary display for a another machine, you get a consistent reference workflow.
Next is one iPadOS 16 feature that all iPads running the M1 chip can benefit from, which includes the new iPad Air 5. This is called Display Zoom. This allows users to increase the pixel density of the display, or to zoom out on a specific app, so that you can see more of it on screen. This is definitely something you’d appreciate if you use Split View a lot. It’s also something we saw Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman mention before.
Still on the list of iPadOS 16 features for M1-equipped iPads is Virtual Memory Swap. This allows up to 16GB of the tablet’s storage space to act as memory of sort. You’ve probably heard of something similar that Android phonemakers have been marketing not too long ago.
And finally, iPadOS 16 is set to give iPads access to desktop-class apps. While the name involves the name apps, many of these improvements are system-wide. For example, with the new OS, iPads will get access to things like undo / redo commands. The file manager app simply called Files will even allow users to change file extensions and view folder sizes, among other things. This brings the iPads one step closer to being laptop replacements.
As with iOS 16, iPadOS 16 has no general release date just yet. But a developer beta is out now, with a public beta becoming available in July.
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