The moment Apple announced iPadOS 26 at WWDC, I rushed to install the developer beta on my M4 iPad Pro. And for the first time in years, it felt like Apple was finally putting iPad users first. We got features we’ve been asking for since iPadOS split from iOS: a fresh new look, Mac-like windowing, a smarter Files app, and more.
But what surprised me wasn’t the iPad Pro experience. It was just how many iPads supported all of these features, including the iPad mini. After installing iPadOS 26 on the mini, I was blown away by how well it worked. And that got me thinking: if the iPad mini can handle this, what does that mean for the future of the iPhone?
Be sure to watch our most recent video, where I go in-depth on this topic. If we can have eight windows open on an iPad mini screen, why can’t we have two apps open on a Pro Max iPhone?
Windowed multitasking on iPad mini display
One of the last things that Apple mentioned about iPadOS 26 was the list of supported devices. I saw that the iPad mini was also on that list, but I surely thought it would be a watered-down version of iPadOS 26. For example, with iPadOS 18, the iPad mini was not able to use Stage Manager like the M-powered iPads. So I just assumed it wasn’t getting that windowing mode. But to my surprise, my $400 iPad mini got pretty much all the same new features that my $2000 iPad Pro got.
For years, Apple has resisted bringing true multitasking to the iPhone. The only form of “multitasking’ we’ve gotten is a picture-in-picture mode where we can have a video window floating on the screen. The argument has always been screen size and Apple saying that no one would want to multitask on that size screen. That argument was good 5 to 10 years ago, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max now has a 6.9-inch display, and the iPad mini is 8.3in. So they are not that different in size. To my surprise the iPad mini handles iPadOS 26 multitasking beautifully. The new windowing system allows apps to resize fluidly, with clever touch targets and flick gestures that make it usable even on a smaller canvas.
After using the new windowing system for a while, I began to think to myself, if it works on the iPad mini, it can work on the iPhone. Even a simple two-pane view (top/bottom or left/right) would dramatically change how people use the iPhone. Right now, if you need to get data from one app and move it to the other, it is tedious and has friction. If we could just get 2 apps running at once on iOS, it would be exponentially easier to multitask, even if its just for a few instances.
The A18 Pro is capable of a macOS-lite experience
Last year, Apple put the A17 Pro in the new iPad mini. The main reason is that they wanted it to have Apple Intelligence, and the A17 Pro is the oldest mobile chip to support it. That chip was the same chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. And yet, iPadOS 26 supports a windowing system, external display mirroring, advanced multitasking, and desktop-like file management.
With all this, I would say it’s safe to assume that the newer A18 Pro chip that is in the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max should be able to handle the same experience that the older A17 Pro chip gives the iPad mini. I have also been recently playing with the Samsung Fold 7, which has shown me two things: that multitasking on a mobile device will benefit most people, and having a desktop-class OS built into your phone is a game-changer. I played with Samsung Dex over the last month, and I love the concept both in theory and in practice. Being able to just connect your phone to an external monitor and have a desktop experience is something that all phones (above a specific price point) should be able to do. So bringing the new windowing system to your iPhone when plugged into an external display is a feature Apple should seriously consider.
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