iPadOS 16 brings a handful of new features, especially for M1 iPad users. After ten betas, the company has tweaked what’s exclusive to these iPad owners and what more people can take advantage of. Here are the M1 iPad Air and M1 iPad Pro exclusive iPadOS 16 features.

External display support for M1 iPad users running iPadOS 16

Later this year, M1 iPad owners running iPadOS 16 will be able to have proper external display support.

As Apple explains, full external display support comes to iPad Pro with the M1 chip with resolutions up to 6K, which means you can work with different apps on your iPad and external display. Running iPadOS 16, you can also:

  • Access apps on external display: Access your favorite apps and the ones that you used recently from the Dock, or use App Library to find the app you want faster;
  • Drag and drop between iPad and external display: M1 iPad users running iPadOS 16 can drag and drop files and windows from their iPad Pro to the external display, and vice-versa.

12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro gets its own exclusive feature on iPadOS 16

Even if you have an M1 iPad, it doesn’t mean you’ll have all the features available on iPadOS 16, as Apple saved one feature to the bigger iPad with new display modes:

  • Reference Mode: Enables the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Liquid Retina XDR display to deliver reference color for popular color standards and video formats;
  • Reference Mode with Sidecar: Use iPad Pro as a secondary reference display for your Mac.

2020 iPad Pro can also have its spotlight time

Only for 2020 iPad Pro users or newer, there’s an exclusive accessibility feature with Magnifier on iPadOS 16:

  • Detection Mode in Magnifier: Get rich descriptions of your surroundings with a new Magnifier mode that contains Door Detection, People Detection, and Image Descriptions;
  • Door Detection in Magnifier: Locate a door, read signs or labels around it, and get instructions on how to open the door.

Last but not least, if you have an iPad Air 5 with 256GB of storage or an M1 iPad Pro you can take advantage of this feature on iPadOS 16:

  • Virtual memory swap: iPad storage can be used to expand the available memory for all apps and delivers up to 16 gigabytes of memory for the most demanding apps.

Stage Manager now available to 2018 iPad Pro models and newer

Stage Manager was first revealed as an exclusive feature to the M1 iPad Air and M1 iPad Pro. Then, by the end of September, Apple announced this function is coming to the 2018 iPad Pro and newer models.

Here’s what you can do with Stage Manager:

  • Resizable windows: Resize your windows to make them the perfect size for your task;
  • Center app: Focus on the app you’re working with without going full screen;
  • Fast access to windows and apps: The windows of the apps you’re working in are displayed prominently in the center, and other apps are arranged on the left side in order of recent use;
  • Overlapping windows: Create overlapping windows of different sizes in a single view, giving you the control to arrange your ideal workspace;
  • Group apps together: Drag and drop windows from the side or open apps from the Dock to create app sets that you can always get back to.

Wrap up

These are the features coming to M1 iPad users on iPadOS 16. The upcoming operating system for iPads will be available in the Fall, but you can take advantage of the public beta now.

Are you excited about these new features? Do you think they’re enough to make you buy an M1 iPad? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Read more:

  • Some iOS 16 features require an iPhone XS or newer; here they are
  • These macOS Ventura features are exclusive to Apple Silicon-powered Macs