iPad Pro iPad Pro 9.7 - lifespan?

[str0ppy]

Does it stand to reason that if the Air 2 is on its final iOS version with 13, the 2016 Pro will have 14 as its last?

I bought my 256GB mid-2017 and hope that it'll last for a while yet.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Does it stand to reason that if the Air 2 is on its final iOS version with 13

I’d say that iOS 14 will be the last version of iOS to run on the iPad Air 2.

 

[rowspaxe]

Does it stand to reason that if the Air 2 is on its final iOS version with 13, the 2016 Pro will have 14 as its last?

I bought my 256GB mid-2017 and hope that it'll last for a while yet.

"the 2016 Pro will have 14 as its last?" typo?

 

[str0ppy]

"the 2016 Pro will have 14 as its last?" typo?

Don't think so??

 

[rui no onna]

Does it stand to reason that if the Air 2 is on its final iOS version with 13, the 2016 Pro will have 14 as its last?

I bought my 256GB mid-2017 and hope that it'll last for a while yet.

Only Apple knows. That said, iOS 14 support means up to 2021 which ain't bad.

Also, just because Apple has stopped supplying firmware updates doesn't mean your iPad has suddenly become a brick. Even now, most apps still support iOS 10.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Even now, most apps still support iOS 10.

A lot of apps still support iOS 9/iOS 8.

 

[aakshey]

Regardless of whether Air 2 gets iOS 13 or not, it is impossible to state with certainty about the fate of Pro 9.7.

Speaking realistically, if iOS 13 is the last for Air 2, even then Pro 9.7 should get iOS 14 or 15.

 

[Digitalguy]

Nobody can tell for sure, but my feeling is that Apple so far has tended to upgrade beyond the level where it's debatable whether it's not even worth upgrading even if possible. That is all ipads except the first have been upgraded to IOS 9, which was the big turning point and which sort of killed 500MB devices and made 1GB RAM devices painfully slow. By the way IOS 12 does not run worse than IOS 9 on those devices.... Also since ios 11 no 32 bit app works on ipads... My ipad mini 2 on ios 10 is generally slower than my ipad air 1 on ios 12, but is pretty fast with old 32 bit apps (they probably require less RAM/CPU).
So if IOS 13 and 14 will increase RAM usage significantly then ipad pro 9 might slow down. However Apple may simply disable some multitasking features and still upgrade like they did with split screen on 1GB devices. Still, even without that those devices were hit hardly...
My guess is that apple will support the pro 9.7 until at least IOS 14 and very likely IOS 15 too. The big question is whether it will be worth upgrading or not.

 

[Wackery]

the fact that they’re still selling the 9.7 pro refurb tells me it still had at least 3 years of support

 

[MisterSavage]

My 9.7 IPP I bought in 2016 is still running like a champ.

 

[mixel]

Difficult to tell but the spec is so similar to the latest low end iPad, and they still sell the iPad Pro 9.7 in the refurb store... I feel like it’s going to be supported for a good few years yet.. 2022 or something..

Who knows if RAM is going to start being a concern though, reallly depends what they do with multitasking.