Stage Manager was limited to a few iPad models, but the new windowing system in iPadOS 26 works on all iPads.
Apple’s New Windowing System in iPadOS 26 Works on All iPads, Even the Oldest One
I spent a good chunk of my afternoon trying to find whether or not the new windowing system in iPadOS 26 is limited to a few iPad models. After all, Stage Manager, a similar feature, was limited to iPad Pro before it expanded to iPad Air.
Turns out, the new windowing system works on all iPads that can run iPadOS 26. I’m not making this up at all. There’s no fine print on Apple’s website that says the feature is limited to certain iPad models.
The interesting thing is, you can have more apps open on the screen at the same time with the new system compared to just Stage Manager in iPadOS 18. This should make the feature more CPU intensive, but apparently, it isn’t.
However, here comes something interesting: Stage Manager still exists, and you can still create stacks of your favorite apps and connect your iPad to an external display. But with the new windowing system, Stage Manager gets even better, obviously.
The bottom line is, you can have multiple apps on the screen, resize them however you like, place them wherever you want, without thinking about compatibility.
I’m super glad this is the route Apple took in order to take iPad forward. Making the new system limited to just a few iPads would have been a huge miss.
One thing that’s worth mentioning here is how Stage Manager is now available on all iPad models with iPadOS 26. What this means is, if you want to create a stack of apps for a particular workflow, you can do that on your favorite iPad models, not just the Air or Pro.
But I’m interested in seeing how people will actually use this new feature. Will they have multiple apps open, or have more than two of them around at the same time? Guess the only way to find out is by giving people iPadOS 26 first, which is set for release later this year.
