(Pocket-lint) – Apple previewed iPadOS 16 during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) at the beginning of June, detailing a number of the features that will come to compatible iPads later this year.
A feature called Stage Manager was announced with iPadOS 16, alongside a Weather app (finally), updates to Photos, Messages and Mail and a new Freeform productivity app.
You can read all about the new features in our iPadOS 16 round up, but the bigger question might be whether your iPad is compatible with the new features. Read on to find out.
Which iPads support iPadOS 16?
Apple’s next iPad software will support most of the latest iPads, though not all.
The full list of compatible iPads are as follows:
- iPad Pro (all models)
- iPad Air (3rd generation)
- iPad Air (4th generation)
- iPad Air (5th generation)
- iPad (5th generation)
- iPad (6th generation)
- iPad (7th generation)
- iPad (8th generation)
- iPad (9th generation)
- iPad mini (5th generation)
- iPad mini (6th generation)
Don’t know what iPad you have?
If you aren’t sure what iPad you have, you can find out in a couple of ways. Either look for the model number on the back of your iPad at the bottom and then correlate it with Apple’s website to work out which iPad it is.
Alternatively, open Settings > tap About. Look for the model number in the top section. If the number you see has a slash, tap on it to reveal the model number, which has a letter followed by four numbers and no slash. You’ll then need to go the Apple website again to match your model number up with the iPad name.
Will your iPad get all the new features?
Sadly the answer to this question is dependant on what model iPad you have. For example, Stage Manager requires the iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) or iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation).
Reference Mode on the display is only available on iPad Pro 12.9-inch with Liquid Retina XDR display, while Display Scaling Mode needs the iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) and iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation). There are a couple of other features that need an iPad with a A12 Bionic or A13 Bionic chip so it’s something to be aware of if you have an older model.
Writing by Britta O’Boyle.
