Paul Morris on May 6, 2018, 12:05 am

iOS 13 Project ‘Yukon’ To Focus Heavily On iPad Exclusive Features, Here Are The Details

According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, Apple has allocated internal resources to a project called “Yukon.” This internal project is iPad related, and will reportedly involve bringing a number of iPad-related upgrades to the company’s tablet range with the release of iOS 13 in 2019.

If the report is to be believed, and if Yukon is actually taking place under the radar at Apple, then it could likely involve iPad-only improvements with the release of iOS 13 including changes and improvements to how Apple Pencil works, a revamped Files app which would be unique to the iPad range, and even in-app tabs which would take some inspiration from how apps currently function running on macOS.

It’s also being suggested that the improvements could allow two instances of same app to run side-by-side in Apple’s Split View mode, which, once again, is currently unique to iPad.

This isn’t exactly a new story as it’s been circulating for a while now but it’s grown somewhat in size with the idea of a brand new and revamped Files app being entirely new. The idea of a dramatically improved iOS 13 experience also ties-in nicely with the fact that we are expecting Apple to unveil a very modest upgrade with iOS 12 at next month’s WWDC at Apple Park.

Speculation is suggesting that some features in iOS 13 – including some of those in project Yukon – were originally supposed to form part of Apple’s iOS 12 release. However, it now seems that iOS 12 will focus on stability and security rather than attempting to dramatically overhaul the iOS experience with a slew of new features and changes.

It hasn’t really been talked about in any great detail, but Apple’s iOS 11 release, which came in 2017, was also heavily iPad-focused, featuring a brand new dock experience, a new App Switcher layout, Drag & Drop support, and new Apple Pencil features for those with an iPad Pro model.

It seems that Apple will look to try and streamline its iOS platform with the release of iOS 12, focusing on a better user-experience and beefing up security, which will give the company an additional twelve months to get iOS 13 just right. We’re definitely looking forward to learning more about Yukon and everything that it will bring to iPad owners.

(Source: @markgurman [Twitter])