Reports preceding WWDC 2025 say Apple will make big software design changes this summer. iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 will look very similar. VisionOS design elements might make it into all these operating systems.
We saw concepts of purported iOS 19 apps that show what the iPhone’s operating system will look like. If these are accurate, we’re going to get menus with curved corners, circular buttons, and lots of translucency in the UI.
iPadOS 19 will mimic those UI changes, of course. But the iPad will also get to behave more like a Mac, the same leaks said. As I explained before, Apple has no choice but to make the iPad and Mac work similarly, if not outright merging. You can’t release a foldable iPad/Mac before that software convergence happens.
A new leak gives us some of the first purported iPadOS 19 changes coming this year to make the iPad work more like the Mac. The iPad will get a menu bar at the top like the Mac, and multitasking is getting a Stage Manager 2.0 update.
Leaker Majin Bu posted the iPadOS 19 details on his blog. He says he learned from a source that the UI will change significantly when an iPad is used with a Magic Keyboard. A menu bar will appear at the top, similar to the Mac’s top menu.
Bu says the iPad will work a lot like a Mac thanks to that menu bar, but I just don’t see it. I’m a longtime Mac user who can’t use the iPad for work purposes, considering what iPadOS 18 can offer. Adding a menu bar at the top of the screen would do little for me.
I do use the apps in the Mac’s menu bar, at least visually. A look at them tells me everything I need to know about an app without having to actually go into it. That could be a useful feature on the Mac, turning a menu bar into a Dynamic Island-like area where iPad apps can display information. But that’s me speculating here.
I wouldn’t want settings menus at the top of the iPad screen, that’s not the UI upgrade I’m interested in.
Bu also mentions Stage Manager 2.0, “an enhanced multitasking mode that activates automatically when the keyboard is attached.” The leaker says the new multitasking system will improve managing apps and windows.
I never liked Stage Manager on the iPad or Mac. I don’t want that UI and the limitations that come with it. I certainly wouldn’t want Stage Manager to activate automatically at any point when using an iPad.
I want Mac-like multitasking on the iPad without Stage Manager dictating the terms. I want the ability to have as many apps open as I need, stacked on top of each other in my organized chaos, rather than what Stage Manager can offer. Also, I’d want some of these apps to run in the background while I’m dealing with the app in the main window, similar to how the Mac works.
Bu’s leak, if accurate, only scratches the surface. We’ll need to wait for Apple to demo the vision behind iPadOS 19 at WWDC to understand how these new Mac-like features will work.
Interestingly, Bu claims that Apple will let you extend the iPhone display to an external screen via USB-C after the iOS 19 update. It’s not going to be a desktop mode like Samsung and others have tried to do with Android phones in the past. However, users will be able to take advantage of the larger display for certain tasks.
As a longtime iPhone user, I don’t necessarily see any value in using external displays with the handset. I’m more interested in iPadOS 19’s ability to turn the iPad into a real Mac replacement than anything else. Thankfully, we only have a few weeks left until WWDC 2025, when Apple will explain all its software novelties, iPadOS included.
