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iPad iPad with Retina display (iPad 3) who still has one?

840quadra

840quadra

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Original poster
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,560
6,498
Twin Cities Minnesota
Curious to see who still has what has what is almost universally the least future proof iPads ever built. Even with the 10.5 and 11 inch iPad Pro in circulation here at my home, the 3 is proving to be a robust, and still useful device for us. Even now, I find myself typing many responses to Macrumors threads on mine, and find it reasonably quick for what it is.

It was my first iPad, and I learned to touch type on this nearly as fast as on a standard keyboard, which I find odd, as I am a classic Apple keyboard fan, and dislike most of the newer chicklet keyboards as a rule. It was my only iPad until I purchased a 2nd hand air 2 shortly before I replaced that with the iPad Pro 9.7.

Great uses for me
  • Netflix viewing in my kitchen (AirPlay audio to homepod)
  • Kitchen music ( homepod )
  • VLC videos
  • Simple browsing
  • Picture frame
  • Kitchen browser for food recipes and websites.
  • Classic iOS 32 bit games.
 
I still have the ipad 3, 64GB with Verizon cell.
Barely use it because it's so slow. Still on iOS 9.35, which is the last version it supported.
It's ok for watching video or playing games that were from that version, but it has tons of issues with modern web sites, etc.
Waiting for my 12.9" SG 1TB with Cell to arrive.
 
This was the first iPad I got. I sold it to get the mini Retina display,which I still have. Now I have the 2018 iPad Pro 11”.
 
I still have it. When I got the Galaxy Note 2 phone a year after I didn’t use iPad 3 as much. It was slow. And the Galaxy Note 2, a 5.5” phone, already had split screen at that point (~2013), just to put things in perspective.
 
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I kinda expected low turnout for current users. I love mine still, though I think my being a collector of old apple gear (as well as old android and PC stuff) puts things into perspecrive for me. The iPad does great compared to a quadra 840av from 1993. ;)

Dexterama said:
I still have it. When I got the Galaxy Note 2 phone a year after I didn’t use iPad 3 as much. It was slow. And the Galaxy Note 2, a 5.5” phone, already had split screen at that point (~2013), just to put things in perspective.
Click to expand...
Yep, android, And jailbeoken iOS had that feature far before apple officially supported it on iPad (split screen). Amazed how used to it I got, and greatly miss on my iphones.

Good thing I had Droid, Nexus, and pixel phones in circulation!
 
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I just upgraded from my iPad 3 to a 12.9” pro. The 3 was basically unusable to the point i dont think i really turned it on in the last 3 years
 
I still have mine but just proppped up next to my iMac for having weather up on a page or radar during rain/snow in the area.
Always thought it had a great looking screen.
 
Still have my iPad2 skipped the 3 bought a 4 still have it, but like the 2 Apple stopped supporting it and i find they have some problems, but it's still very useful.
Just hope Apple supports my 2017 iPadPro for maybe two more years.
 
I got one for christmas a while back. Was the only iPad I ever owned. Ended up selling it when I got my 15in MBP, and iPhone 7 Plus. Never saw it as anything more than a larger, less useful iPhone. I couldn't even do school work on it efficiently.
 
Still have mine. First iPad purchased. It is legacied on iOS 7.1.2. About a year ago the screen started to produce ghosting artifacts from previously viewed media and then one day, (3 months ago) all that the screen could produce was a murky gray blob. I powered it down, rebooted it and that seemed to correct the issue. Full resolution came back. Weeks in, I am getting some ghosting on the screen but not as bad as before. I feel that having kept it on IOS 7 is the best option taken, vis-á-vis user experience.
[doublepost=1543122076][/doublepost]
119603AD-2899-426A-8B86-04DA1063C604.jpeg
Faded vertical and horizontal artifacts can be seen from a photo of the screen taken moments ago.
 
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It was my second owned iPad (after 1st gen), and from my point of view a disaster. After a few IOS upgrades, it became completely useless. I’ve always regretted sinking so much money into this 64gb dud.
 
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I had one but gave it to my grown daughter.
I remember it ran sooooo hot.
The thing bricked on the next iOS upgrade though. Good thing it was just a gift and I didn't sell it to anyone. I would have felt so bad.
 
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I think my using it still has helped me realize how far iOS and these devices have gone with regards to Hardware. Those that think Apple is wasting time and money putting fast processors in iPads, needs to remember what they were like long ago!

I still enjoy it, for the legacy iOS apps if nothing else. My only other option is using an iPhone 4, but that too was an underpowered 1st generation retina device.
 
I am typing on it right now. I use it to watch videos and listen to music and I use Tapatalk to access several message boards I frequent. It's too slow for anything else.

I got an iPad Pro 9.7 that I gave to family. It is still very fast and no issues other than occasional website reloading. And I just bought a Huawei M5 10.1 pro lte on Black Friday sale. Blazing fast and very smooth. I am pleasantly surprised because I wasn't happy with my other android tablet (a Samsung Tab A). Will be use the m5 as my primary tablet. I like to alternate between iOS and Android and maybe chromeOS in the future.

The major decision will be my next phone. I have an 8 plus that I am keeping for at least 2 more years. Not sure if I will go for an iPhone or an Android when I am ready upgrade. I am fairly optimistic iPhone will be rid of that ugly notch and be looking great again in 2 years. But then Android also has plenty of nice phones I am drooling over every time I peak outside the walled garden.
 
First iPad I owned and luckily I didn't buy it new. Upgrading to 9.3.5 made it an awful experience and I ended up trading it in to buy an Air2.. Night and day difference.
 
Mine is my daily driver. I use it more than my new iPhone 8 and mucch more than my main computer, the MacBook Pro 13 2010. If I didn't have the iPad, I'd be much less mobile with my documents and keeping up to date.

Only in the last few weeks has it started to make me wonder if the battery is going. The screen and everything else are in perfect shape. My second biggest issue is that it can't go past iOS 9.3. I'm starting to feel out of touch with what the newer iOS features can do.
 
iPad 3 is really the worst Apple product ever made. The hardware totally couldn't support the retina resolution of the iPad. To add insult to the injury, Apple replaced it with the iPad 4 in a few months.
 
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Still have mine from launch day in mint condition, 64GB was a lot back then. Works great despite 9.3.5 slowing it down a bit. Still works online, youtube, Netflix, some 32bit and other games. Looking at possibly jailbreaking and dual booting iOS on it. Had the iPad Pro OG 12.9 but sold it, looking at upgrading to a 11inch 512GB or 1TB in the next month or so. :D
 
My mum is still using my old iPad 3, she’s about to get an upgrade to my old iPad Air 2 now I’ve got a 3rd gen Pro!

From what I’ve seen the 3 is very slow and frustrating to use.
 
Yep I gave it to my parents which still use it. It's the OG one with the old style connector, not the lightning update they did.

It gets used, but god it's slow.
 
It has the same processor as the iPad 2 I believe, but with way higher resolution. I’m surprised they run at all, my iPad 2 has been away in the drawer for a couple years because it’s so painfully slow lol. Barely can stream Netflix properly half the time.
 
UnLiMiTeD558 said:
It has the same processor as the iPad 2 I believe, but with way higher resolution. I’m surprised they run at all, my iPad 2 has been away in the drawer for a couple years because it’s so painfully slow lol. Barely can stream Netflix properly half the time.
Click to expand...
We should put it in the context of 2011, at that time scrolling a webpage that 'large' on the hands smoothly, was already a big feature. It's really amazing so much progress has been made in iPhone and iPad, that they can rival the performance of a mid to high range laptop, in such a small package.
 
UnLiMiTeD558 said:
It has the same processor as the iPad 2 I believe, but with way higher resolution. I’m surprised they run at all, my iPad 2 has been away in the drawer for a couple years because it’s so painfully slow lol. Barely can stream Netflix properly half the time.
Click to expand...
Nope, iPad 2nd gen had A5 cpu and 512mb ram, iPad 3rd gen had A5X cpu and 1gb ram
 
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