iPad Air iPad Longevity?

[RobCoenen]

One thing is for sure, their (feature) update scheme is incredible:

 

[zidarko]

I have the first iteration of the iPad pro that I bought six years ago. A bit slow and the battery is poor.

Few days ago I passed it to my son (6) as his first computer.

 

[RRC]

I’ve only just replaced an original iPad Air with the new iPad mini 6. Other than not so great battery life the old iPad still works perfectly well and will be handed down within the family.

 

[Digitalguy]

I don't think my post lacked any information, and I'm curious about your comment. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 6, released in August 2019 (2-1/2 years ago - I got it in May 2020) that is now, only 23 months old, woefully behind both my Apple and Microsoft stuff. My comments are not because of bias and lack of information, they are based on an Android product in my possession that needs to be replaced already.

Yes, lack of information "about recent developments" I said, which you conveniently omitted. In particular, I was referring to Samsung increasing the number of OS updates, as I specified. And if you are trying to imply that Android tablets are not as fast as iPads, that has been the case for quite a few years. Apple has decoupled their iPad chips from the phones chips. Not Qualcomm or Samsung.... And even their phone chips are faster. So if you think that being slower than iPads makes them obselete 20 minutes after you purchase them, let me tell you, your tab S6 was obsolete before you bought it.
What has made iPads slow over time, even the still supported ones, was lack of RAM, not so much CPU speed. This has now changed with M1.

 

[Reggaenald]

There’s not much for me to add to this discussion but to say that 5 years don’t make you a long therm iPhone user. Had you witnessed iOS 7 or older you’d be a long time user, but 5 years? Sorry, but no.

 

[Mcckoe]

Currently we have:
2x10.5” A10X iPad Pros - kids
2x12.9” M1 iPad Pros - adults
1x12.9” A12X iPad Pro - semi-adult

The two 10.5” iPad Pros are now basically modern iPads, only with 120hz screens and 4 speakers instead of 2.

On the 12.9” iPads: the screens are slightly better and center stage is nice on the M1’s but overall A12X is just as good.

I would say from a future proofing point… it might not be this way in the future, but the iPad pros do seem to age well… The only downside really is… repair cost, ex. new 120hz screen for an 10.5” iPad Pro is still expensive to this day, and you could buy an entire iPad for the cost to repair one of those 12.9” screens.

 

[jdb8167]

On the 12.9” iPads: the screens are slightly better and front row is nice on the M1’s but overall A12X is just as good.

Front row?

 

[Channan]

I never got rid of my 2017 10.5” iPad Pro when I purchased my 2018 11” iPad Pro, so I still use the 2017 model when my 2018 model is charging or if I want to use an iPad while falling asleep as I’d rather risk knocking the old one off my bed while I’m sleeping rather than the newer one.

The battery life in the 2017 model is terrible at this point, not lasting more than a few hours of use. But that’s expected given how old it is and how much I’ve used it. The 2018 model was purchased as a refurb well after the next model was released, so the battery isn’t nearly as old as the 2017 model’s and still lasts a long time.

But yeah, I’m still using two iPads that were initially released almost 4 and 5 years ago, and I don’t feel compelled to upgrade. I also have the current gen iPad mini that was released last fall and I don’t feel like it performs noticeably better than either of my iPad Pros. They’re still extremely fast and smooth. So yes, the current Air should last at least 5 years easily.

 

[Richard8655]

I'm still surprised the base iPad 5 (2017) is supported by iOS 15. I have one on 15, and it actually does quite well. In the past, older iPads would not have been supported nearly as long. And when they were on their last supported iOS version, they were practically unusable (my experience with iPad 3).

 

[Mcckoe]

Front row?

Apologies, center stage.

 

[jdb8167]

I never got rid of my 2017 10.5” iPad Pro when I purchased my 2018 11” iPad Pro, so I still use the 2017 model when my 2018 model is charging or if I want to use an iPad while falling asleep as I’d rather risk knocking the old one off my bed while I’m sleeping rather than the newer one.

The battery life in the 2017 model is terrible at this point, not lasting more than a few hours of use. But that’s expected given how old it is and how much I’ve used it. The 2018 model was purchased as a refurb well after the next model was released, so the battery isn’t nearly as old as the 2017 model’s and still lasts a long time.

But yeah, I’m still using two iPads that were initially released almost 4 and 5 years ago, and I don’t feel compelled to upgrade. I also have the current gen iPad mini that was released last fall and I don’t feel like it performs noticeably better than either of my iPad Pros. They’re still extremely fast and smooth. So yes, the current Air should last at least 5 years easily.

The 2018 iPad Pro is slower in single core but still faster in multi-core than the downclocked A15 in the iPad mini 6.

 

[CoMoMacUser]

Hardware-wise, an iPad can last over a decade. For example, the battery on my original (first-gen) iPad still lasts like it did brand-new. And software-wise, I could still do at least basics such as email until about a year ago, when its security capabilities no longer met my host's requirements. But most other apps stopped supporting it around year five because the chip was too old, not enough RAM, etc.

So I would agree that you should be able to get at least five years of software (Apple and app devs) support and solid performance out of the latest Air and Pro.

Good luck!

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I'm a long-time (5 years - I guess that's a "long time" in the world of smartphones) iPhone user, and one of the most important positives I've discovered is that these little devices last a looooong time. I had an 8 Plus that I used for almost four years that was supported, viable and fast even when I upgraded to a 13.

I'm considering getting an iPad Air, and although I think I already know the answer I'll ask anyway: Can I expect an iPad to remain strong, fast and useful for a 5 year (or longer) span? Or is it gonna be like a Sammy Galaxy Tablet and be slow and outdated 20 minutes after purchase? I don't want to drop over a K on something that becomes useless too quickly. TIA!!

I’m still using the iPad Pro 9.7 that came out in 2016, and it’s still supported.

 

[HiVolt]

I'm considering getting an iPad Air, and although I think I already know the answer I'll ask anyway: Can I expect an iPad to remain strong, fast and useful for a 5 year (or longer) span? Or is it gonna be like a Sammy Galaxy Tablet and be slow and outdated 20 minutes after purchase? I don't want to drop over a K on something that becomes useless too quickly. TIA!!

I'm using an iPad Pro 2nd 10.5" gen (2017) and its still pretty good for my light use. My mom uses an iPad Pro 2nd gen 12.9" as her full time computing device. Still does everything well and is still fully supported.

 

[Diablo360]

I use them until they start to get slow. Usually around 4-5 years on average

 

[Mark Stone]

Currently we have:
2x10.5” A10X iPad Pros - kids
2x12.9” M1 iPad Pros - adults
1x12.9” A12X iPad Pro - semi-adult

The two 10.5” iPad Pros are now basically modern iPads, only with 120hz screens and 4 speakers instead of 2.

On the 12.9” iPads: the screens are slightly better and center stage is nice on the M1’s but overall A12X is just as good.

I would say from a future proofing point… it might not be this way in the future, but the iPad pros do seem to age well… The only downside really is… repair cost, ex. new 120hz screen for an 10.5” iPad Pro is still expensive to this day, and you could buy an entire iPad for the cost to repair one of those 12.9” screens.

One attractive aspect of a 2022 iPad Air purchase is that a two-year (and renewable) Apple Care plan is only $79.

 

[Mark Stone]

There’s not much for me to add to this discussion but to say that 5 years don’t make you a long therm iPhone user. Had you witnessed iOS 7 or older you’d be a long time user, but 5 years? Sorry, but no.

You really picked that comment out of my post to respond to? ???

 

[Mark Stone]

Yes, lack of information "about recent developments" I said, which you conveniently omitted. In particular, I was referring to Samsung increasing the number of OS updates, as I specified. And if you are trying to imply that Android tablets are not as fast as iPads, that has been the case for quite a few years. Apple has decoupled their iPad chips from the phones chips. Not Qualcomm or Samsung.... And even their phone chips are faster. So if you think that being slower than iPads makes them obselete 20 minutes after you purchase them, let me tell you, your tab S6 was obsolete before you bought it.
What has made iPads slow over time, even the still supported ones, was lack of RAM, not so much CPU speed. This has now changed with M1.

Exactly. However, If you agree with the premise of my op, why the comment about "lack of information"? The question was merely whether I could expect long life out of a new iPad.

 

[Mark Stone]

The iPad Air 2, which was released back in 2014, is still supported on iOS15.
If you get the current M1 iPad Air, I would say you'll be fine for at least 5 years or longer. And unlike phones, iPads have better thermal headroom, so even the older ones will perform better than an iPhone with the same chip.

As for Samsung Galaxy tab, the impression of them becoming slow is probably on the cheap tablets as they usually use very old SoC and slow eMMC storage. I have a Galaxy Tab S7 FE as my PC replacement, and I don't really feel it being slow, other than Android/OneUI's quirkiness when multi-tasking. I can do a Zoom call on one side and having a browser on the other and it runs fine. The challenge is software updates, and that is where iPads will still win.

Having said all that, I would set your expectation what you want to do on an iPad. If I had $1000 to blow, I would rather spend it on an M1 Macbook than an iPad. But that's me personally.

Yes, I'm definitely looking at the MacBook with the M1 also. However, I'm afraid that a MacBook would be redundant to my monster Windows notebook, which is soooooooo good -- but my slowpoke Sammy Tab needs a replacement. ?

 

[Mark Stone]

One thing is for sure, their (feature) update scheme is incredible:
View attachment 1995853
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View attachment 1995855

LOVE this chart - thanks for posting. I can't get over the iPad Air from 2014 - 8 years ago - still being updated.

 

[ian87w]

Yes, I'm definitely looking at the MacBook with the M1 also. However, I'm afraid that a MacBook would be redundant to my monster Windows notebook, which is soooooooo good -- but my slowpoke Sammy Tab needs a replacement. ?

Have you tried resetting the tab and start from scratch? Looking at the Galaxy Tab S6 specs, I can't see how it becomes slow (Snapdragon 855, UFS3). Try updating to the latest OneUI4/Android 12.

 

[Mark Stone]

Have you tried resetting the tab and start from scratch? Looking at the Galaxy Tab S6 specs, I can't see how it becomes slow (Snapdragon 855, UFS3). Try updating to the latest OneUI4/Android 12.

Great suggestion, and already tried. I think I'm comparing the power of the Sammy to my new iPhone 13 (tortoise and rabbit lol), and counting on the M1 in an iPad Air to be as fast (or nearly as fast) as my phone.

 

[myhaksown]

I'm a long-time (5 years - I guess that's a "long time" in the world of smartphones) iPhone user, and one of the most important positives I've discovered is that these little devices last a looooong time. I had an 8 Plus that I used for almost four years that was supported, viable and fast even when I upgraded to a 13.

I'm considering getting an iPad Air, and although I think I already know the answer I'll ask anyway: Can I expect an iPad to remain strong, fast and useful for a 5 year (or longer) span? Or is it gonna be like a Sammy Galaxy Tablet and be slow and outdated 20 minutes after purchase? I don't want to drop over a K on something that becomes useless too quickly. TIA!!

I still use my 2017 pro and it runs great

 

[PsykX]

5 years ? Hell yeah. I wouldn't even worry one bit.

It has an M1 chip, it's never gonna get slow. I mean, I don't see what kind of update to iPadOS Apple can do to bring this down to its knees or to make it laggy. You really have to be an incompetent programmer to make an M1 lag with a regular app.

I have a vacations iPhone, my old 6S. It's 6 years old, it runs iOS 15 and honestly I can't complain about speed, and I'm one who complains about speed a lot when a product is slow.

 

[thefourthpope]

I'm a long-time (5 years - I guess that's a "long time" in the world of smartphones) iPhone user, and one of the most important positives I've discovered is that these little devices last a looooong time. I had an 8 Plus that I used for almost four years that was supported, viable and fast even when I upgraded to a 13.

I'm considering getting an iPad Air, and although I think I already know the answer I'll ask anyway: Can I expect an iPad to remain strong, fast and useful for a 5 year (or longer) span? Or is it gonna be like a Sammy Galaxy Tablet and be slow and outdated 20 minutes after purchase? I don't want to drop over a K on something that becomes useless too quickly. TIA!!

iPad Pro 2018 still going strong for me. Heck, our iPad Mini 2 runs iOS 12 and can—given a little time—do some basic things.