I'm still on my iPad 2.. might get this new iPad but might wait another year.
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I feel the same way. I can get 18 to 19 hours out of my iPad 2. Can't say the same about the Air 2.
You sound a lot like me. When reading a simple ebook (people still do that, don't they)...one doesn't need to turn on wifi/Bluetooth, so why does the Air2 perform so disappointingly?
In Apple's quest to shave 40-100 grams off the iPad each time...now, nearly five years since the iPad 2 debuted, the current iPad really hasn't fared much better in the battery life dept.
And Apple still wonders how can they get people to upgrade! If it wasn't so sad, I would laugh.
And I'm ready and willing to upgrade...would be nice to finally get a better screen. But not if the battery life hasn't improved by a decent margin.
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And there should rarely ever be a reason to reinstall the OS. I haven't had to once since I stopped jailbreaking over 5 years ago.
Not so fast.
Suppose you want a new battery or maybe the screen cracked, or maybe some odd software problem that you bring in to a local store to diagnose?
For the first two cases, you will get a replacement... but it won't have iOS 6 or 7 on it. So that iPad 2, that you kept on ios6 or 7 and that was working swimmingly, is now gone. Poof.
And that software problem scenario? If the simple troubleshooting steps don't work, guess what...Apple says they will have to erase and restore your iPad and that means you _will_ be on the current iOS version.
So staying on an older version isn't always voluntary.
Guys like Channan won't tell you the real deal.