iPad Air 2 slow as molasses after upgrading to iOS 15

[nph]

Should I accept it is too old now or could a reinstallation help?
Anyone with the same issue?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

My Air2 has done fine on 14.8.1 so iOS 15 shouldn't slow it down noticeably.. You're talking about a device that's been through a lot of iOS versions so it definitely won't perform like it did on something it shipped with. You may want to try a clean install using iTunes and set it up new.

 

[now i see it]

The driving force behind free annual OS updates is to slow down earlier devices until eventually they become unbearable to use.
There’s a reason why OS upgrades are “free”.
The number one reason people around the world spend untold billions of dollars upgrading their old devices (PCs, Macs, Smartphones) is because their old gear has gotten too freaking slow.
That’s not by mistake- it’s planned.

 

[BBDDVV]

I'm actually still surprised with how well it handles iOS 15 (for a 7 years old device)...
Maybe BugeyeSTI's suggestion might help it restore some old speed?

My Air2 has done fine on 14.8.1 so iOS 15 shouldn't slow it down noticeably.. You're talking about a device that's been through a lot of iOS versions so it definitely won't perform like it did on something it shipped with. You may want to try a clean install using iTunes and set it up new.

 

[dantracht]

I have a thread somewhere about how I recently revived my Air 2 and was quite impressed at how well it ran given it's age. Yes, it's not going to be as smooth or as fast as anything newer, but for what it is, and its age, it holds up amazingly well.

 

[Samdh90]

The driving force behind free annual OS updates is to slow down earlier devices until eventually they become unbearable to use.
There’s a reason why OS upgrades are “free”.
The number one reason people around the world spend untold billions of dollars upgrading their old devices (PCs, Macs, Smartphones) is because their old gear has gotten too freaking slow.
That’s not by mistake- it’s planned.

I know that they got caught with this in the past but wasn't apple banned by court from doing this anylonger?

 

[nph]

with 14.8 it wasn't the fastest but useable. Since upgrading to 15 I can literally count seconds before it responds to input I give it. I will follow the advice and do a clean install and report back.

 

[Chazzle]

So

with 14.8 it wasn't the fastest but useable. Since upgrading to 15 I can literally count seconds before it responds to input I give it. I will follow the advice and do a clean install and report back.

Not normal. Running iPadOS 15 on my Air 2 and it’s quite smooth and responsive.

 

[Hicksmat1976]

tbh my iPad Air 2 is really fast with iOS 15.1 but then again I don't have a lot of apps on there however it is a lot faster than I remember iOS 14.

 

[Tr55]

with 14.8 it wasn't the fastest but useable. Since upgrading to 15 I can literally count seconds before it responds to input I give it. I will follow the advice and do a clean install and report back.

I have an Air 2 16GB running 14.8 and it’s fast.

i did do a clean up and refresh recently but that freed up space more than speed up the machine.
I have made a few minor optimizations like turning off background refresh and turned off lots of notifications elc but that’s it. I actually prefer using it to the abomination that is 15.1 on my 8th gen.

 

[nph]

I wish I could go back to 14.8 on my air 2...