This autumn, Apple will release iPadOS after iOS and, not as version 16.0, but as version 16.1 in a free software update.
In a comment to TechCrunch, the company notes, “This is an especially big year for iPadOS. As its own platform with features specifically designed for iPad, we have the flexibility to deliver iPadOS on its own schedule. This Fall, iPadOS will ship after iOS, as version 16.1 in a free software update.”
In other words, Apple will be skipping the iPadOS 16.0 release in the fall and going straight to 16.1. This means the first version of iPadOS 16 will ship to non-beta users after the arrival of the first iOS version.
The two operating systems are built on the same foundation, but it seems likely the company will do more to distinguish the two, going forward, as it continues to position the iPad as a tool for serious work.
As Apple notes in its comment, at very least, this means that – much like, say, macOS – the iPadOS release is not directly tied to the iOS release schedule. The company can update the tablet’s operating system as it sees fit.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in August:
The only thing shocking about this is that, since they bifurcated iOS with iPadOS, they haven’t they been doing it this way all along. New iOS with new iPhones. New iPadOS with new iPads. Logical and simple.
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