The upcoming iPad 9 will probably be just as thin and with 4GB RAM, so I would just wait for the announcement. It would be slightly heavier, since the screen is larger, but the weight difference will be barely noticeable....I expected mine to be obsolete 1.5 years ago, but it is still going on
It was a lot of money when I bought it, more than 5 years ago, but I am happy I went with the 64GB model.
A particular dot release of iOS 13 made it feel quite sluggish, but somehow that got ironed out later on. The thing is still quite usable, and the biggest problem I have is that I currently don't know what possibly could replace it for a sensible price. The base iPad would be fine for our needs, but we would get a thicker, heavier iPad with a worse screen and just 1GB of RAM more than we currently have. The Air4 is relatively quite expensive, especially compared to the much beefier M1 pro.
For the time being I am happy the Air2 still runs, so I don't have to decide.
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iPad Air In praise of......the iPad Air 2???
- Thread starter dantracht
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I gave away my iPad Pro 10.5” to upgrade to the first iPad Pro 11”, which I got rid of after receiving multiple bent ones. After that I tried the iPad Air 3, which was fine, but I missed the speakers from the Pro 10.5”.
When I cracked the screen on the Air 3 it didn’t take long to determine I couldn’t stand using a device with a cracked screen, so I sold it.
The specs of the iPad 8 looked fine, and I don’t care about the camera, pencil, Face ID or 120 Hz, so I decided to save some money and try it. Besides, I really dislike the form factor of the current Air and Pro, so there wasn’t really anything else in the lineup to try.
Turns out I really, really dislike the non-laminated screen. I haven’t used one since the original iPad Air years ago, I had forgotten how bad it is.
I’m going to hold onto it for now, but to be honest the iPad Pro 10.5” is the latest iPad model that suited me really well, and if they were still for sale I would probably get one.
I do believe it pops on the Apple refurb store on occasion. Might want to get AC+ to hedge against white spot, though.
Such a fantastic device the Air 2, got mine round 2014 or 2015, I can barely even remember now but I used it up until last year, I also came from an iPad 4 before that.
Left my iPad Air 2 for the 2020 iPad Pro 11” last year and it was a huge upgrade, I cannot even bare to use the Air 2 now, but I have to say it is impressive how long it has managed to go.
My Air 2 began slowing down last year as the battery had deteriorated greatly and is now at a point where the battery cannot even last 30 mins before the device dies.
Up until just a year or two ago, my iPad Air 1 was still seeing regular use. It suffered a little from a lack of RAM (mostly evident in the reloading web pages and apps in the background) and of course it wasn’t super fast, but it was still quite useable for light browsing, checking email, streaming video etc - ie most of what people use iPads for. The battery life was still very good too.
I think the real leap forward from this gen of ipad is less the internal hardware, or even the software, but the compatibility with accessories like Smart Keyboards and the Apple Pencil, which really add a lot of capability to be really productive as well as consume content. That’s what I’d miss the most if I had to go back to an Air or Air 2 now.
I think the real leap forward from this gen of ipad is less the internal hardware, or even the software, but the compatibility with accessories like Smart Keyboards and the Apple Pencil, which really add a lot of capability to be really productive as well as consume content. That’s what I’d miss the most if I had to go back to an Air or Air 2 now.
Very much with you on the curve making it feel thinner. I too replaced with a pro, and between the thicker edges and the lack of bezels which means cases have to "grip" it with plastic around the sides means the pro feels like quite a porker compared with the Air 2 inside a wrap-around leather case.
Wow the new iPads are garbage , so glad I’m keeping my air 2’s - arguarely the best iPad ever
Gave my 8 year old son my Ipad Air 2 when I upgraded last summer, only because I needed one with the Apple Pencil. He uses it mostly for Roblox and it was working great till a couple weeks back when his playable character wasn't moving. Then we tried Pokemon Go a few days ago and the app would close every time there was an encounter. Re-installing didn't help in either case. It looks like we might need to get another ipad, but otherwise the Air 2 has had a great run.
I’m really impressed how well the iPad Air 2 runs the new iPadOS15.
At first sight everything just seems to run better and faster. I had not expected this on an almost 7year old device. I almost have no reason to upgrade when my usecase currently is 99% basic media Consumption. Although I use Photoshop Mix for creating digital collages, where the 2gb ram limitation can be seen as the project get larger and larger. But even here it seems to perform better than on iPadOS14.
At first sight everything just seems to run better and faster. I had not expected this on an almost 7year old device. I almost have no reason to upgrade when my usecase currently is 99% basic media Consumption. Although I use Photoshop Mix for creating digital collages, where the 2gb ram limitation can be seen as the project get larger and larger. But even here it seems to perform better than on iPadOS14.
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Thank you all for posting these thoughts!
I am trying to piece together an inexpensive Internet terminal for an older relative and this is now hitting my radar as a great option
I am trying to piece together an inexpensive Internet terminal for an older relative and this is now hitting my radar as a great option
How would you compare performance between iPadOS 15 and iOS 11 (or whenever they separated iOS and iPadOS)? I’ve been hesitant to upgrade the OS on the Air 2 because it still does a decent job with my old iOS — plus, my newer iPad runs iPadOS already. Would the Pros outweigh the cons, if any?
I still use 2014 purchased 128 GB iPad Air 2. I sold off the 10.5” Pro because screen and battery issues. But this Air 2 is something else. Battery is not snappy and Safari doesn’t last the whole day on iOS 15. But overall still highly usable and smoother than entry level Android junk tablets. Will be keeping this till Apple releases a proper Wifi 6E supported tablet.
I honestly can‘t recall the specifics of iOS11 on the air2. However, I would personally prefer a new and updated OS, and the privacy features (adblock, tracking etc) introduced in the later versions are gamechangers for me on any iOS device. Plus, I believe a lot of newer app don’t support anything below iOS12, but I could be wrong.
So I highly recommend iPadOS15. So far as it has brought new life into the device, and compared to iPadOS13 (I think it was) where I was then considering buying a new iPad due to decreased performance of my Air2. However, please note, it seems some have issues updating on the lower storage (16gb) versions.
I'm always sad that the entry level iPad didn't switch to the Air 2 case. I guess the need for the non-laminated screen for educational users prevented that. My Mum's Air 2 feels so thin compared to my iPad 6. I tihnk the time is coming to replace it soon and I'm split between getting her the iPad 9 or a second hand 11" Pro which are within £40-50 of each other.
My use cases for Ipad are(when in bed, on the treadmill etc)
So far Ipad Air 2 works great for my needs. Ipad OS 15, does seem to make the Air 2 struggle in some narrow use cases(particularly heavy web pages reloading). No problems with Apple Apps such as Apple TV or Ibooks. Battery seems to be fine for it's age, i.e. lasts around 5+ hours with continuous Video use.
I tried watching a video in a smaller size window (Ipad mini size) and I realized I preferred the Ipad(big) screen size much better.
So, the larger screen works for me. Hence canceled my Ipad mini 6 order.
In summary, will keep my Ipad Air 2 for another year and will evaluate at that point what to do.
- Watching videos
- Ibook/Kindle
- websurfing
So far Ipad Air 2 works great for my needs. Ipad OS 15, does seem to make the Air 2 struggle in some narrow use cases(particularly heavy web pages reloading). No problems with Apple Apps such as Apple TV or Ibooks. Battery seems to be fine for it's age, i.e. lasts around 5+ hours with continuous Video use.
I tried watching a video in a smaller size window (Ipad mini size) and I realized I preferred the Ipad(big) screen size much better.
So, the larger screen works for me. Hence canceled my Ipad mini 6 order.
In summary, will keep my Ipad Air 2 for another year and will evaluate at that point what to do.
Even though I wasn't particularly thrilled by the 9th iPad, I concluded that it is the right model for us at the moment; the air 4 is expensive while not offering crucially more (for me), the air 4 is in fact just more luxurious; and since all iPads (pro/air/base) run the same iPadOS there is not much to gain in functionality. The air4 would also mean I need another usb cable to use with my digital piano, which I would have to switch if I would like to connect my iPhone 11. I actually prefer the lightning connector at this moment.
I noticed last year that the price of the iPad 8 didn't drop (a lot) during the year, so I decided to buy this one as soon as it became available. For me the main reason was the ability to use the apple pencil.
I never ran out of the 64 GB of space on the air2, so the iPad 9's base storage option was exactly right for me.
First impressions: the screen reflects more; but as the air2 already is >5 years old, it's screen brightness became uneven. The new one has much better uniformity. In fact, the air2 wasn't perfect there from the start. So, if you would ask me at this moment, I would definitly take the iPad 9's screen over my old air2's. I don't notice the gap (to my surprise).
I don't have a cover yet. When comparing the air2 with it's thin back cover it feels the same as the iPad9 without. I know, this is not an honest comparison - but the feeling isn't day and night at least (and the screen size of the iPad9 is larger).
It is the first time I had to move data over from the old to the new ipad, and this process was quite smooth.
A nice side-effect is that I now also have a proper 20W charger for the iPhone.
The pencil works great, although I know and have experienced that the pro iPads have a much better feel when writing. Here you do notice the display gap, but to be honest it's not a real dealbreaker.
For the rest, the iPad is in fact just identical in use - just a lot faster than the air 2.
If you do not have a use for the pencil, and are ok with the speed of the air2 I would definitely wait until the next version of the iPads. Apart from the pencil there wasn't anything that I couldn't do on the air2.
I still am wondering if apple will ever make more distinction in terms of iPadOS functions between the pro and base lineup. If, for instance, there were a lot of apps that didn't run on the base model because of advanced functionality, my decision might have been different. But the music apps that I use will run more than fine on the base ipad, in fact, the headphone port is an advantage.
But I don't think this iPad will run for as long as the air2 did. It will depend on the direction Apple takes with the iPad and Mac roadmap. At this moment this is still very unclear to me, I already expected much more changes in iPadOS to make it more usable as laptop replacement, that didn't happen so far.
I noticed last year that the price of the iPad 8 didn't drop (a lot) during the year, so I decided to buy this one as soon as it became available. For me the main reason was the ability to use the apple pencil.
I never ran out of the 64 GB of space on the air2, so the iPad 9's base storage option was exactly right for me.
First impressions: the screen reflects more; but as the air2 already is >5 years old, it's screen brightness became uneven. The new one has much better uniformity. In fact, the air2 wasn't perfect there from the start. So, if you would ask me at this moment, I would definitly take the iPad 9's screen over my old air2's. I don't notice the gap (to my surprise).
I don't have a cover yet. When comparing the air2 with it's thin back cover it feels the same as the iPad9 without. I know, this is not an honest comparison - but the feeling isn't day and night at least (and the screen size of the iPad9 is larger).
It is the first time I had to move data over from the old to the new ipad, and this process was quite smooth.
A nice side-effect is that I now also have a proper 20W charger for the iPhone.
The pencil works great, although I know and have experienced that the pro iPads have a much better feel when writing. Here you do notice the display gap, but to be honest it's not a real dealbreaker.
For the rest, the iPad is in fact just identical in use - just a lot faster than the air 2.
If you do not have a use for the pencil, and are ok with the speed of the air2 I would definitely wait until the next version of the iPads. Apart from the pencil there wasn't anything that I couldn't do on the air2.
I still am wondering if apple will ever make more distinction in terms of iPadOS functions between the pro and base lineup. If, for instance, there were a lot of apps that didn't run on the base model because of advanced functionality, my decision might have been different. But the music apps that I use will run more than fine on the base ipad, in fact, the headphone port is an advantage.
But I don't think this iPad will run for as long as the air2 did. It will depend on the direction Apple takes with the iPad and Mac roadmap. At this moment this is still very unclear to me, I already expected much more changes in iPadOS to make it more usable as laptop replacement, that didn't happen so far.
After further using Ipad Air 2 on IpadOS 15, this struggle seems to happen particularly on youtube videos, more specifically when an ad is to be loaded or when trying to hit the 'skip ad' button during an ad on youtube.
Update:
The little iPad Air 2 that could is now running iPad OS 15.0.1 like a champ.
Even with my Mini 5 (not interested in the Mini 6, for pretty much the sold reason of the touch ID in the power button that I despise) and my Air 4, my now 7-year-old Air 2 is back to being my go-to device for night-time reading, which is what I primarily use my iPads for.
No, it's not the fastest, and Safari isn't the best on it for some sites, but for a device this old, it is holding up amazingly well.
Wouldn't be surprised if it even gets iPad OS 16 at this rate!
The little iPad Air 2 that could is now running iPad OS 15.0.1 like a champ.
Even with my Mini 5 (not interested in the Mini 6, for pretty much the sold reason of the touch ID in the power button that I despise) and my Air 4, my now 7-year-old Air 2 is back to being my go-to device for night-time reading, which is what I primarily use my iPads for.
No, it's not the fastest, and Safari isn't the best on it for some sites, but for a device this old, it is holding up amazingly well.
Wouldn't be surprised if it even gets iPad OS 16 at this rate!
I have playing a bit with the iPad Air 2 and the problem with this iPad is, Apple develop their apps for their more powerful iPads.
So I was able to get the iPad Air 2 working descently by using 3rd party apps over the native Apple apps. I never knew that Safari was such a power hungry beast in comparison to 3rd party apps until I tried it on the iPad Air 2.
So I was able to get the iPad Air 2 working descently by using 3rd party apps over the native Apple apps. I never knew that Safari was such a power hungry beast in comparison to 3rd party apps until I tried it on the iPad Air 2.
I don’t Think anyone is questioning that the M1 will run cirlces around the A8X in the Air2 when it comes to raw power and performance.
I think that the fact that the Air2 still performs quite well shows that people don’t need to worry about if any of the new iPads is powerfull enough for most needs. I even play PUBG from time to time on mine, although I don’t try to edit 4K video on it? Most people still using the Air2 would likely do exactly the same basic stuff on a newer device, which make upgrading somewhat of a waste (for a lack of a better word) if it is not necessary for that person. The screen is still great (until OLED or mini-LED comes to an 11inch) and you don’t really need the M1 to browse macrumors.com.
Funny, I thought most M1 users said the opposite: that apps are developEd with the weakest link in mind, and therefore the power of the M1 is wasted on ipad and iPadOS.
edit: just look at the Geekbench 5 benchmark between the two?
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