This week, Apple released updates for iPhone, iPad, and its other hardware platforms. But it also quietly delayed a key iPad and Mac feature that it promised in June to deliver this year.
That feature, called Universal Control, would allow users to control a Mac and/or an iPad at the same time using a single keyboard and mouse/touchpad. “A single keyboard and mouse or trackpad now work seamlessly between your Mac and iPad — they’ll even connect to more than one of the same device,” Apple explains of the non-delayed feature. “Move your cursor from your Mac right to your iPad, type on your Mac, and it shows up on your iPad.”
That sounds useful, though like many of Apple’s core platform features, it’s also designed to keep users in its own ecosystems by tightening the links between its devices. But now it won’t happen until sometime in 2022: Apple’s site now notes that it will be “available this spring.”
Apple has routinely announced new platform features each June at its WWDC show only to delay them to future updates. Sometimes those delays are just a few months, as was the case with App Privacy Report, Apple Music Voice Plan, and other features it announced this year. Sometimes, the delay is substantial, with promised features not arriving for several months. But Universal Control could be delivered as late as one year after the original announcement, which is unusual.
