iOS Best iPad for testing

[Will0827]

With the news about iOS9 being geared towards stability and better performace on older devices what would you guys say would be the best iPad to get for testing. I was debating between a 1st gen mini or 2nd gen mini. Being as the 1st gen mini is similar to the iPad 2 internally, i figured if my application runs well on it it should cover a big majority of users from that device forward. The only draw back being that it isn't a retina device and i wouldn't have a accurate visual representation of the app on newer devices. im aiming for performance and stability and not wanting to rule out users of older devices but the clock maybe ticking for the iPad 2 & 1st gen mini. What say you fine people.

 

[chown33]

I'd say wait until after WWDC to find out what devices it will run on. Then get one of those.

In general, you should test on the devices you expect to run on. Sorry if I'm stating the obvious; I haven't figured out the new MR forum software entirely yet, so I can't look up your posting history in order to evaluate your developer experience level.

If you have to limit the number of devices, be sure to test on the oldest & puniest device you expect to run on. It will usually be easier to find friends, acquaintances, other developers, beta testers, etc. with mid-range and relatively recent devices. It's the older tail (trailing edge of technology) and the very newest (cutting edge) that may be harder to find others to help with.

 

[Will0827]

Thanks for the input, just noticed in the similar threads box another user made this exact same thread more or less and it didnt occur to me to search. Ive being doing on and off again programming still have much to learn and just now getting a grasp on the ethics of programming, just finally understanding understanding how to properly use MVC. I will probably look into a ipad mini 1st gen and a ipad air 3. With the 3 having a retina screen the performance may somewhat take a hit. Should i be concerned at all that those devices arent 64bit, i don't fully understand the ramifications of 64bit vs 32bit other then something with memory access and being able to calculate more (which maybe totally wrong). I ask because i remember it being a big deal in the move to iOS7 and when the iphone 5s was released.

 

[bjet767]

Do what Apple says, test on as many devices as you can get your hands on. If you develop for Universal iOS you will be required to have screens shots for all the various iOS devices it can run on. I found it essential to test on all the simulators, especially for screen layouts.