Apple plans to make the iPad more like a laptop.
Apple Inc. will announce significant changes to the iPad software next week at its annual World Developers Conference, according to people with knowledge of the issue, part of a push to make the device more like a laptop and less like a telephone.
The next major iPad software update, iPadOS 16, will have a redesigned multi-tasking interface that makes it easier to see which apps are open and switch between tasks, said people who asked not to were identified because the changes are not yet public.
The change will also allow users to resize application windows and offer new ways for users to handle multiple applications at once.
As it turns out, the iPad accounts for nearly 9 percent of Apple’s annual sales, and that percentage has grown in recent years.
But professional users of the device have been looking for an interface that feels more like a laptop experience. The iPad device, which now includes the same M1 chip as some of Apple laptops, has become increasingly powerful and in some ways the software has not kept up.