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Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
Every time I use any web browser my iPad crashes,freezes,lags Or sometimes when going back a page it turns the page black then I have to close out of the browser to fix the messed up page because refreshinge does nothing. Last night it froze for 10 min. I tried doing a factory restore off of iTunes multiple times and every time it seems like it’s getting worse. I tried going back to iPad os 16 and it fails saying the firmware isn’t made for this tablet. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

ipad 6 gen 32gb ipad so 17.2

it works perfectly outside of using the browsers. I use safari, tried chrome,brave and Firefox.
 

bradman83

macrumors 65816
Oct 29, 2020
1,288
3,266
Buffalo, NY
Web browsers can be very RAM hungry depending on the website you're viewing and how many tabs you have open. Some websites, especially tabloid news websites, are so loaded with various types of content that they can consume a gigabyte or more of RAM. The 6th generation iPad only has 2GB of RAM.

Are these issues occurring with specific websites? Do you have a lot of tabs open? You're likely hitting the RAM ceiling of your iPad which can cause Safari (or any other browser) to crash. I previously had a 6th generation iPad and while I didn't have outright crashes I did experience plenty of freezing because of the limited memory, freezes which went away after I upgraded to an iPad Pro with 8GB of RAM (and the ability to use virtual memory).
 
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Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
Web browsers can be very RAM hungry depending on the website you're viewing and how many tabs you have open. Some websites, especially tabloid news websites, are so loaded with various types of content that they can consume a gigabyte or more of RAM. The 6th generation iPad only has 2GB of RAM.

Are these issues occurring with specific websites? Do you have a lot of tabs open? You're likely hitting the RAM ceiling of your iPad which can cause Safari (or any other browser) to crash. I previously had a 6th generation iPad and while I didn't have outright crashes I did experience plenty of freezing because of the limited memory, freezes which went away after I upgraded to an iPad Pro with 8GB of RAM (and the ability to use virtual memory).
I don’t know if a specific site is causing it. I mostly have youtube on a tab or two and eBay,Facebook,Reddit open. I usually I have 10-20 tabs open. The freezing just started a few days ago. The last few years I’ve had issues with the pages reloading and causing safari to crash. Now i get crashes, pages glitching out when going back a page and the whole system Freezing. Only happens on any web browsers though. The actual YouTube app,Netflix etc is fine. I just ordered a 256gb air 5. I had enough with this one.
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
iPadOS 17 obliterating the device. It’s what always happens. I have a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 and a family member has a 6th-gen iPad on iOS 12, and they’re perfect with no such issues. Good call buying a new one - there’s no other solution.
 

Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
iPadOS 17 obliterating the device. It’s what always happens. I have a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 and a family member has a 6th-gen iPad on iOS 12, and they’re perfect with no such issues. Good call buying a new one - there’s no other solution.
It’s been refreshing pages after a few days use for the last few years Since upgrading to iOS 14. If I reboot it would be fine again for a while. I think the freezing and the issue when going back a page started happening after the 17.2 update. My battery also has been draining a little faster. I used to be at 20-25 percent at the end of the day now it’s 5 percent Since the update . I tried going to the 17.3 beta and it didn’t help and it wouldn’t let me down grade back to 17.1. I tried using software to downgrade back to iOS 13 but it kept saying the firmware didn’t match my device.

I would have been fine with the reloading until the release the new one (I was supposed to upgrade last oct when the current ones price dropped damn you apple🤬😂). But I can’t deal constant freezing until June -oct this year.

i was gonna get the 10 64gb but thought it would be better to just get the air 5 with the M1 chip with 256gb. the M1 chip will probably last a lot longer and I have 256gb on my phone and only used alittle over half than half the storage With games and stuff. The 64:would work but would probably be useless in a year or two With all the updates Size increasing.
 

Digitalguy

macrumors 601
Apr 15, 2019
4,643
4,469
2GB RAM device are better off with staying with iPadOS 13 at best. That's where I left my 9.7 pro and it works fine. I regretted upgrading my mini 4 to 14, it got really laggy.
I think 13 gives the best compomise of functionality and usabliity.
But one you have updated there is no way back. Get a new device with enough RAM and storage
 

Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
iPadOS 17 obliterating the device. It’s what always happens. I have a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 and a family member has a 6th-gen iPad on iOS 12, and they’re perfect with no such issues. Good call buying a new one - there’s no other solution.
Would 17 be alright on the air or should I wait for 18
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
Would 17 be alright on the air or should I wait for 18
Maintain the originally installed major version, then do whatever you want. If you’re running iPadOS 16, keep it there. If you’re running iPadOS 17.2, you can install the latest iPadOS 17 version (I’d wait for the last one closer to September) if you want, or you can just keep 17.2. Never install a major update like iPadOS 18.

I have the Air 5… on iPadOS 15.
 

Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
Maintain the originally installed major version, then do whatever you want. If you’re running iPadOS 16, keep it there. If you’re running iPadOS 17.2, you can install the latest iPadOS 17 version (I’d wait for the last one closer to September) if you want, or you can just keep 17.2. Never install a major update like iPadOS 18.

I have the Air 5… on iPadOS 15.
The one I got was on 17.2 already. I had to send it back to tmobile because there was backlight bleed i was able to see at 50 percent brightness. They wont exchange it in store and apple wont test it properly the girl claimed they had a machine to test it and it came out fine. I tried telling her you had to go in to a dark room to see it and she said she wont do that. Now I have to wait a minimum of 1 month to 4 months to wait for a refund to reorder it. Back to being in hell with this one. The page refreshed while typing this . I thought I lost it. Almost throw it into the wall.
 

winxmac

macrumors 68000
Sep 1, 2021
1,560
1,824
I guess it was a good decision to upgrade my iPad 6 to iOS 16.7 and skip iOS 17.x entirely... It used to be on iOS 13.7 but with so many missing features in the Photos app I had to upgrade...

I signed up for the beta program and set the update to only check for iOS 16 developer beta so it no longer prompts to update...
 

Wolfy1091

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 21, 2023
24
3
I guess it was a good decision to upgrade my iPad 6 to iOS 16.7 and skip iOS 17.x entirely... It used to be on iOS 13.7 but with so many missing features in the Photos app I had to upgrade...

I signed up for the beta program and set the update to only check for iOS 16 developer beta so it no longer prompts to update...
I had issues with pages refreshing since iPadOS 14
 

Liam Steven

macrumors 6502
Oct 9, 2012
334
62
For those still on version 12/13 etc. how are you running the latest Apps? I’m still on Air 2 (iPadOS 15) and I’m finding some Apps requiring 16 as a minimum…
 

FeliApple

macrumors 68040
Apr 8, 2015
3,684
2,088
For those still on version 12/13 etc. how are you running the latest Apps? I’m still on Air 2 (iPadOS 15) and I’m finding some Apps requiring 16 as a minimum…
9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 here. I use the iPad for content consumption. I don’t download a million apps, and even then, most support downloading older app versions which support iOS 12.

Worst case scenario? (An app not previously purchased that supports an older version), then I ask a friend or family member to let me download the app with my Apple ID on their compatible device, which allows me to then download a compatible version with iOS 12.


The amount of apps whose earliest version doesn’t support any of my devices isn’t high, so that’s not too relevant.

How many apps do you need, anyway? Do you really download the latest released apps all the time? I have barely encountered those.
 
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