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).