Is it a good idea to buy the aging iPad Mini 2 for heavy gaming?

[Newtons Apple]

They are in use and "useable"..but thats about it..I don't remember saying they all became obsolete all the sudden.
however they are all slow if they run the latest versions of iOS.
They dont deliver a robust,smooth and fast -as they should- anymore.
I don't know why you resist,get over it,1GB in this day and age means poor performance and slow experience.it is very evident whike browsing the web..I have multiple devices and my iPad Mini 2 with just 1 GB is now real pain to use,so slow and annoying not to mention the horrible reloads in safari.thats the reason Apple themselves switched to 2GB on all their devices.
if you don't see slowdown,that simply means you havent used a proper,fast device yet.

Sorry but not buying your 2GB of bust theory. Most iPads being used to day by happy owners with 1GB RAM. A "proper device" is not limited by the RAM.

Ever think it could be YOU?

No sense in arguing as you "know" you are right and 90% of the iPad users do, too!

 

[koolmagicguy]

I have an iPad mini 2 and I love it! It's not as "fast" as the 4 but it works fine! It only holds 80% charge and still lasts me 8-9 hours OF USE. Bought it used without a scratch for $199.

 

[iOSUser7]

2.1 Forget about nonsensical comments made by strangers on the internet.

Browsing with a mini 2 will work just fine, albeit not as quickly as with a newer iPad.

You are a "stranger on the internet" too, your post doesn't make any sense.

Did I say that browsing on the iPad mini 2 is unusable ? No, I said that the 1GB of RAM is not enough for big browsing users which is what the OP seems to be judging by the "lotta browsing".

Judging by some comments here it look like Apple should have sticked with 1GB of RAM for all of their iOS products because "it was perfectly fine before". Times are changing people, the non-retina display (480x320) was fine before but now it look horrible. It's the same for RAM, 1GB was enough in 2013 but now it's not, deal with it.

 

[ColdShadow]

Sorry but not buying your 2GB of bust theory. Most iPads being used to day by happy owners with 1GB RAM. A "proper device" is not limited by the RAM.

Ever think it could be YOU?

No sense in arguing as you "know" you are right and 90% of the iPad users do, too!

How Do you know 90% of iPad users are using older iPads with 1GB ram?
what about all those iPad Air 2s,iPad Pros,iPad Mini 4s?

I just don't see how you have access to the numbers you claim..
besides how do you know they are happy? Have you asked every iPad owner if they are still happy with their experience compared to when the device was purchased?

I ask the same question,what if it's only you who is in denial?

I have Mini 2 with latest iOS and compare it side by side with Air 2 and a Note 5,the Mini 2 clearly feels heavy and slow even for web browsing,it was very decent when I first got it with older iOS,not anymore.

I think you are used to the old and slow exoerience and gavent had the chance to compare it with a better,newer machine with better specs..that's why you don't want to accept the problem.

 

[joeblow7777]

How Do you know 90% of iPad users are using older iPads with 1GB ram?
what about all those iPad Air 2s,iPad Pros,iPad Mini 4s?

90% may be too high, but it's a safe bet that it's a large majority. iPads with more than 1GB of RAM have only been on the market for about 18 months, and if there's one thing that iPad sales figures have shown in the last year or so it's that people aren't replacing their tablets that frequently. The data in the link below claims that as of last October the Air 2 and Mini 4 (at the time, the only iPads with more than 1GB) indeed accounted for less than 10% of total ipads on the market. In fact, models with LESS THAN 1GB of RAM (namely, the iPad 1, 2, and Mini 1) accounted for more than 40% of iPads!

I think that members here and on other techie forums tend to have a skewed perspective of how much the average user cares about the latest hardware. There's a reason why Apple still supports devices as old as the iPad 2 with its 512MB of RAM, they're still very popular and used regularly by tons of people.


http://info.localytics.com/blog/ipad-market-share-analysis-will-the-ipad-pro-dethrone-the-ipad-2

 

[Wando64]

Did I say that browsing on the iPad mini 2 is unusable ? No, I said that the 1GB of RAM is not enough for big browsing users which is what the OP seems to be judging by the "lotta browsing".

Sorry to be picky, but you said: "Forget about browsing with only 1GB of RAM"

 

[iOSUser7]

Sorry to be picky, but you said: "Forget about browsing with only 1GB of RAM"

I agree that my first post was a bit too short but you should have read the other following posts where I explained why I don't recommand the iPad mini 2 for heavy browsing.

 

[dumastudetto]

For gaming I'd definitely try to stretch my budget to an Air 2 Refurb from the Apple Store. Games do tend to be much bigger than general iOS apps, and often take full advantage of the powerful hardware. The Air 2 is still a ridiculously powerful device, has 2GB RAM and will be perfect for browsing and streaming video. It has years of life left in it.

Clearly you don't like the idea of the bigger device though so your options are limited.

It's doubtful iOS 10 is going to be great on 1GB RAM devices. Apple is clearly moving to a 2GB standard now and we should expect them to optimise the OS for it. So if you go with the Mini 2 you'll be facing the choice of staying iOS 9 and missing out on all the iOS 10 only games and updates, or update to iOS 10 and suffer an even more degraded experience.

 

[ColdShadow]

90% may be too high, but it's a safe bet that it's a large majority. iPads with more than 1GB of RAM have only been on the market for about 18 months, and if there's one thing that iPad sales figures have shown in the last year or so it's that people aren't replacing their tablets that frequently. The data in the link below claims that as of last October the Air 2 and Mini 4 (at the time, the only iPads with more than 1GB) indeed accounted for less than 10% of total ipads on the market. In fact, models with LESS THAN 1GB of RAM (namely, the iPad 1, 2, and Mini 1) accounted for more than 40% of iPads!

I think that members here and on other techie forums tend to have a skewed perspective of how much the average user cares about the latest hardware. There's a reason why Apple still supports devices as old as the iPad 2 with its 512MB of RAM, they're still very popular and used regularly by tons of people.


http://info.localytics.com/blog/ipad-market-share-analysis-will-the-ipad-pro-dethrone-the-ipad-2

Most of the older iPads could still be using older version of iOS,which were fine with 512MB /1GB Ram.
My iPad Mini 2 was in fact very snappy when I first bought it with iOS 7.it's only the last few months with iOS 9 that it feels slow and sluggish.
My point is new versions of iOS require more Ram and more CPU power to perform as fast and smooth ,thats a fact.you can't deny it.
infact making devices more resource hungry by newer software updates is a good strategy to encourage people to upgrade.

the iPad Mini 2 with iOS 9 is slow.
Browsing is not fun at all anymore.
page reloading are very frequent now.

I do not recomment it to anyobe who wants pleasant,robust performance for web browsing at all,they will be disappointed.
and it can only get worse.

 

[joeblow7777]

Most of the older iPads could still be using older version of iOS,which were fine with 512MB /1GB Ram.
My iPad Mini 2 was in fact very snappy when I first bought it with iOS 7.it's only the last few months with iOS 9 that it feels slow and sluggish.
My point is new versions of iOS require more Ram and more CPU power to perform as fast and smooth ,thats a fact.you can't deny it.
infact making devices more resource hungry by newer software updates is a good strategy to encourage people to upgrade.

the iPad Mini 2 with iOS 9 is slow.
Browsing is not fun at all anymore.
page reloading are very frequent now.

I do not recomment it to anyobe who wants pleasant,robust performance for web browsing at all,they will be disappointed.
and it can only get worse.

The same article gives information of iOS 9 adoption rates, and indicates that at the time 54% of iPads were running iOS 9, and again "newer iPads", namely the Air 2 and Mini 4, the only ones with more than 1GB at the time, only accounted for about 10% of the total.

 

[ColdShadow]

The same article gives information of iOS 9 adoption rates, and indicates that at the time 54% of iPads were running iOS 9, and again "newer iPads", namely the Air 2 and Mini 4, the only ones with more than 1GB at the time, only accounted for about 10% of the total.

that doesn't prove any of my comments wrong.
I never said 1GB memory makes it impossible to use iOS 9.
I said iPad Mini 2 with aging A7 CPU and just 1 GB RAM running iOS 8/9 is noticeably and annoyingly slower than when it was released and vs current gen iPads/iPhones/current gen Android devices.
that was the original question by OP.

I have this thing in front of me,side by side with an iPad Air 2 and a Galaxy Note 5 and there is night and day difference in web browsing performance,the Mini 2 just soo slow.

and again it can only get worse with later,more demanding software updates..

I don't get it why you insist on something so obvious.
if you are happy with a slow machie thats either because you have very low expectations or that you haven't used something better yet.
simple as that.

 

[joeblow7777]

that doesn't prove any of my comments wrong.
I never said 1GB memory makes it impossible to use iOS 9.
I said iPad Mini 2 with aging A7 CPU and just 1 GB RAM running iOS 8/9 is noticeably and annoyingly slower than when it was released and vs current gen iPads/iPhones/current gen Android devices.
that was the original question by OP.

I have this thing in front of me,side by side with an iPad Air 2 and a Galaxy Note 5 and there is night and day difference in web browsing performance,the Mini 2 just soo slow.

and again it can only get worse with later,more demanding software updates..

I don't get it why you insist on something so obvious.
if you are happy with a slow machie thats either because you have very low expectations or that you haven't used something better yet.
simple as that.

I'm not insisting on anything or trying to prove you wrong. I'm just pointing out A LOT of users evidently find the performance with 1 GB of RAM to be satisfactory. What's more, given how much of the market is still using these devices, Apple has a very good reason to keep them usable. This is why the iPad 2 still receives support and updates. There are more people using it right now than an Air 2 and certainly far more than the Pro. So, to more directly address the question of the OP, at least if ones buys a Mini 2 right now there's a good chance that Apple won't leave you high and dry in the next couple of years by stopping support or making it unusable with a future OS update. Is it the fastest iOS out there? Of course not, but obviously the OP knows that going in.

 

[Mcdevidr]

I'm not insisting on anything or trying to prove you wrong. I'm just pointing out A LOT of users evidently find the performance with 1 GB of RAM to be satisfactory. What's more, given how much of the market is still using these devices, Apple has a very good reason to keep them usable. This is why the iPad 2 still receives support and updates. There are more people using it right now than an Air 2 and certainly far more than the Pro. So, to more directly address the question of the OP, at least if ones buys a Mini 2 right now there's a good chance that Apple won't leave you high and dry in the next couple of years by stopping support or making it unusable with a future OS update. Is it the fastest iOS out there? Of course not, but obviously the OP knows that going in.

I don't understand all these slow browsing comments. How can a $40 Windows tablet with 1gb ram browse the web with an atom processor but a more powerful A7 is a piece of crap and can't maneuver through the simplest of computer functionality? You guys must be on a slow connection. I mean sure it reloads or whatever but I don't recall my iPhone 6 Plus being awful at browsing and the A8 was not much better than A7.

 

[ColdShadow]

Sorry to be picky, but you said: "Forget about browsing with only 1GB of RAM"

Nope,never said that.
I never said forget about web browsing with 1GB Ram,heck I'm typing this on Mini 2 with 1 GB Ram.lol I said web browsing is unpleasant and slow with iOS 9 on A7 or less.
It is.
[doublepost=1461851867][/doublepost]

to more directly address the question of the OP, at least if ones buys a Mini 2 right now there's a good chance that Apple won't leave you high and dry in the next couple of years by stopping support or making it unusable with a future OS update. Is it the fastest iOS out there? Of course not, but obviously the OP knows that going in.

But that's not OP's question and concern..

"I intend to use it mostly for:
1. Online video streaming
2. Lotta browsing
3. Lotta gaming
So is the Mini 2 capable of handling these tasks as good as a Mini 4? "

He wants to do lots of browsing and lots of gaming and is asking if Mini 2 handles these of as good as Mini 4.

is your answer YES to that?

correct answer is HELL NO.

 

[joeblow7777]

Nope,never said that.
I never said forget about web browsing with 1GB Ram,heck I'm typing this on Mini 2 with 1 GB Ram.lol I said web browsing is unpleasant and slow with iOS 9 on A7 or less.
It is.
[doublepost=1461851867][/doublepost]

But that's not OP's question and concern..

"I intend to use it mostly for:
1. Online video streaming
2. Lotta browsing
3. Lotta gaming
So is the Mini 2 capable of handling these tasks as good as a Mini 4? "

He wants to do lots of browsing and lots of gaming and is asking if Mini 2 handles these of as good as Mini 4.

is your answer YES to that?

correct answer is HELL NO.

I think the OP knows that it won't perform as well as a Mini 4. I mean, why would the Mini 4 exist and cost more if it wasn't an improvement? So the real issue is whether or not the Mini 2 is worth the money, and that's highly subjective. Obviously if someone is handing out free iPads and you can choose between a Mini 2 and Mini 4 you would be dumb to take the 2. But is the 2 sufficient given the difference in price...? That's the question.

 

[Rava]

I have a Mini 2 on ios 7.1.2 that works decently. I can't comment on it's performance on ios 9, but it's pretty solid for gaming and works okay for web browsing. Where it falls flat is safari tab refreshing, if I go to another app or even another tab it's pretty much guaranteed that the original tab will refresh when I go back to it (I do use a lot of tabs though). I've learned to live with this, but I would definitely not buy a Mini 2 if I was buying a tablet now. It's only going to get worse as future ios versions will be optimized for newer hardware and more ram.

 

[Grimrocker01]

Wow looks like I missed out a ton of comments. I wanna thank Newton's Apple, Rava, ColdShadow, joeblow7777 for your views (and kinda supporting my theory). As mentioned before, I couldn't stretch my budget to go for a Mini 4; so I'm sticking to the Mini 2.

I do however have a fast Internet connection, so page reloading (hopefully) won't be an issue.

I have booked a 32 GB Mini 2

Peace.https://forums.macrumors.com/members/newtons-apple.881135/

 

[joeblow7777]

I hope you enjoy it.