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On average, how many years do you keep your iPad before upgrading?

On average, how many years do you keep your iPad before upgrading?

  • 1

    Votes: 21 13.0%

  • 2

    Votes: 38 23.6%

  • 3

    Votes: 38 23.6%

  • 4

    Votes: 36 22.4%

  • 5

    Votes: 15 9.3%

  • 6

    Votes: 7 4.3%

  • 7

    Votes: 1 0.6%

  • 8

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 9

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 10 and over

    Votes: 5 3.1%
  • Total voters
    161
I used to upgrade yearly and hand down my previous models. However as improvements slowed, and everyone now has an iPad, that gap has increased. Original iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro 10.5 and also iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2 and iPad mini 4.

I doubt I'll upgrade to a new iPad Pro if one is released this year. The rumored improvements I have no interest in (FaceID, smaller bezels, no home button). I prefer TouchID and the button, and am fine with the bezels the way they are. Any smaller and holding it comfortably would end up blocking parts of the screen.

hajime said:
It is interesting to see that iPad users update more often than MBP users. So, does that imply that laptop is still more useful than iPad?
Click to expand...

iPad's are generally considerably cheaper, the rate of improvement is much greater than laptops, and they are easier to pass down than laptops.
 
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azentropy said:
I used to upgrade yearly and hand down my previous models. However as improvements slowed, and everyone now has an iPad, that gap has increased. Original iPad, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro 10.5 and also iPad Mini, iPad Mini 2 and iPad mini 4.

I doubt I'll upgrade to a new iPad Pro if one is released this year. The rumored improvements I have no interest in (FaceID, smaller bezels, no home button). I prefer TouchID and the button, and am fine with the bezels the way they are. Any smaller and holding it comfortably would end up blocking parts of the screen.



iPad's are generally considerably cheaper, the rate of improvement is much greater than laptops, and they are easier to pass down than laptops.
Click to expand...


I think the home button is kind of cute!
 
darkarn said:
Not just cute; it is very useful if it is on a TouchID model

If Apple removes TouchID in future iPads, I reckon most of us here would just stick with our current iPads until they die
Click to expand...

Pressing the button not only turns on the device but also turns me on. The feel is so smooth and the resistance of the spring is just about right.
 
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Some of the higher options on this poll don’t make much sense considering that the iPad has only been on the market for about 8 years.
I guess if someone is still using the original and plans to be for another 2 years... (shrug)
 
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hajime said:
It is interesting to see that iPad users update more often than MBP users. So, does that imply that laptop is still more useful than iPad?
Click to expand...
Year over year improvements have been significant prior to the iPad Air 2. Not so much now. Meanwhile, desktops and laptops were already mature platforms even before the first iPad was released back in 2010.
 
joeblow7777 said:
Some of the higher options on this poll don’t make much sense considering that the iPad has only been on the market for about 8 years.
I guess if someone is still using the original and plans to be for another 2 years... (shrug)
Click to expand...

It might be a way of saying until it dies, not knowing however long that might be.
 
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I had a iPad 3 I think from 2011 and replaced it with a 2017 ipp. They are completely different use cases. I barely used the iPad 3, my wife used it mainly as a kindle device until she got a real kindle. The ipp though has grown on me. I use it as my main computer. I love taking notes with the pencil, especially when you are discussing something face to face it lets you connect better than having a laptop screen between you. I'll probably do 2-3 year upgrade cycles on iPad and keep my 2015 MacBook pro forever in case I need to do something in macOS or windows. iPad is still such a new device, I think we will see significant upgrades on each release over the next 10 years as tablets replace laptops.
 
I never bought in til the 4th gen, which I LOVED. I kept that til I got an Air 2 (3 years?), which I still have and don't really care for. I like it fine, it's just...not that 4th gen I had. Looking for any excuse to buy a new iPad, but it's such a boring product and my Air 2 on iOS 10 does what I need it to, which is just browsing. No camera flash is a joke though for the rare time I wish I could take a pic with it (which isn't often).

Wife had a mini 2 and just upgraded to a 10.5" pro this past summer since Apple basically left the mini to die on the vine.
 
I upgrade every year and hand the old one down to my son. He does the opposite for the iPhone. I use the iPad all the time for reading, browsing, spreadsheets, etc. I can afford it because everyone gives me Apple cards for Christmas, Fathers Day, Birthday, etc. Many times I am even first in line at our local Apple Store and get the first one.

Love my 10.5, and am already tuned up to get the new 10.5 in June?
 
iPad (Launch 2010), iPad Retina(3) March 2012 - iPad Air December 2013 - iPad Air 2 April 2016 - iPad Pro 10.5 December 2017.

I replaced the 3 because it was slow, took ages to charge and was heavy. My dad still uses it for many hours a day. Replaced the air because I got a good deal to upgrade to an air 2 for only £50. Got the IPP because it is the single most awesome computer (what's a computer) ever and the air 2 was only 16gb so it was doing my head in.

If apple would allow the use of external hard drives I could do without a MBP but that remains for now. The X could take over all iPad duties if the battery lasted longer and was a 1000 cycle device etc.
 
hajime said:
It is interesting to see that iPad users update more often than MBP users. So, does that imply that laptop is still more useful than iPad?
Click to expand...
I think it's more that the iPad is still so new, and so has a lot more room and potential for upgrades.

It's no different from when PCs first became a viable consumer product. I remember specs improving by the week, to the point where a computer was sometimes obsoleted very quickly. Today, the PC is largely a mature product, software specs have largely settled, processor speeds have largely stagnated, and there really isn't much you can do to further improve a laptop form factor beyond making it that bit thinner and lighter.

There will come a time when an iPad's hardware is deemed good enough that I will consider holding on to one for as long as Apple continues to support it with software updates. That day is not today though.
 
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rui no onna said:
Plenty of JavaScript and media heavy sites nowadays. I've seen websites that just plain crash on iPads with 1GB RAM or less. At least with apps, most stop getting updated eventually so the app version installed on an iPad with older iOS firmware might actually work more smoothly. Websites, you're always on the latest version.
Click to expand...

this is one reason why I keep javascript disabled most of the time when browsing (and would do so even on the latest hardware available)

browsing w/o javascript is such a relaxing experience, saving battery life is just a nice side effect

and btw one great thing about mac rumors is that you can keep browsing and commenting even with javascript disabled

on topic: I got my ipad Air 2 sometime in early 2016 and intend to keep it as long as it keeps going
 
Last edited:
I got my iPad Air on launch day, and my 9.7 Pro 3-4 months after launch. So about 3 years? I’m not updating until I start the see 3GB of RAM or more in the 9.7 size. My 9.7 Pro is srill going good.
 
I've got the iPad Mini 4 and had every one since it was first released i used to upgrade every time Apple released a newer model I don't have much use for a bigger iPad since i'd feel it would be a waste for me unless they plan to release a newer model of the iPad Mini i'll keep mine till either it died or they stop updating the iOS for it
 
gary77 said:
I've got the iPad Mini 4 and had every one since it was first released i used to upgrade every time Apple released a newer model I don't have much use for a bigger iPad since i'd feel it would be a waste for me unless they plan to release a newer model of the iPad Mini i'll keep mine till either it died or they stop updating the iOS for it
Click to expand...
The fact Apple is still selling the iPad mini 4, it might be supported for a while yet.
 
Usually change to increase storage, or screen size. If the the 2018 iPad Pro has Face ID, that will also be good reason to update
 
It used to be that when new computer stuff came out it had significant better specs, often double the ram. These days we are lucky if we get a 5% cpu bump, and we haven't seen a ram increase in going on 10 years now. You could upgrade some 2008 MacBooks to 16gb but a full 10 years later you can still only get 16gb ram. People keep laptops longer because there is no reason to upgrade. For iPads there is significantly more power and new features on each refresh. If you use an iPad because you like them you probably upgrade at least every 2 years.
 
I usually upgrade every other year with my iPad's. I had a Mini 4 but when I realized Apple probably won't release a successor to the Mini, I opted for the 10.5" IPP when they were on sale around Christmas last year.
 
I had my iPad 3 from late 2012 until 2017 when I decided to upgrade to the iPad Pro. By the time I decided to upgrade, my iPad 3 was slow and the battery was on its last legs.
 
darkarn said:
Not just cute; it is very useful if it is on a TouchID model

If Apple removes TouchID in future iPads, I reckon most of us here would just stick with our current iPads until they die
Click to expand...

Some but I don’t know about most. Since getting used to faceID on my iPhone I often get caught out when I need to press Touch ID to eg log into a website because I have a safari stored password - with faceID it just does it. I would also appreciate apple aligning the gestures between Iphone and iPad.
 
mrklaw said:
Some but I don’t know about most. Since getting used to faceID on my iPhone I often get caught out when I need to press Touch ID to eg log into a website because I have a safari stored password - with faceID it just does it. I would also appreciate apple aligning the gestures between Iphone and iPad.
Click to expand...

Face ID in its current implementation would stop me from upgrading if they introduced it on iPads, whilst I have my own phone, 3 of us share my iPad in our home, me and my wife and my 3yo daughter, all of us have fingerprints stored and any of us can unlock it

Many people I know do the same too

Unless Face ID allows multiple faces then it will be a problem, unless apples vision is to make everyone have their own iPad too!!
 
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