iPad Air 5 (2022) 64GB model will miss out on virtual memory swap feature from iPadOS 16

At WWDC 2022, Apple announced that it would be bringing its new Stage Manager and virtual memory swap feature to iPadOS 16. The two new features will be available on all three M1 iPads, including the iPad Air (2022) and both 2021 iPad Pro models.

However, it turns out that the base model of the iPad Air 5 will lack both features. Apple’s virtual memory swap feature works similarly to virtual RAM on smartphones, it reallocates unused storage as virtual RAM when the actual RAM is fully utilised.

Memory swapping is a common feature on PCs and Macs, however, it hasn’t been available on the iPad, i.e., until iPadOS 16. Apple says that iPadOS 16 allows the most demanding apps to use up to 16GB of an iPad’s storage as partial RAM. But due to the memory-sensitive nature of this feature, Apple has decided to limit it to devices that have at least 128GB of storage in-built.

Now, this isn’t a problem on the two M1-powered iPad Pros that have 128GB of storage in their base configuration. However, the iPad Air 5 (2022) only offers 64GB of storage in its base configuration, which is why it will not support virtual memory swap. But the feature will work on the 256GB version of the iPad Air 5 (2022).

Additionally, Apple’s new Stage Manager feature is a highly demanding one and doesn’t only require the high-performance of the M1 chip but also relies on 8GB of RAM using the virtual memory swap feature to run a bunch of apps simultaneously. So including Stage Manager in the base iPad Air (2022) model without the virtual memory swap feature could cause performance hiccups, slowdowns, and perhaps whether this feature will work at all.

So if you want to leverage Apple’s new Stage Manager and virtual memory swap features, you’ll need to upgrade to the latest M1-powered iPads. And in the case of the new iPad Air, only the 256GB model. Hopefully, Apple could release this feature in a more limited capacity to older iPad users, but limiting a multitasking feature could limit its potential.