Senior Apple executives have explained that Stage Manager is a resource-intensive element of iPadOS 16. It remains unavailable on lower-end iPads for this reason. However, a recent report says iPadOS 16 contains code that allows Apple to activate Stage Manager on older, seemingly unsupported iPads discreetly.

Digging into the iPadOS 16 beta code, 9to5Mac reports that Apple has concealed a setting that enabled Stage Manager (codenamed “Chamois”) on “Legacy Devices” or older iPads. Apple maintains that the unique multitasking feature should be “instantaneously responsive,” which is why it is limited to the M1 iPad Air and M1 iPad Pro.

However, Apple’s head of software development, Craig Federighi, said that the company had undertaken internal testing to check if Stage Manager could sport a longer compatibility list. In the interaction with Forbes, he explained that the feature proved to be a big ask from the older iPads, and they failed to deliver an experience that lived up to Apple’s tall standards.

The internal toggle for enabling Stage Manager on older iPads is not surprising. It also doesn’t assure that the feature would work without hiccups on the “Legacy devices.” Moreover, it questions the truthfulness of Apple’s clarifications about why the feature is limited to M1 iPads.

Several users have questioned why the iPhone maker prevents Stage Manager usage on older tablets by limiting external display resolution and the number of apps that can be used simultaneously. Adding to the confusion, some users even mentioned that Stage Manager is supported on Intel Macs from 2017 running macOS Ventura. We hope more iPads support Stage Manager when iPadOS 16 rolls out later this year.

If you missed the grand reveal at WWDC 2022, Stage Manager is a multitasking utility that allows you to resize multiple apps on your iPad. It makes simultaneous app use easier, boosting your overall productivity on the iPad. Additionally, you can take things to the next level by hooking up an external display to your iPad. It would allow you to use more apps simultaneously — up to four on each screen.