It’s Monday, 24 October 2022, and iPadOS 16 goes live today.
iOS 16 has been live for six weeks already, but this year iPad users had to wait a little longer for the equivalent software update. Apple needed a bit more time to finesse the iPad-only features, so instead tied in iPadOS 16’s release with the launch of the 10th-generation iPad and M2-powered iPad Pro, which ship later this week.
But iPadOS 16 is finally here, meaning after months of beta testing it’s now available for anyone to install.
How and when is it available?
Apple’s not given an official release time, but its software launches are usually around 10 am PST (that’s 6 pm for our British readers). If you’re reading this after the fact, you might even be running iPadOS 16 already if you have Automatic Updates enabled.
To check, open the Settings app and choose General > Software Update. If iPadOS 16 is available, follow the instructions to update your iPad.
Note that you’ll need an iPad released in 2017 or later to get iPadOS 16, or the first-gen iPad Pro from 2015. Older devices are no longer supported.
What’s new in iPadOS 16?
Quite a lot! Recent iPads get an awesome new multitasking feature called Stage Manager, while M1 and M2 iPads get full external display support.
Beyond that, every compatible iPad will see many of the same changes that already came to iOS 16, including more powerful Focus modes, continuity features for FaceTime, iCloud Shared Photo Library, collaboration upgrades in Safari, the chance to un-send messages, and even a crazy trick that lets you remove a photo’s background with a single press.
There’s a lot more, too, with many of the built-in apps getting a refresh and some interesting new stuff hidden in Settings. For a full list of changes, check out our New in iPadOS 16 post to read everything we’ve written about the new features over the past weeks of testing.