iPad 2 finally gets replaced "9.7 iPad Pro"

[oldmacs]

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 ipad2 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.

Yeah i am a miser with battery. Everything goes off, but even when being fairly liberal with leaving settings open my iPad will get 14 hours of battery. I have family members on iPad Airs and Air 2s and they get nothing close. My sister used to get over 20 hours out of her iPad 4. I think the iPad 4 was the last iPad with really good batter life.

I just need to get equal battery life to my iPad 2, and that means more than the 10 hours they advertise. The difference is that they used to under estimate battery life significantly, but now its probably far more accurate.

 

[Channan]

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.

Apple will frequently repair your damaged screen and just replace the battery in your device, so no, you will not necessarily get a replacement. You can also go to multiple repair shops to get it fixed, and they will definitely not give you a new device.

Also, you can wipe your iPad from settings without reinstalling the OS.

Of course staying on an older version isn't ALWAYS voluntary, but most of the time it is.

Guys like bufffilm like to exaggerate.

iOS installs get slower and slower. I do a new install every 6 months to keep things from slowing to a crawl.

But you could just as easily erase all content and settings from your iPad and get the same effect without having to update to the latest version.

 

[oldmacs]

But you could just as easily erase all content and settings from your iPad and get the same effect without having to update to the latest version.

That doesn't really fix corruption of the install.

Apple should just allow downgrading in a way that didn't encourage the masses to do it.

 

[bufffilm]

Apple will frequently repair your damaged screen and just replace the battery in your device, so no, you will not necessarily get a replacement. You can also go to multiple repair shops to get it fixed, and they will definitely not give you a new device.

Also, you can wipe your iPad from settings without reinstalling the OS.

Of course staying on an older version isn't ALWAYS voluntary, but most of the time it is.

Guys like bufffilm like to exaggerate.


But you could just as easily erase all content and settings from your iPad and get the same effect without having to update to the latest version.

Nice try, but if I need a new battery or screen, I'm going to Apple, not some crappy third party repair place and last I checked, you'd get a replacement after paying the screen repair cost or battery fee.

And for the software problem, you're wrong. If the usual steps don't fix said problem and you're on an older iOS version, Apple says the next step is to erase and restore a newer iOS. (Happened to a co-worker of mine as well as to myself - mine's was with an iPhone though, not a iPad). Sure, you can opt not to, but then your problem is still unresolved.

Get your so called facts straight. No exaggeration here on my part.

And don't try to blow smoke up people's a**es. Won't work here or at least, on me.

 

[Channan]

That doesn't really fix corruption of the install.

Apple should just allow downgrading in a way that didn't encourage the masses to do it.

How did you corrupt an install? If the iPad was fine before wiping it, there's no reason it should be corrupt after wiping it.

I'm not arguing that Apple shouldn't allow downgrading. I'm saying Apple wouldn't spend time and resources to update an iPad for FIVE years just to purposefully make it worse each time until it becomes unusable. It would be far easier and cheaper for them to not update it, and then, when people find half the apps they try to install are no longer compatible with their iPad, they'd feel compelled to upgrade.

Nice try, but if I need a new battery or screen, I'm going to Apple, not some crappy third party repair place and last I checked, you'd get a replacement after paying the screen repair cost or battery fee.

And for the software problem, you're wrong. If the usual steps don't fix said problem and you're on an older iOS version, Apple says the next step is to erase and restore a newer iOS. You can opt not to, but then your problem is still unresolved.

Get your so called facts straight. No exaggeration here on my part.

And don't try to blow smoke up people's a**es. Won't work here or at least, on me.

Then don't go to a crappy third party repair store. There are professional businesses whose sole purpose is to repair phones and tablets. Many of them are more experienced than the teenagers working at an Apple Store.

Last you checked must have been half a decade ago, because paying the repair cost doesn't guarantee you a new phone, or maybe you'd like to talk to the Apple employee who replaced my dad's iPhone 6 display last year and not the entire phone. Apple is a lot less likely to replace the entire phone for simple repairs now.

Nothing wrong with my "facts". You should stop using outdated information.

 

[bufffilm]

How did you corrupt an install? If the iPad was fine before wiping it, there's no reason it should be corrupt after wiping it.

I'm not arguing that Apple shouldn't allow downgrading. I'm saying Apple wouldn't spend time and resources to update an iPad for FIVE years just to purposefully make it worse each time until it becomes unusable. It would be far easier and cheaper for them to not update it, and then, when people find half the apps they try to install are no longer compatible with their iPad, they'd feel compelled to upgrade.


Then don't go to a crappy third party repair store. There are professional businesses whose sole purpose is to repair phones and tablets. Many of them are more experienced than the teenagers working at an Apple Store.

Last you checked must have been half a decade ago, because paying the repair cost doesn't guarantee you a new phone, or maybe you'd like to talk to the Apple employee who replaced my dad's iPhone 6 display last year and not the entire phone. Apple is a lot less likely to replace the entire phone for simple repairs now.

Nothing wrong with my "facts". You should stop using outdated information.

I was referring to the iPad replacement (when dealing with screen replacement or battery)... who said anything about the iPhone?

 

[marine0816]

If you can keep an earlier os, that would be pretty rare and hard to do for the reasons already stated.. Planned obsolescence is REAL

 

[oldmacs]

How did you corrupt an install? If the iPad was fine before wiping it, there's no reason it should be corrupt after wiping it.

I'm not arguing that Apple shouldn't allow downgrading. I'm saying Apple wouldn't spend time and resources to update an iPad for FIVE years just to purposefully make it worse each time until it becomes unusable. It would be far easier and cheaper for them to not update it, and then, when people find half the apps they try to install are no longer compatible with their iPad, they'd feel compelled to upgrade.

Installs do corrupt over time and the best way is to just erase it at that point.

Of course Apple doesn't purposefully write code to slow the iPad 2. They could put more effort into optimisation but they don't have the resources for that. It works in their favour anyway that eventually devices get slow, but thats all competing devices as software gets written for newer hardware.

I've appreciated APple's long term support of the iPad 2 as its allowed me to keep it this long.

 

[bufffilm]

Installs do corrupt over time and the best way is to just erase it at that point.

Of course Apple doesn't purposefully write code to slow the iPad 2. They could put more effort into optimisation but they don't have the resources for that. It works in their favour anyway that eventually devices get slow, but thats all competing devices as software gets written for newer hardware.

I've appreciated APple's long term support of the iPad 2 as its allowed me to keep it this long.

Not sure that installs corrupt over time...on that, Channan and I would agree.

And no, Apple doesn't write code to purposely slow down older models, but at the same time they should have halted support on the iPad 2 sooner.

Part of the reason why they didn't was because of 'agreements' Apple made (either implied or otherwise) when the 2 was still actively sold to the private sector, but that's another topic altogether.

 

[Night Spring]

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.

Well, in that case, you'll be waiting a long time to upgrade, because it seems that Apple aims for 10 hour battery life on their iPads, and aren't interested in improving battery life more than that. They'd rather keep weight down.

 

[Channan]

Well, in that case, you'll be waiting a long time to upgrade, because it seems that Apple aims for 10 hour battery life on their iPads, and aren't interested in improving battery life more than that. They'd rather keep weight down.

I don't understand how people are getting significantly better battery life on an iPad 3 or 4 than the Air 2.

The iPad 3's battery was massive, but the screen was extremely inefficient, so unless the majority of your usage was with the screen off (music, voice-only GPS navigation, etc.) or at an extremely low brightness setting, you shouldn't be getting hours more use than an iPad Air 2. For what I use my iPad for, my iPad Air 2's battery life is about the same as my iPad 3's was - which was very similar to the iPad and iPad 2 before it - but my iPad Air 2 lasts noticeably longer than my iPad 3 did with full brightness.

 

[Night Spring]

I don't understand how people are getting significantly better battery life on an iPad 3 or 4 than the Air 2.

The iPad 3's battery was massive, but the screen was extremely inefficient, so unless the majority of your usage was with the screen off (music, voice-only GPS navigation, etc.) or at an extremely low brightness setting, you shouldn't be getting hours more use than an iPad Air 2. For what I use my iPad for, my iPad Air 2's battery life is about the same as my iPad 3's was - which was very similar to the iPad and iPad 2 before it - but my iPad Air 2 lasts noticeably longer than my iPad 3 did with full brightness.

For me, the iPad that gave me the best battery life was the Air1, which gave me around 12-13 hours. iPads 1-3 and Air2 all had similar battery life of around 10-11 hours. I skipped the iPad 4.

 

[bufffilm]

Well, in that case, you'll be waiting a long time to upgrade, because it seems that Apple aims for 10 hour battery life on their iPads, and aren't interested in improving battery life more than that. They'd rather keep weight down.

Then I'll keep using it until Apple does. Or it breaks, in which case I'll buy a new one.

What I might do also is get the iPP instead, but not until version 2. But that's somewhat of a long shot.

No rush either way...I can wait. W/32gb of space, it's enough.

I'm getting around 11.5 hrs with wifi off, screen at 37%.

I bought a tab pro 8.4 last June...which I use when watching movies now. So much easier to plug the android tablet to my laptop to copy movies rather than using iTunes/iPad sync, plus the Samsung has the higher resolution screen of course. Got a 64gb card added...total cost about $230 with a case. Very affordable and way cheaper than any iPad option.

So life is pretty good while I wait.

 

[augustya]

Absolutely. The decision to upgrade is a thought process best answered by savvy and knowledge. Which most of use dont have. We just upgrade per course.

If we knew before hand which ios to upgrade to or not for our older devices we'd be a lot better off, particulaly if we had the option to downgrade if we made the wrong choice.

My ipad2 is on ios8.x and is rotten to use. Ios 6 was peachy, even if the app choice was scant.

This is a very crucial and important question that you bring up here, which even I have been like itching to ask from a along time whenever Apple releases a new iOS update and says it is aldo meant for these list of devices, how should one approach it ? just because Apple says upgrade it but there is a risk that the device my might just become a bit too sluggish ! or second is wait for the feedback and try and know public opinion on the performance ! because there will be no matter what there will be always certain segment of people who would always upgrade their devices to latest iOS software not matter what ! So there will be someone to always share his or her actual experience. Based on that one can take a decision. Is that his how people approach this ?

 

[sjleworthy]

It is an absolute bugger. I have an ipad2 which i could make wonderful use out of in numerous ways. But not in it's current ios state. What a blinkin waste!

Why oh why cant i roll back? This means i could have a second ipad in use, but as it stands it might as well be bricked.

 

[Night Spring]

whenever Apple releases a new iOS update and says it is aldo meant for these list of devices, how should one approach it ?

My rule of thumb is don't update more than two gens from the original iOS. So if a device shipped with iOS 8, stop at 10. And so on.

Why oh why cant i roll back?

I believe Apple stopped allowing rollbacks as an anti-jailbreak measure. Earlier iOS up to around iOS 2 or 3 could be rolled back.

 

[augustya]

My rule of thumb is don't update more than two gens from the original iOS. So if a device shipped with iOS 8, stop at 10. And so on.

is this based on any logic or just observed personal experience?

 

[sjleworthy]

8 wasn't good for my ipad2. 6 was. So was 7.

 

[Night Spring]

is this based on any logic or just observed personal experience?

Kind of like common sense based on personal experience plus forum reports. Another thing to watch is the list of features left out for earlier devices. Like iOS 9 split screen multitasking is available only for the Air2 and Mini4. Kind of a clue that the Air1 and mini3 would be a bit iffy on iOS 9, but probably not to the point they are unusable if you upgrade to 9. iOS 10, forget it. There'd be a long list of features of iOS 10 that's not supported by Air 1, mini 3, and earlier devices. When you see that list of unsupported features, stop, double check that list. There's only so much you can do to speed up OS on older devices by leaving out features.

 

[bufffilm]

My rule of thumb is don't update more than two gens from the original iOS. So if a device shipped with iOS 8, stop at 10. And so on.

I agree. More than that and it could be dicey.

Many new features wouldn't work on the older iPads anyway so that's another reason why it's not a good idea. Especially so with the older models that had only 512mb or 1gig RAM.

 

[sracer]

I don't understand how people are getting significantly better battery life on an iPad 3 or 4 than the Air 2.

The iPad 3's battery was massive, but the screen was extremely inefficient, so unless the majority of your usage was with the screen off (music, voice-only GPS navigation, etc.) or at an extremely low brightness setting, you shouldn't be getting hours more use than an iPad Air 2. For what I use my iPad for, my iPad Air 2's battery life is about the same as my iPad 3's was - which was very similar to the iPad and iPad 2 before it - but my iPad Air 2 lasts noticeably longer than my iPad 3 did with full brightness.

The iPad 3's battery wasn't massive enough to compensate for the required to drive the retina display. It also had a processor that was slightly less efficient than the iPad 4.

My iPad 4 ran iOS 6.x up until early last year. I could easily get 12-13 hours without it breaking a sweat. On occasions, I could get 14 hours on occasion... not regularly, but often enough.

 

[marine0816]

I'll stop at ios 12 when I get my iPad pro mini. My iPad 2 is in perfect shape physically, just these updates crippled everything about the experience.

 

[neteng101]

I'll stop at ios 12 when I get my iPad pro mini.

There might be less of a reason now though given the increased RAM newer devices are coming with. 512MB to 4GB is a quantum leap... though for older 512/1GB devices now certainly one might want to stick to that 3 year useful life (original + 2 yearly updates).

 

[Channan]

The iPad 3's battery wasn't massive enough to compensate for the required to drive the retina display. It also had a processor that was slightly less efficient than the iPad 4.

My iPad 4 ran iOS 6.x up until early last year. I could easily get 12-13 hours without it breaking a sweat. On occasions, I could get 14 hours on occasion... not regularly, but often enough.

I get about 12 hours on my iPad Air 2 set about ⅓-½ brightness. I never need to turn the brightness higher than half, even outside, unless in direct sunlight. My iPad 3 could also get about 13-14 hours if I stayed inside the entire and kept the brightness really low, but I had to crank it up high outside and that would drain the battery even faster than my Air 2, so it wound up balancing out.

There might be less of a reason now though given the increased RAM newer devices are coming with. 512MB to 4GB is a quantum leap... though for older 512/1GB devices now certainly one might want to stick to that 3 year useful life (original + 2 yearly updates).

Even just 2GB. The iPad Air 2 is about a year and a half old now and has gone through one major software update, and there's no sign of this thing slowing down any time soon. I have no doubt it will run iOS 11 just fine.

Apple kept putting in the minimum amount of RAM in their iOS devices every year, so they ran like crap after a couple of years. The iPad Air 2 was the first time Apple put more than enough RAM in an iOS device. 4GB is a bit overkill, IMO, but definitely welcome for future proofing. If the next 9.7" iPad has 4GB of RAM, I'm definitely buying one.

 

[DaniJoy]

Still, it's old. Find me an Android tablet from 2011 that's held up as well. I call planned obsolescence when a device declines noticeably in like a year.

I have a 2009 galaxy tab 7" . It Still works great. Used it daily since then as my primary communication device. I Just retired it for an iPad pro though. I Wanted a stylus. I love them both.