iOS 8 may split-screen iPad apps, just like the Microsoft Surface

There's no logical reason why the iPad shouldn't be able to do split-screen multitasking as well as the tablet, and with iOS 8 the feature might actually arrive.

That's what 9to5Mac is saying after speaking with "sources with knowledge of the enhancement in development."

With Apple's next major iOS update, these sources said, the iPad will gain the ability to use two applications simultaneously, each taking up one half of the tablet's screen.

The iPad may be the leader in the tablet space, but this is one thing it could definitely learn from Microsoft's Surface.

The student becomes the teacher

Microsoft has always positioned the Surface as more of a productivity or work-oriented tablet than Apple has done with the iPad.

Microsoft even highlighted Surface's multi-tasking superiority over the iPad in its advertisements.

But the dancing executives from Microsoft's other Surface ads aren't the only ones who could take advantage of the feature.

Apple could even do Microsoft one better by allowing side-by-side apps to interact with one another.

The company is reportedly working on the tools that would enable developers to let their apps share information with other apps, for example users could drag images or text in between the two apps.

From mini to massive

As they have with past iOS updates that added new capabilities, app developers may need to revisit existing apps to enable split-screen functionality and possibly even sharing between apps.

The multitasking feature is said to only work in landscape mode and possibly only on larger iPads, not the iPad mini.

However it could also be a hint that Apple really is working on the bigger iPad that's been rumored for so long.

Whatever the reality, here's hoping we find out more soon.

• It's here! Read our up-to-date iOS 8 review