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Does Apple slows down iPads just like they do with older iPhones??

S

ShaunAFC3

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 28, 2016
171
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I have an iPad Air 2 and had it for over 2 years now and believe it or not it is still on iOS 9.3.4 and am not looking to upgrade to iOS 11 because I want to have the best performance and awesome smoothness on my iPad and the fear of Apple might be slowing down the iPads as well. :)

But I am wondering does Apple slows down iPads just like they do with older iPhones?? o_Oo_O


I am really really curious about if Apple actually does this to iPads as well because of the news about Apple slowing older iPhones to protect the battery.

Can anyone test this on there iPads please to see if Apple actually slows down iPads as well?? o_Oo_O

I really really hope Apple does not slow down iPads as well!!!!
 
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Your title feels very misleading, so I feel like I need to correct it: Apple doesn't slow down older iPhones. iOS slows down iPhones with batteries below a certain capacity to prevent random shutdowns starting from iOS 10.2.1.
And no, iPad are not affected by this slowdown.

iPads are, however, (like all iOS devices) affected by slowdowns that naturally come with each major iOS update. Just like you don't expect your 15 year old computer with a Pentium 4 in it to run Windows 10 like a new computer would, you can't expect iOS 9 to run on the iPad 2 as good as iOS 4 did, or iOS 11 on the iPad Air 2 to run as good as iOS 8 did. These slowdowns are not intentional, but they will happen.
 
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Apple slowing iPhones because they have tiny batteries which cannot cope with cpu power demand after small wear. iPads have bigger batteries - no need to slow them down yet (until they'll make iPad even thinner).
 
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ISanych said:
Apple slowing iPhones because they have tiny batteries which cannot cope with cpu power demand after small wear. iPads have bigger batteries - no need to slow them down yet (until they'll make iPad even thinner).
Click to expand...

Bigger batteries that drive much bigger displays.
 
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JPack said:
Bigger batteries that drive much bigger displays.
Click to expand...
Right, it's the display that represents the lion share of power consumption. That likely means even with the additional cores, higher clock rates and beefed up graphics on the Apple A#X chipsets, the batteries on the iPads are still fairly over engineered with respect to the chipset.

The iPhone 7 has a 1,960 mAh battery. Meanwhile, the iPad Pro 10.5 8,100 mAh, the iPad Pro 12.9 10,875 mAh and the 2017 iPad 9.7 8,827 mAh.

Note, battery life on the iPad 9.7 (Apple A9, 2GB RAM) is insanely good. Despite needing to power a much larger display, even brand new iPhone 6s/6s+/SE with fresh batteries don't come close to its battery life. I expect longevity based on battery will probably be similar to the iPad 3/4. Even after 5 years, they can still deliver full workday usage and then same.

I remember my mom's iPad 3 at year 3. I was looking for an excuse to replace the darned thing. It was absolutely dog slow but otherwise, there weren't really any problems with it. It took a while to charge but battery life was still excellent. In fact, by the time I replaced it with a Pro 9.7 LTE, the iPad 3 with slightly degraded battery still lasted longer between charging than the Pro 9.7 (light usage, ~2 hours/day).
[doublepost=1515177502][/doublepost]
Richard8655 said:
How do you know this with such certainty? Apple was forced to admit iPhone slow down only after an independent developer recently discovered it. Until then, no one suspected Apple was doing this intentionally.
Click to expand...
It was regular users who discovered/experienced the slowdown. The extent of the issue was unknown and couldn't really be proven as more than just anomalies affecting a handful of users until the Geekbench 4 dev posted kernel distribution charts. I expect that was the smoking gun that quickly triggered a response from Apple.

iPhone%206s%20-%2010.2.0.png
iPhone%206s%20-%2010.2.1.png
iPhone%206s%20-%2011.2.0.png


Note, the dev did mention (I think via Twitter?) that he checked the benchmark statistics for other iOS devices and thus far, they don't seem to be affected.
 
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ShaunAFC3 said:
I have an iPad Air 2 and had it for over 2 years now and believe it or not it is still on iOS 9.3.4 and am not looking to upgrade to iOS 11 because I want to have the best performance and awesome smoothness on my iPad and the fear of Apple might be slowing down the iPads as well. :)

But I am wondering does Apple slows down iPads just like they do with older iPhones?? o_Oo_O


I am really really curious about if Apple actually does this to iPads as well because of the news about Apple slowing older iPhones to protect the battery.

Can anyone test this on there iPads please to see if Apple actually slows down iPads as well?? o_Oo_O

I really really hope Apple does not slow down iPads as well!!!!
Click to expand...

The last upgrade to the iPad2 was 9.3.5 and Apple no longer updating the iPads2. And i have my iPad2 always being charged and i see no slowing down of my iPad or do i see the battery showing signs of failing.
 
digitalcuriosity said:
The last upgrade to the iPad2 was 9.3.5 and Apple no longer updating the iPads2. And i have my iPad2 always being charged and i see no slowing down of my iPad or do i see the battery showing signs of failing.
Click to expand...
The OP is talking about the iPad Air 2, which is supported on current software; not the iPad 2. I have also had my Air 2 for 2 years and notice no slowdowns aside from iOS upgrades. iOS 11 was a noticeable performance hit when first installed, but I notice it less now.
 
bhayes444 said:
The OP is talking about the iPad Air 2, which is supported on current software; not the iPad 2. I have also had my Air 2 for 2 years and notice no slowdowns aside from iOS upgrades. iOS 11 was a noticeable performance hit when first installed, but I notice it less now.
Click to expand...
One thing I haven't noticed until recently, iOS performs a lot of background tasks after initial upgrade/setup so it's normal for the device to be a bit unresponsive and even run warm for the first day or so. After that's done, it just performs as normal.
 
rui no onna said:
One thing I haven't noticed until recently, iOS performs a lot of background tasks after initial upgrade/setup so it's normal for the device to be a bit unresponsive and even run warm for the first day or so. After that's done, it just performs as normal.
Click to expand...
It definitely did take a couple days for it to settle down. Battery use was high, and it ran warmer than before. However, from my observations it was a much more noticeable slowdown going from iOS 10 -> 11 than from iOS 9 -> 10 on my iPad Air 2; even after letting it settle for a few days. My Air 2 still functions admirably, and the apps still run fine, just the screen transitions and whatnot that I notice.
 
rui no onna said:
It was regular users who discovered/experienced the slowdown. The extent of the issue was unknown and couldn't really be proven as more than just anomalies affecting a handful of users until the Geekbench 4 dev posted kernel distribution charts.
Click to expand...

Most attribute identifying the issue through real technical analyis and user database analysis to Geekbench. The user simply suspected a correlation between battery performance and Apple intent and brought it to light.

“The problem came to light earlier this year for John Poole, founder of Primate Labs, the developer of Geekbench. He saw a spike in complaints about slowing performance from iPhone users coupled with 40 percent declines in Geekbench numbers.”

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332779
 
ShaunAFC3 said:
I have an iPad Air 2 and had it for over 2 years now and believe it or not it is still on iOS 9.3.4 and am not looking to upgrade to iOS 11 because I want to have the best performance and awesome smoothness on my iPad and the fear of Apple might be slowing down the iPads as well. :)

But I am wondering does Apple slows down iPads just like they do with older iPhones?? o_Oo_O


I am really really curious about if Apple actually does this to iPads as well because of the news about Apple slowing older iPhones to protect the battery.

Can anyone test this on there iPads please to see if Apple actually slows down iPads as well?? o_Oo_O

I really really hope Apple does not slow down iPads as well!!!!
Click to expand...


Just do your self a favor if you love Apple products and will continue to buy.......do not upgrade to new builds. Out of the box as you bought it is all you need. I have had 2 MacBook Airs motherboards and batties fry after only 2 years of owning them right after I upgraded to new builds. I don't think that is coincidence. Serious indictment but now with the admission of the iPhone issue i'm more suspect than ever.
 
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Machead2012 said:
Just do your self a favor if you love Apple products and will continue to buy.......do not upgrade to new builds. Out of the box as you bought it is all you need. I have had 2 MacBook Airs motherboards and batties fry after only 2 years of owning them right after I upgraded to new builds. I don't think that is coincidence. Serious indictment but now with the admission of the iPhone issue i'm more suspect than ever.
Click to expand...

Man, i am with you, but in retrospect, you don’t update, you carry on without security updates and bugs in current os. You update, you are (from my experience) left with a frustrating user experience.

How can someone like any of that? Is there really no middle ground? A toshiba netbook i have lying around from 2002 will run linux mint admirably in 2018 but my ipad mini one was updated to ios 9.3something and became the worst, most frustrating device i have owned after that update.
 
Raist3001 said:
Is iOS self aware now? I didn't know this.
Click to expand...

Apple makes iOS updates, sure, but Apple (as in, employees in Apple) don't SSH into your iPhone, check battery capacity ever day, and set a clock speed. iOS does this automatically. That's what I meant.
 
KingSH007 said:
Apple makes iOS updates, sure, but Apple (as in, employees in Apple) don't SSH into your iPhone, check battery capacity ever day, and set a clock speed. iOS does this automatically. That's what I meant.
Click to expand...

I am not sure when anyone started to believe apple employees SSH into our devices and then slows them :confused:

The point is that apple designed iOS to slow devices when a battery degrades past a certain point. So yes, apple did that.
 
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As everyone has said, iPad batteries are fine and Apple isn't throttling iPad CPUs. My iPad Air 2 is on the latest beta of iOS 11.2.5 and it still runs extremely smoothly with only the occasional frame drop during UI animations. I highly recommend iOS 11 on the Air 2.
 
says_stuff said:
Man, i am with you, but in retrospect, you don’t update, you carry on without security updates and bugs in current os. You update, you are (from my experience) left with a frustrating user experience.

How can someone like any of that? Is there really no middle ground? A toshiba netbook i have lying around from 2002 will run linux mint admirably in 2018 but my ipad mini one was updated to ios 9.3something and became the worst, most frustrating device i have owned after that update.
Click to expand...

This is a good point, and finding a middle ground is frustrating for sure. I would say a good middle ground is to stay on the current IOS release at the time of iPad purchase, or maybe 1 or 2 beyond but not more. Accept and install all updates for that release to catch any and all security and functionality updates.

In this way, Apple has covered all security issues for that release. Since older iPads can’t be upgraded beyond certain later IOS release levels, I can't imagine Apple allowing those older IOS releases to remain vulnerable to security risks given this restriction.
 
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says_stuff said:
A toshiba netbook i have lying around from 2002 will run linux mint admirably in 2018 but my ipad mini one was updated to ios 9.3something and became the worst, most frustrating device i have owned after that update.
Click to expand...

Notebook. And what?! What hardware does it have? I really doubt a laptop from 2002 can run Mint at all.


Oh and, update that Toshiba laptop to Windows 10 (since it probably originally came with XP). Now check how it will run.
That's the correct comparison. You won't install another OS on the iPad. You'll install a newer iOS. Install a newer Windows on the laptop. It will run slower. Just like newer iOS.
 
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You are right, my bad, my memory failed me, it was toshiba nb100, launched in 2009 as i see in its product page. Honestly i could’ve sworn i bought it in 2002 along my main pc. I added a 1gb stick ram recently and it does run linux mint though. Yeah you are also right, i wouldnt run windows 10 on it.


I didn’t want to drag linux or customizations into this, my main grief was that while i could find a use for that old netbook, i had to discard my ipad as 9.3.2 made it frustrating to use. I now wish i had kept it in ios 8 and i would if i knew then how much of a performance hit it would get. Maybe if there was a warning when i installed it?

I got an ipad pro 12.9 and i do plan on not updating after ios12. And maybe i should even avoid ios12. I did buy the damned thing for 1200€, thinking it would last me for some years. So there’s that.
 
I have an iPad Air 2 and I have noticed it seems to lag a bit now, especially when using video apps. I'm waiting for the refurb store to drop the 2017 models for an upgrade, as I've heard good things about the Pro line.
 
says_stuff said:
i had to discard my ipad as 9.3.2 made it frustrating to use. I now wish i had kept it in ios 8 and i would if i knew then how much of a performance hit it would get. Maybe if there was a warning when i installed it?

I got an ipad pro 12.9 and i do plan on not updating after ios12. And maybe i should even avoid ios12. I did buy the damned thing for 1200€, thinking it would last me for some years. So there’s that.
Click to expand...

Jailbreak the iPad, hide some UI elements, and it will run fine again. If it's an iPad 2,3 or 4, you can install iOS 8.4.1 on it with OdysseusOTA 2. It will run fine again on it.

The iPad Pro has enough horsepower to run macOS, it will be fine on iOS 12. I don't recommend iOS 13 though. It used to be "update to two major releases", so the iPhone 4 to iOS 6, 4S to iOS 7, 5 to iOS 9, because everything after that will be slow.
With the 5S and onwards (iPad Air onwards), it's 3 major releases: iOS 7,8,9 and 10 all run the same on the 5S, and only with iOS 11 does it run a bit slower.
The 12.9" iPad Pro came with iOS 9 initially. Meaning 10, 11, and 12 will run perfectly. 13 might not.
 
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