I would like to know what the performance is like of IOS 9 on the Air 2. I currently have an Air 2 that I bought the other day and it has 8.1.2 on it. Right now everything is smooth and no lag at all. Does iOS 9 lag on the Air 2 like it does on my iPhone 5s? If it doesn't lag should I upgrade to it? I don't want to upgrade and have performance issues with lag.
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.
IOS 9 on Air 2
- Thread starter Jerhen
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
There are slight stutters in certain animations, but they are software related and are fixed in 9.2 if you can't handle dropped frames, wait til 9.2 comes out.
Thanks for your reply. Where does iOS 9 stutter on the air 2? Is it in control center, app switcher, spotlight, etc?
Yes, and sometimes scrolling.
It bothers me but split screen mt and pip video make me happy to be on 9. 9.2 improves things a little bit.
Do you think it is worth upgrading to right now? I have a 128gb air 2 that I got 2 days ago and it must have been sitting on their shelves for a while because it has 8.1.2. I want to use iCloud Photo Library but it says that it is in beta when I open the photos app. I don't know if that would have an effect on it or not. I wish it had 8.4 like on my moms iPad because I updated hers a few days before iOS 9 came out because I had a suspicion that iOS 9 would make it slower even though Apple said iOS 9 would be so much faster which it isn't. Do you recommend that I wait til it is better because 8.1.2 is buttery smooth on my air 2. Should I just finish putting my content on it and wait to upgrade til performance gets better?
If you're basing your decision on "buttery smooth" animations, stay on 8.1.2 for now.
This is not to say iOS 9 is a jerky mess. It isn't. iOS 9 is still being optimized there, but Safari is tons better on iOS 9 and it's more stable overall in my opinion.
Just kinda wondering the things that are more stable. I know on 8.1.2 if I close an app from multitasking and reopen it it takes a few seconds to animate and reopen. Does iOS 9 do that? Are the animations kind of like the ones on the 5s because I also have an iPhone 5s and the control center is laggy and so is multitasking. Is the air 2 as bad as the 5s?
My wife has a 5s and it seems smooth enough to me. My Air 2 is running great on iOS 9. But here's the thing, my threshold for lag is higher. In other words, a little lagging doesn't bother me if the OS is running stable.
Opening and closing apps is fine here, but some folks here are speed typing on their devices and they want more response. 9 is better for me because crashing and safari crashes/reloads on my 6+ are just not there any longer. On 8, I couldn't say that. Tough call, but stay on it if you're very sensitive to animation issues.
Wish I had a more definitive answer, but this is a very individual call.
My wife has a 5s and it seems smooth enough to me. My Air 2 is running great on iOS 9. But here's the thing, my threshold for lag is higher. In other words, a little lagging doesn't bother me if the OS is running stable.
Opening and closing apps is fine here, but some folks here are speed typing on their devices and they want more response. 9 is better for me because crashing and safari crashes/reloads on my 6+ are just not there any longer. On 8, I couldn't say that. Tough call, but stay on it if you're very sensitive to animation issues.
Wish I had a more definitive answer, but this is a very individual call.
Thanks for your reply. I do tend to care about animation lag a little too much and probably should wait to upgrade. I think I should start upgrading to the last iOS version like next year with iOS 9 and wait to get 10 til it is on its final version before 11 comes out.
I think the 9.2 beta is focusing on fluidity. They'll work it out, but more importantly the OS is very stable.
Well...it's kinda hard to say. First a consideration: 8.1.2 is slower than 8.4.1. Which means iOS 9 won't be as slow for you as it will be for somebody coming from 8.4.1.
That said...it depends. I'm kinda sensitive to stutters but I paid a fair amount of money for my Air 2 and all its power is a bit wasted on iOS8. Want to watch a video in a small window while browsing the web? You can't. Want to do word processing? Very limited (no split screen, no trackpad mode, no keyboard shortcuts indicators). Want to sketch something on the note app? You can't. Want to airdrop something to your Mac? Too bad, airdrop sucks in iOS8. Want a stable network? Nope, you have discoveryd with you, your network connection at times will just suck. Want to upload a PDF from safari? You can't. Want to have bigger, more usable folders? Not in iOS8. Apple Music? Not in 8.1.
So...if you don't care about these features, stay on iOS8. To me, the Air 2 was made to be on iOS9. It sucks that it stutters sometimes...it really shouldn't. This thing is almost as fast as my 2014 MB Air.
Anyway, FOR ME, the tradeoff is acceptable. Almost mandatory. iOS is still too limited for me, iOS9 is barely enough to be useful. I still miss many features...
What you could do is wait for 9.2. I'm on the second beta right now and the smoothness is better than on 9.0/9.1. I think 9.2 will make many people happy if it keeps improving.
Finally there's a third way: you don't have to choose between features and smoothness. You can have both if you choose to sacrifice animations (reduce motion option in settings). Try it in iOS8. If you like it, you can upgrade And be almost without stutters, except in spotlight
Last edited:
I run with reduced motion on my air 2 not because of lag just don't prefer all the motions.. I've experienced some noticeable stutter with 9.2 when scrolling with split keyboard open and I also don't like the delay when closing an app before you can tap another icon. Those are my only two "issues" and they are minor. I expect they will resolve as the software matures. Safari does seem somewhat better and it is nice being able to use a content blocker.
I watched this video and iOS 9 doesn't seem that bad on the air 2.
I also, like you, would want to use the feature and I am kinda thinking I should upgrade before I sync by 25gb music library from iTunes. The video doesn't look that bad with the speed of 9.1. The video makes 9.1 not look to bad. If I do upgrade do I do it OTA or connect to iTunes to do it? I think it might be better to upgrade before I finish putting all of my content on it. Please get back to me. Thanks.
Thanks for your reply. I am still undecided on iOS 9. Does control center or Notification Center lag like on the iPhone 5s? You guys might think I am crazy asking the performance of iOS 9 but I got burned when I upgraded my 5s to iOS 9 and it is noticeably slower. My old iPad 3 and iPod touch 5 had the same speed of iOS 8 and in some areas a little bit faster. One day I compared my iPhone 5s to a friends 5c and the 5c was faster than mine on iOS 9 and their wasn't lag when pulling up the control center on the 5c like it is on my 5s.
Yes, there's lag on all devices, little bit less on 6S for those cases, but scrolling lists stutter even there. Stay on 8.
it's not that bad but...if you really are THAT sensitive to stutter wait for 9.2, just to be sure. Otherwise upgrade but expect a level of smoothness similar to your 5s ;-)
Don't know what to tell you. There is no going back unfortunately if you don't like, best bet is to try and find an air 2 running a version of 9 to test out.
The bad thing is I don't know anyone who has an air 2 with iOS 9. That's kinda why I posted my question on the forum. The videos on this forum don't look bad and it looks like iOS 9 runs pretty good. Maybe my best bet is to wait but I don't know what to do.
The issue with that is most of the iOS 9 issues are fairly subjective as far as the effect they have on someone, so what people say isn't really what various others feel about it.
I have zero problems with my Air 2 on iOS 9.1 except poorer battery life than 9.0.2. I bought my Air 2 the week iOS 9 came out. The first thing I did after turning it on was update to 9.0. I didn't do a single thing on it with 8.2. I have no lag anywhere throughout the device. (I have a keen eye for lag, I have chronic migraine and any stutter in anything, such as video playback or animations causes a migraine.)
Do remember - on a forum like this you are more likely to get complaints than compliments about software. It's the loud minority that makes it seem worse than what it is.
I am kinda leaning towards just doing it and hopefully apple fixes any issues I have in the future with future versions of iOS 9. I am on 8.1.2 and I wonder how much slower this version is to 8.4 which should of improved over 8.1.2. Tomorrow I need to take my moms air 2 which is on 8.4 and speed test them and let you know if 8.4 is faster or slower. I updated my moms the day before iOS 9 came out and told her to stay on 8.4 and don't update until I tell her to because I didn't want iOS 9 to slow hers down. It probably wouldn't matter because all she uses it for is to watch tv shows on nbc, cbs, etc. she finally let me upgrade because I told her that she could buy my iPad 3 when she was looking for an iPad and she said no and she said that I could get a new iPad later this year which I did a couple days ago. I am in love with my air 2 because it is so much better than my heavy brick of an iPad 3 I also love all of the storage because I probably over killed and got the 128gb model. On my old iPad 3 and iPod touch 5 which have the a5 series of processors, iOS 9 runs better on them then 8. I can slide to power them off and see the spinning thing whatever it is called for proBably 1-2 seconds and they are off. On my iPhone 5s, I get lag in control center, app switcher, and sometimes exiting apps. It seems iOS 9 speeds up old devices buy slows new ones down. I also agree with you about complaints because I haven't really seen a lot that's kind of why I made this forum is because I saw a couple complaints but not many. Is control center, notification, app switcher, or multitasking lag on yours? I think maybe it would be better to do it before I finish loading all my content on it from my 32gb iPad 3. Did u update via OTA or through iTunes? I have heard of people using iTunes and having a better experience than OTA. I have been updating for the past 2-3 years OTA.
This forum seems really positive with ios 9.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/hows-the-performance-of-ios-9-on-the-air-2.1918909/
Tomorrow I am going to do a speed test between iOS 8.1.2 and 8.4 and see how much slower mine is compared to 8.4. Maybe ios 9 will be faster than 8.1.2. Anyways, keep posting your experience of iOS 9 on the air 2 in this forum so I can get more opinions from more users.
Another question for users. How is battery life on iOS 9 compared to 8 if you can remember. Apple said better battery life in 9 and I was wondering if iOS 9 users on the air 2 are getting the same amount of battery life.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/hows-the-performance-of-ios-9-on-the-air-2.1918909/
Tomorrow I am going to do a speed test between iOS 8.1.2 and 8.4 and see how much slower mine is compared to 8.4. Maybe ios 9 will be faster than 8.1.2. Anyways, keep posting your experience of iOS 9 on the air 2 in this forum so I can get more opinions from more users.
Another question for users. How is battery life on iOS 9 compared to 8 if you can remember. Apple said better battery life in 9 and I was wondering if iOS 9 users on the air 2 are getting the same amount of battery life.
I own a Air 2 and the app switcher is not even close to the speed of iOS 8.There are stutters and frame drops .Rest of the tablet is pretty close to 8.4.1.Control centre and notification bar are smooth for me