Earlier this week, Apple introduced the iPad mini 7. With 8GB of RAM, the A17 Pro chip, and Apple Intelligence support, this is indeed the iPad mini Pro users have been clamoring for. However, even after boosting the specs of the iPad mini, Apple’s smallest tablet lacks a major iPadOS feature: Stage Manager.
Stage Manager was first introduced with iPadOS 16, and it requires top specs like 8GB of RAM and Apple’s latest M-series chips. Over the years, Apple made concessions to expand this feature to other iPad models. For example, the base model iPad Air 5 lacks memory swap, a requirement for Stage Manager, but it still supports this feature.
Apple then expanded Stage Manager to iPad models with 6GB of RAM and older iPad Pro models with the A12X and A12Z chips. Still, the iPad mini 6 didn’t even meet the scaled-back requirements, with the previous-generation tablet featuring an A15 Bionic chip and 4GB of RAM.
iPadOS 16 Stage Manager multitasking user interface. Image source: Apple Inc.
With the iPad mini 7, Apple gave its tiny tablet a huge specs boost, so there’s no official explanation for why this device still doesn’t have Stage Manager. The likeliest answer could be its smaller 8.3-inch display, which might not offer the ideal multitasking experience.
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I would argue that if Split Screen has always worked with iPad mini, Stage Manager shouldn’t be a problem. Even so, 9to5Mac‘s Filipe Espósito says a workaround could be Apple offering Stage Manager when the tablet is connected to an external display. This way, users would have a portable device that could become a powerful computer when connected to a display.
With the iPad mini 7 release coming next week, it may now depend on customers asking Apple to add this feature so that we might see it in a future software update, hopefully before iPadOS 19.