IPadOS 16

iPadOS 16 is the current major release of the iPadOS mobile operating system, developed by Apple Inc. It was announced on June 6 at the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference, and was released at 10 a.m. (Cupertino time) on October 24, 2022 to succeed iPadOS 15. Due to the complexity of implementing significant new multitasking features such as Stage Manager, its release date was pushed back from September, a month after the release of iOS 16 and debuted as iPadOS 16.1.

New features
Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi and staff introduced the following new features at WWDC 2022:
 * Collaboration — new APIs to allow shared workspaces in new apps, such as Freeform.
 * Reference Color — added to support color accuracy on XDR devices.
 * Stage Manager — manages active apps in a similar manner as macOS Ventura (requires Apple A12X chip or later).
 * Display Zoom — allows adjustment of screen pixel density so that apps display more information (requires Apple A12X chip or later).
 * Virtual Memory Swap — updated memory management raises the previous 5 GB limit on apps to 16 GB, if running on a Apple M1 chip or later.
 * Messages — new ability to edit and undo messages that were already sent.
 * SharePlay — new support for Messages (after being solely on FaceTime).
 * Dictation — updated to function simultaneously with the keyboard.
 * Parental Controls — improved integration with other devices running iPadOS and iOS 16 or later
 * Privacy — adding Safety Check feature to help protect users who may be in an abusive relationship.
 * HomeKit — updated to support the Matter open standard.

Supported devices
iPadOS 16 support will be limited to the following iPads with an Apple A9 or later chip. As Apple was confirmed to be limiting iOS 16 support to iPhones with an Apple A11 chip or later, this appears to indicate that some machine learning features may require the presence of a Neural Engine. Stage Manager and Display Zoom require an Apple A12X or later chip.
 * iPad (5th generation) and later
 * iPad Air (3rd generation) and later
 * iPad mini (5th generation) and later
 * iPad Pro (all models)

Gallery
iPadOS 16 includes the same default backgrounds for Light and Dark Mode as iOS 16.