Rumor: iOS 19 and iPadOS 19 will bring all-new multitasking to the iPhone and iPad

Leaker Majin Bu has published a blog post with a few new details about iPadOS 19 and iOS 19, and how they’ll work to improve multitasking and productivity.

The first rumor concerns iPadOS 19, which we have already heard will feature improved multitasking and more “macOS-like” capabilities, while not actually running or copying macOS. Bu says this will take the form of what he calls “Stage Manager 2.0” (we can see Apple calling it Stage Manager 2, but probably not 2.0). This will reportedly activate automatically when a keyboard is attached, though we presume you’ll be able to trigger it without a keyboard by using the Control Center, as you can today.

When docked with a Magic Keyboard (and maybe any keyboard?), iPadOS 19 will also show a menu bar at the top of the display, just as Macs do. This raises all sorts of questions—will there be menu bar utilities for iPadOS 19, for instance?

Moving over to the iPhone, Bu says iOS 19 will bring a big enhancement to how it operates with an external display. As it stands, you can use the USB-C port to connect an external display, but it simply mirrors your iPhone display (this feature dates back to much older iPhones when using Lightning-to-HDMI or digital display adapters). With iOS 19, the external display will reportedly show an expanded view, something Bu calls a “Stage Manager-like interface.”

It’s not clear how you will control this view, as your iPhone (the sole means of input) would presumably show the same single-app view it always has. Perhaps when using an external display, your entire iPhone’s screen will become a keyboard/touchpad like the Apple TV Remote app, while the display shows a multi-app interface? The rumor makes it sound like less than the full desktop mode of Samsung’s DeX mode, but still a huge step up from the simple iPhone mirroring we have today.

All of these changes are in service of providing a more consistent experience across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, one of the key goals of the big redesign coming to Apple’s operating systems this fall. Apple will unveil the new operating systems at the WWDC keynote on Monday, June 9.