Apple released iOS 16, iPadOS 16 systems, and has released the first developer preview Beta. Apple iPadOS 16 brings major changes to how the iPad works, especially for the M1 iPad, which now features true windowed multitasking and support for external displays. In addition to these features, iPadOS 16, for the first time, allows device manufacturers to create drivers for the iPad using the new “DriverKit” API.
DriverKit is a framework originally created for the Mac that allows device manufacturers to develop drivers to make their products fully compatible with macOS. This API was introduced in macOS Catalina to replace kernel extensions since DriverKit is an application extension that runs in user space without requiring access to all system permissions to ensure system security and integrity.
This year, Apple is bringing DriverKit to the iPad with iPadOS 16 so that device and accessory makers can also create specific drivers to make their products compatible with the iPad.
Currently, the DriverKit API in iPadOS 16 supports USB, PCI, and audio devices. Since this API is also available on the Mac, developers who have created macOS drivers for Apple Silicon can easily port them to the iPad. Drivers can be distributed through the App Store as regular apps, but their functionality extends to other apps.
For example, installing DriverKit on iPadOS will allow users to connect a Thunderbolt audio interface on the iPad for the first time. This also applies to less complex devices such as USB microphones.
When a user installs a new driver in iPadOS, it must be manually enabled in the Settings app. Users can turn the drivers on or off at any time, and Apple says each driver only works when an external device is connected to the iPad.
DriverKit Availability
Sadly, according to Apple, DriverKit requires an iPad with an M1 chip. This means that even on iPadOS 16, these drivers won’t work on older iPad models, or even the current-generation iPad mini powered by the A15 chip.
While the reason is unclear, it may not be directly related to the chip, but because only the M1 iPad Pro supports Thunderbolt connectivity, while the iPad Air 5 has a faster USB 3.1 Gen 2 port despite not having Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, other USB-C iPad models are based on the 3.1 Gen 1 standard, while the base model iPad with the Lightning connector still relies on the older USB 2.0 standard.
This is great news for iPad users, though, as they now have access to a range of new accessories that were previously not compatible with iPadOS at all.