No. First, that's just a rumor, second, they said A10X, don't assume A10. As I said in that thread, I bet the 2019 iPad with A10 (iPad 7) will be supported, regardless of A10X, as Apple has always given at least 6 years of support to base iPads and it would only get 5 if they don't give it iPadOS 18.iPadOS 18 to drop support for A10/X as expected. So that means only one more iPadOS update for iPad Pro 2018.
iPadOS 18 Rumored to Drop Support for These iPad Models
iPadOS 18 will drop support for iPad models equipped with the A10X Fusion chip, according to a post on X today from a private account with a proven...www.macrumors.com
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPad Pro How many more iPadOS updates can I expect to get on my 2018 Pro?
- Thread starter The Cockney Rebel
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
But what would the point be of Apple dropping support for the 2nd-gen iPad Pro whilst keeping the base A10 iPad supported?
If Apple is dropping A10X, then the older, less powerful A10 will be dropped. It doesn't make sense for the journlist to write "also, A10, A9, and A8 are dropped."
In terms of having 5 years of support, so what? There is a reason why Apple doesn't state # of years of support like Google does. At the end of the day, when the low-cost $329 iPad 7 was launched, it came with a 3-year old A10. If Apple doesn't feel the performance is enough for iPadOS 18, then A10 support gets dropped.
Also to mention the last time they dropped 2 generations of iPhones/iPads was iOS 16 when the 6S/7 lineup at once didn’t get iOS 16 and because A8/A8X and A9/A9X lineups didn’t get iPadOS 16 and 17 a year apart ( and A9 iPad 5 was released 1 and a half years after the 12.9 inch A9X Pro) so yes digitalguy must see A10/A10X getting dropped ( doesn’t matter if iPad 7 was released over 2 years after the A10X Pros)
Because it's 2 years more recent and Apple does not drop support strictly based on specs
Apple does not drop support based on a chip, but for a device or generation of that device (the iPhone 7 with A10 was dropped with IOS 16 while the iPad 5 with A9 was updated to iPadOS 16 for instance)
We'll see what Apple does, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they keep the 2019 iPad 7 supported while dropping support for the 2018 iPad 6 and the 2017 pro (although logically the should have first dropped support for the inferior 2018 A10 iPad with less RAM and only after for the A10X and the 2019 iPad with A10 and more RAM)
I am not sure I understand what you are saying but as I said above "Apple does not drop support based on a chip, but for a device or generation of that device" (the iPhone 7 with A10 was dropped with IOS 16 while the iPad 5 with A9 was updated to iPadOS 16)
A8X iPad Air 2 (2014) and A8 iPad mini 4 (2015) are different generations devices based on the same chip family. But both were dropped at the same time with iPadOS 16.
iPadOS 16/17 features are polyfurcated compared to iOS 16/17. For example, all devices that run iOS 16 support Visual Look Up. But only A12 or newer iPadOS 16 devices support that feature. This is even worse with iPadOS 17. Given A10 iPads already received leniency, I don't think Apple will do it again this year.
Sometimes RAM matters. Other times it's processor. I've not seen a situation where Apple drops support solely based on launch date or generational attributes.
I'm guessing now but there is prob many aspects taken into account.
* CPU
* GPU
* Extra CPU related functions (Neural engine) and CPU bugs
* Memory and not only size but also type
* Screen format/resolution.
* Additional chipset in devices being used (Qualcomm) etc
Sometimes it doesn't seem to make sense why they drop support but there is prob a lot more behind the scenes seen from a development perspective that we don't know about.
It might be down to one or more functionalities that's can be tricky to implement on older devices or implement and having working the way they want. It might also be the case that certain hardware in the device isn't supported from the manufacturer.
Sure, they can always have the option to skip certain features but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere.
* CPU
* GPU
* Extra CPU related functions (Neural engine) and CPU bugs
* Memory and not only size but also type
* Screen format/resolution.
* Additional chipset in devices being used (Qualcomm) etc
Sometimes it doesn't seem to make sense why they drop support but there is prob a lot more behind the scenes seen from a development perspective that we don't know about.
It might be down to one or more functionalities that's can be tricky to implement on older devices or implement and having working the way they want. It might also be the case that certain hardware in the device isn't supported from the manufacturer.
Sure, they can always have the option to skip certain features but I guess you have to draw the line somewhere.
Well it's indeed what happened. By supporting the A10 iPad 7 and dropping the better but older A10X iPad pro, Apple has shown that the 6 years support for the base iPad (and therefore support based solely on launch date / generation) is more important than actual specs.
Probably some contract obligations with corporate or edu purchases in terms of support.
It’s possible the support length is 5 years minimum. While the 7th gen was released in 2019, they were still selling it in 2020 before it was superseded by the 8th gen.
Odd indeed. I had thought the 7th Gen would have to be supported based on date of discontinuation and therefore that it would survive a cut when the 6th Gen didn't, but to cut the 2nd Gen Pros is just bizarre, given both the X version of the A10 and the extra RAM. The smaller variant was exactly the same, unlike with the 1st Gen where you could argue that the RAM segmentation got both dropped so that the decision of what was going got less attention and Apple could continue with the practice of segmenting within a line. It would only take tanking sales of one segmented line to force them to give all storage capacities the same specs.
This means that a Pro was supported no more OS generations than the Air 2, for no technical reason. You'd expect a Pro to have an outright record on OS support, given the Pro price tag. This generation of Pro users are already aggrieved due to having the highest incidence of white spots and Apple denying there was a problem.
A12 is surely two years from getting dropped since the A10 iPad 7 would be first up, and there have been years when nothing/hardly anything gets dropped. Next year seems too soon for the A12X Pro to go and Apple now seem to have made the roadmap clear in that it will go with the regular A12.
It used to be based on tech before it was so capable, now it looks to be purely time.
This means that a Pro was supported no more OS generations than the Air 2, for no technical reason. You'd expect a Pro to have an outright record on OS support, given the Pro price tag. This generation of Pro users are already aggrieved due to having the highest incidence of white spots and Apple denying there was a problem.
A12 is surely two years from getting dropped since the A10 iPad 7 would be first up, and there have been years when nothing/hardly anything gets dropped. Next year seems too soon for the A12X Pro to go and Apple now seem to have made the roadmap clear in that it will go with the regular A12.
It used to be based on tech before it was so capable, now it looks to be purely time.
Yes, now Apple gives software updates based on the launch date of the device, in order to make sure that the base iPads gets 5 major OS updates and that the pro/air get 7, with no difference between the pro and air.
And it's no longer "A12 should get until that version of iPadOS" but it's the individual iPad models themselves and iPads with the same chips can get axed at different times.
Based on this, A12X iPad pro should get iPadOS 19 too, but A12 iPad mini and air should stop at 18, while iPad 8 with the same chip should get one more update to 19. And A12Z should get 20.