iPad Is Ipad Air 2 the next longevity model?

[rui no onna]

Me I will stick with my iPad Air 2 for a looong time ..... It will be the next longevity model

More like it's the first longevity model.

I really don't get how people keep saying iPad 2 was long lasting. Even if it did get firmware updates up to iOS 9, performance was pretty crappy with iOS 8 onwards and even iOS 7 took its toll on the device.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Anyone still kicking it strong with their iPad Air 2?

I just bought an iPad Air 2 this month (voiced in this thread) - https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thoughts-on-my-new-ipad-air-2.2026528/ - I've had it for several weeks now and I still am really thrilled with it. I plan on using it for several years as I have moved most of my reading over to it. My iPad Air 2 was made on 12-12-2016 (manufactured date).

I went to BestBuy - I did not like the feel of the Pro and instead opted for an iPad Air 2. I came from an iPad Mini 4 and I constantly ask myself how I lived without this thing for all these years.

I'm using the iPad Air 2 for 4 hours (email, website browsing, reading books, watching youtube videos) and I have yet to go below 80% battery life left. There is no lag and I have had no problems using this device (I have a 6s+ for my phone).

 

[Math889]

More like it's the first longevity model.

I really don't get how people keep saying iPad 2 was long lasting. Even if it did get firmware updates up to iOS 9, performance was pretty crappy with iOS 8 onwards and even iOS 7 took its toll on the device.

IOS 7 was laggy on iPad 2 but still usuable
IOS 8 made it unusable
IOS 9 - made it more unusable

 

[rui no onna]

IOS 7 was laggy on iPad 2 but still usuable
IOS 8 made it unusable
IOS 9 - made it more unusable

Exactly.

• iPad 2: 2011-2014 (iOS 4 - iOS 7; laggy but usable)
• iPad 3: 2012-2016 (iOS 5 - iOS 9; iOS 8 was just bad for anything that wasn't Air 2 but iOS 9 made it surprisingly usable again)
• iPad 4: 2012-current (iOS 6 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air: 2013-current (iOS 7 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air 2: 2014-current (iOS 8 - iOS 10; doing very well for its age)

That's why for me, the Air 2 is the first longevity model.

 

[Math889]

Exactly.

• iPad 2: 2011-2014 (iOS 4 - iOS 7)
• iPad 3: 2012-2016 (iOS 5 - iOS 9; iOS 8 was just bad for anything that wasn't Air 2 but iOS 9 made it surprisingly usable again)
• iPad 4: 2012-current (iOS 6 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air: 2013-current (iOS 7 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air 2: 2014-current (iOS 8 - iOS 10; doing very well for its age)

That's why for me, the Air 2 is the first longevity model.

The IPad 4 is usable but it's really laggy on iOS 10 . The IPad 4 laggy started since iOS 9.( I have one, butI gave to my dad )
Now , I really want to see how the IPad Air 2 will perform on iOS 11 . It's the third major firmware that it will get.

 

[Channan]

Exactly.

• iPad 2: 2011-2014 (iOS 4 - iOS 7)
• iPad 3: 2012-2016 (iOS 5 - iOS 9; iOS 8 was just bad for anything that wasn't Air 2 but iOS 9 made it surprisingly usable again)
• iPad 4: 2012-current (iOS 6 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air: 2013-current (iOS 7 - iOS 10; laggy but usable)
• iPad Air 2: 2014-current (iOS 8 - iOS 10; doing very well for its age)

That's why for me, the Air 2 is the first longevity model.

Why did you stop at iOS 7 for the iPad 2?

And if the iPad 2 didn't start getting bad until iOS 7, we have to wait and see how the iPad Air 2 performs on iOS 11 before we can say it's better for longevity. I doubt it's going to get bad within one update from now, but we don't know for certain yet.

 

[Kendo]

Why did you stop at iOS 7 for the iPad 2?

And if the iPad 2 didn't start getting bad until iOS 7, we have to wait and see how the iPad Air 2 performs on iOS 11 before we can say it's better for longevity. I doubt it's going to get bad within one update from now, but we don't know for certain yet.

I generally don't like going past two generations for iOS updates. For example, if the iPad Air 2 released with iOS 8, I will upgrade to iOS 9 during the second year and iOS 10 the third year. When iOS 11 hits, I would keep it at iOS 10 during the 4th year since all apps should still be compatible with iOS 10 since it is only one year out.

The 4th year is when I upgrade to the newest hardware and repeat the cycle.

 

[rui no onna]

Why did you stop at iOS 7 for the iPad 2?

And if the iPad 2 didn't start getting bad until iOS 7, we have to wait and see how the iPad Air 2 performs on iOS 11 before we can say it's better for longevity. I doubt it's going to get bad within one update from now, but we don't know for certain yet.

There's usually always a little bit of additional lag whenever updating firmware but it wasn't significant prior to iOS 7. The iPad 2 was laggy but usuable on iOS 7 but anything after that was just too laggy it may as well be unusable.

iPad 3 was also practically unusable on iOS 8 but iOS 9 improved performance and got rid of the extremely long keyboard delay.

Given the choice though, anything that doesn't have at least A7, I'd keep on iOS 6. The system requirements for iOS 7 and higher just increased too much for older devices to cope well.

 

[Timothy Leo Crowley]

I feel that way. I used the iPad 2 from the day it came out until last week when I finally broke down and replaced it with an IPad Air 2. Amazed with this machine and see no reason why I can't keep using it for several years.

 

[Zaft]

iPad air 2 will last a while. I purchased mine around March 2015 and wont replace it for a while.
I dont use the pencil and the real world performance difference between the pro and air 2 is almost non existent.

I wonder why apple ditched the tri core set up on the air 2.

 

[rui no onna]

I wonder why apple ditched the tri core set up on the air 2.

I reckon AnandTech guessed it correctly in their iPad Pro 12.9 review.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/2

The fact that Apple dropped back down to 2 CPU cores is unexpected given that we don’t expect Apple to ever go backwards in such a fashion, and while we’ll never know the official reason for everything Apple does, in retrospect I’m starting to think that A8X was an anomaly and Apple didn’t really want a tri-core CPU in the first place. A8X came at a time where Apple was bound by TSMC’s 20nm process and couldn’t drive up their clockspeeds without vastly increasing power consumption, so a third core was a far more power effective option.

 

[Zaft]

I reckon AnandTech guessed it correctly in their iPad Pro 12.9 review.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9766/the-apple-ipad-pro-review/2

Interesting thanks. This 3rd core may be the reason the air 2 lasts a while.

 

[solarguy17]

iPad air 2 will last a while. I purchased mine around March 2015 and wont replace it for a while.
I dont use the pencil and the real world performance difference between the pro and air 2 is almost non existent.

I wonder why apple ditched the tri core set up on the air 2.

I bought Pro9.7 back when BB was having their Black Friday in July sale and their student discount overlapped. Picked up the base model Pro9.7 for $375. Less then Air 2 which wasn't included in the sale.
Have used both models, there is no way I would go an Air2.
The display with the true tone is gorgeous. The 4 speakers makes media viewing great. It's super fast and the. Extra 16 GB of space makes all the difference.

I barely touch my MBPro now, I use the iPad for everything. I truly could go completely PostPC and just use iPads and iPhones with no computer at all.
I don't even have a keyboard or pencil for the iPad.

But I love it.

 

[Zaft]

I bought Pro9.7 back when BB was having their Black Friday in July sale and their student discount overlapped. Picked up the base model Pro9.7 for $375. Less then Air 2 which wasn't included in the sale.
Have used both models, there is no way I would go an Air2.
The display with the true tone is gorgeous. The 4 speakers makes media viewing great. It's super fast and the. Extra 16 GB of space makes all the difference.

I barely touch my MBPro now, I use the iPad for everything. I truly could go completely PostPC and just use iPads and iPhones with no computer at all.
I don't even have a keyboard or pencil for the iPad.

But I love it.

My air 2 is my computer. I don't even have a laptop. Of course this is very dependent on everyone's uses but for me the iPad does everything I need.

 

[Royksöpp]

It could be unless they get a wild hair up their ass and screw everyone with iOS 11.

 

[Channan]

Bought my first MacBook Pro back in 2010 when I absolutely needed a laptop. Upgraded to a retina MacBook Pro in 2014 and it actually felt like a waste of money. After the novelty wore off, I barely used it. Until recently I would use it maybe once a month or so and that was mostly because I made myself use it to not feel like it was such a waste.

Now I'm back in school and so happy I have a laptop now. My iPad could do everything I need my MacBook Pro for, but remote access to the school lab computers is really inconvenient on a touchscreen and takes longer to do, I frequently juggle between multiple screens of split-screen apps (most of my apps on iPad don't support split-screen, and you only get two apps total side-by side), and I need the physical keyboard for typing without looking at the screen. I know I can buy a keyboard case for my iPad but there's no reason to spend more money to transform my iPad into a laptop when I already have a laptop.

My iPad is still my main device for personal use and great for reading the notes I type on my MacBook Pro, though.

 

[Kendo]

Can't believe I created this post 3 years ago. The Air 2 is still kicking it strong. I can't believe I resisted two iPad upgrades (both Pro models at that) but the Air 2 is such a great device I'm hanging onto it for one more year. 4 years (2014 to 2018) is an eternity for a tablet.

 

[batman75]

Can't believe I created this post 3 years ago. The Air 2 is still kicking it strong. I can't believe I resisted two iPad upgrades (both Pro models at that) but the Air 2 is such a great device I'm hanging onto it for one more year. 4 years (2014 to 2018) is an eternity for a tablet.

I agree with you. I also ran the iPad Air 2 for 4 years. It was a great iPad and still perfectly usable after 4 years. I did upgrade to the iPad Pro 2 10.5 a couple of weeks ago. I managed to find a used one for about $200 off and at that price it was worth the upgrade. Interestingly I still got about $350 for the iPad Air 2 so it was worth 40% after 4 years. That's a strong indication that there's plenty of life left in the Air 2.

FWIW - I have the same long life feeling about the iPad Pro 2 10.5. It's the new Air 2.

 

[sparksd]

Can't believe I created this post 3 years ago. The Air 2 is still kicking it strong. I can't believe I resisted two iPad upgrades (both Pro models at that) but the Air 2 is such a great device I'm hanging onto it for one more year. 4 years (2014 to 2018) is an eternity for a tablet.

Yeah, mine is running great with 11.1 Beta 4. No need to upgrade here.

 

[Ffosse]

Just this year I went from iPad (2017) to iPad Pro 9.7 to iPad Pro 10.5.

I plan on keeping the 10.5 a while.

 

[aakshey]

If you want really good speed,

The original iPad lasted less than 12 months.

iPad 2, 3, 4 all lasted about 12 months.

iPad Air lasted 24 months.

Air 2 has already lasted 36+ months. And is doing fine.

 

[itsmilo]

Yep Air 2 is still doing strong. Honestly i only bought the iPad Pro 10.5 cuz there is no tax in Dubai and i was on vacation

 

[dogslobber]

Anyone still kicking it strong with their iPad Air 2?

Yes! The Air 2 will be good until Sept 2021.
[doublepost=1508621079][/doublepost]

I generally don't like going past two generations for iOS updates. For example, if the iPad Air 2 released with iOS 8, I will upgrade to iOS 9 during the second year and iOS 10 the third year. When iOS 11 hits, I would keep it at iOS 10 during the 4th year since all apps should still be compatible with iOS 10 since it is only one year out.

My Air 2 had iOS 10 already when I bought it a year ago. Seems to be pretty good on iOS 11, too.
[doublepost=1508621320][/doublepost]

iPad 3 was also practically unusable on iOS 8 but iOS 9 improved performance and got rid of the extremely long keyboard delay.

Thing which neutered the iPad 3 was lack of memory. You’d see this using tabs as each webpage would reload. Very annoying and slow. Also, Safari didn’t support ad blocking so it was really slow with ads. I got around that by using a router that blocked IPs of ads. Don’t need to do that with my Air 2.
[doublepost=1508621633][/doublepost]

It could be unless they get a wild hair up their ass and screw everyone with iOS 11.

I think we’ll be okay.

 

[Sunshoopa]

Just this year I went from iPad (2017) to iPad Pro 9.7 to iPad Pro 10.5.

I plan on keeping the 10.5 a while.

Yeah, it’ll be lasting awhile for me too. I had my iPad 2 for 2 years, and had the Air for 3.5 years. To be honest, the only problem I had with the 2 or the Air was the RAM, as I didn’t even care about the animation stutters much. I couldn’t stand the constant application crashing and restarting when switching between apps. Now that the 10.5 has 4GB (compared to 512MB and 1GB), I don’t see that being a problem for a long time.

 

[kilimanjaro]

I bought two of these for my folks over two years ago.. now they rarely use their iMac and call the iPad Air 2's 'their laptops'.
Wrapped in their 3rd party keyboards, they are solid and won't die anytime soon.
Next time I go home I'll get them on iOS11.