Other than macOS to iOS, It's not traditional that Apple has split its iPadOS from iOS releases like this, and that isn't just because we'd all like everything at once. It's because running the latest iOS while not on the latest macOS or iPadOS, can cause problems.
During the later stages of the beta process, for instance, if you decided to share a Tab Group from your iPhone, you could lock yourself out from that same group on your Mac.
With the last point update, Apple's software engineers have been sorting out issues and keeping everything working together. And it's also directly why it's become confusing for casual Apple users to follow when the new releases are coming out.
Apple has actually been releasing many macOS updates, it's just that none of them are the new OS. All of them are to keep things working and secure.
So most Mac users who don't follow Apple closely may not notice that there's been yet another update that isn't macOS Ventura. But then one day they'll just accept the next update and find that it is Ventura, that it's the major update Apple has promised — and that perhaps they're not ready for.
Case in point: we get a lot of emails and article requests daily. It's how we tailor which spec compares we run, when a new line of Apple products have been released.
In the last week since release, the two main questions to us have been "where is the new macOS" and "What happened to iPadOS 16?"
If you pay only a little more attention to Apple news, then there's confusion coming for you, too. Not only is iPadOS 16 not out for the iPad yet, version 16.0 is never coming.
