All iPads Still finding a lot of use for my old iPads, please keep yours out of the landfill.

[IJustWannaTalk]

It’s not me ‘believing’ something, it’s an actual fact that devices which no longer receive security updates are less secure. So if you feel you can live with whatever may come of that, then great. I was simply pointing it out.

I’m surprised at the lack of knowledge within the thread to be honest.

This sounds REALLY judgey to a lot of people using old iOS devices to watch movies and read recipes.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

Has anyone mentioned in this thread that Apple Stores will take their old functional or non-functional devices back? I figure they probably stand the most chance of getting properly disassembled and recycled with Apple.

FWIW they're also doing a promotion right now where you get 10% off an accessory if you recycle something.

Oh, yeah, duh. I believe when I last did this, I had more than just Apple products and didn't want to make two stops. But yes, Apple will take Apple products back for recycling.

I have not seen that promotion, though. Cool.

 

[cupcakes2000]

This sounds REALLY judgey to a lot of people using old iOS devices to watch movies and read recipes.

Judgy? What? That’s a strange thing to accuse anyone of. I don’t care what people do, and I also use very old devices. I just make sure I know what I’m doing and how to do it. It’s not my problem that people think network and os security is something I’m making up.

Again, I merely mentioned one should be careful when attaching an insecure device to the internet.

That’s good advice. Those who don’t think that are not thinking at all.

 

[nathansz]

I already said that there are legitimate concerns, and advised people to take care and attention if using an out of date device connected to the internet. I really dont need to offer any advice on top of that

if you aren't going to advise people what those legitimate concerns might be, or suggest to them how they might take care and attention to mitigate said concerns, then why say anything at all

it's like yelling "look out" at someone without telling them where or why

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah yeah. Gotcha. Thing is, I’m not saying it because Apple said it - some other poster kept telling me to offer a source, so I just found an Apple one considering we’re talking about an iPad. The simple and verifiable fact of the matter is that if you connect a device to the internet (Computer, NAS, iPad, tv, fridge) then its a gateway into you home network. If the OS of whatever device is no longer secure, then unless you mitigate it on your network by purposely isolating it, then its made your network (and everything you do on your network) less secure. Obviously plenty of people dont care, for some reason, but that doesn’t mean what I am saying is untrue.

This thread is about using older devices, which I also do, and great! I havent said I’m against it. All I said is that one must take care when using no longer updated devices if they’re to be connected to the internet. It was merely prudent to remind people of this fact.

I’m surprised at the lack of knowledge within the thread to be honest.

I understand.

An analogy, if you will permit me, and possibly a poor one. But nonetheless…if I drive a vehicle that is several decades old it will be less safe than a modern car. Because it is older. Even if I stay off the freeway, make right turns only, etc, there is always the possibility that I do not see something coming and I get hit and hurt. It is a risk. One that people attempt to minimize because they wish to drive older cars.

Your initial statement came off sounding like this: "Don't ever drive any car that is not a modern vehicle because it isn't safe". Technically true…but altogether doesn't account for the things people do to mitigate risk with 'less safe' vehicles.

But now, as I said, I understand where you where going with this and I agree.

 

[cupcakes2000]

if you aren't going to advise people what those legitimate concerns might be, or suggest to them how they might take care and attention to mitigate said concerns, then why say anything at all

it's like yelling "look out" at someone without telling them where or why

I’m afraid I don’t understand your angst. I also don’t feel the need to elaborate. It says what I intended it to say.

My post was this:

Just take care if you keep the device connected to the internet with such an out of date OS. Shame on Apple for not keeping up support of perfectly usable devices, or not allowing the devices to have another OS installed on it.

It’s a statement. Either care or don’t. If you don’t then move on. If you do then I’m glad you read it.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Your initial statement came off sounding like this: "Don't ever drive any car that is not a modern vehicle because it isn't safe". Technically true…but altogether doesn't account for the things people do to mitigate risk with 'less safe' vehicles.

But now, as I said, I understand where you were going with this and I agree.

This is my intital statement. I don’t think that comes across as aggressively or authoritatively as you suggest.

Just take care if you keep the device connected to the internet with such an out of date OS. Shame on Apple for not keeping up support of perfectly usable devices, or not allowing the devices to have another OS installed on it.

An analogy, if you will permit me, and possibly a poor one. But nonetheless…if I drive a vehicle that is several decades old it will be less safe than a modern car. Because it is older. Even if I stay off the freeway, make right turns only, etc, there is always the possibility that I do not see something coming and I get hit and hurt. It is a risk. One that people attempt to minimize because they wish to drive older cars.

It’s not the best anology. Old cars are nothing like insecure technology.

Edit to say: with more thought perhaps yes. If the car is old enough to not have seatbelts, for example there could be a correlation - if one didn’t fit any.

 

[eddjedi]

Earlier this month I took my 16GB iPad Mini 2 running iPad OS 9 on holiday to keep my son entertained on the flight. It can still use Netflix, we managed to download about 6 hours of videos on to the 16GB iPad (bearing in mind only about half of the storage was available.) It happily played the videos with no slow down, and after two 2.5 hour return flights, still had over 60% of the battey left! not bad for a 12 year old "obsolete" device.

 

[cupcakes2000]

It happily played the videos with no slow down, and after two 2.5 hour return flights, still had over 60% of the battey left! not bad for a 12 year old "obsolete" device.

Absolutely right. It’s a terrible situation that these devices are no longer supported and have no ability to have different up to date OS installed on it. That is very much forced obsolescence.

 

[NewOldStock]

Ah defending ye old carbon life form.
Ipads are carbon and will eventually disintegrate to original life form.
Worms got to eat too.
After your dead and gone someone will throw it in the trash heap dont kid yourself.
But yes re-use is a good thing just not everything.

 

[vjl323]

Apple will also provide a free shipping label to recycle their devices.

I recently recycled my mother's 2010 27" iMac via a free UPS label from the Apple website. Still had the original box and shipping box, so it was quite easy. But the thing is a beast and super heavy - very appreciative that I could stick a label on it and drop it off at the UPS Store, as I live in a town with about 4,000 people and not many options for being green w/o a good drive.

 

[Unami]

It is possible to gain access to your network and therefore everything on it, if some insecure device on your network allows it - making it a moot point on what device you do your sensitive stuff.
Not saying it’s particularly likely, or anything - it just should be pointed out.

That's probably why he wrote multiple times that his iPads are on cellular - not possible to gain access to the home network this way.

You're right, older devices offer a greater security risk. Although it's very often still miniscule, because Apple devices are mostly not the target because of their small - worldwide - market share. And, I'd wager that good security practices on an older system beat bad security on a newer one. There's always quite a few unpatched zero-day exploits around and they usually target rather new devices.

Either way, you were giving unsolicited security advice to someone who seems to know what he's talking about - probably more than you from the looks of it. Maybe let it go?

 

[FeliApple]

Yeah, people are oftentimes insanely quick to point out how “the device is outdated and therefore useless” as soon as it is unsupported and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I’ve kept every iOS device I’ve ever had, and I don’t even update iOS, and most remain in-use.

Obviously, the issue with using iOS devices for a long time is that they are eventually rendered less useful because of two factors:

iOS incompatibility, which, as you said in your OP means that you typically have to ascribe a specific usage pattern to an older device because thing start to break

And the acquisition of new devices!

This applies even if the device works perfectly. I have an iPhone XR running iOS 12. It performs better than my 16 Plus because iOS 12 was well optimized… but it lacks compatibility. So as much as I would’ve loved to keep using it, it’s tough. My favourite iPhone ever is my iPhone 6s running iOS 10, which maintains full 3D Touch functionality even after Apple killed it on iOS 13, but it’s been in a drawer for a few years now. It just isn’t compatible.

iPads maybe have a small advantage: content consumption is easier to get compatibility for even after the device is outdated. So you can still read, watch tv shows, and maybe browse some websites even when the device is outdated.

I do have a huge qualm with the category of iPads you have mentioned: updated 32-bit iPads have had their performance utterly obliterated by iOS updates. It’s likely that the battery will hold for decades, but performance is so poor that I just cannot tolerate it. I don’t have any 32-bit iPads anymore, my oldest is my 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which runs iOS 12 and apart from its battery life being 10 hours of light use instead of 14 as it was on iOS 9, it still works fine.

I would not use a 32-bit iPad today. But an older 64-bit iPad, provided battery life hasn’t been destroyed by updates and provides its usable? Sure, my devices don’t go to landfills.

But that’s the issue. I have three iPads. Why would I grab the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 when I have two more that are newer? Two that are full-screen, one of which is brand new and is compatible with absolutely everything?

To do what? I typically use iPads for content consumption, but YouTube and Netflix broke on iOS 12.

The issue I have is that since I don’t update iOS, I have to take advantage of my devices when the are new and when they have maximum compatibility. Trying to magic my way into repurposing an older iOS device seems like wasting my newer device’s lifespan.

I agree with your “don’t throw them into landfills” aspect. I’m just not quite sure I can keep them in active use after enough time has elapsed.

 

[sonicrobby]

Personally I give mine away or sell them. I hate keeping things that I dont use anymore, they take up space and its another device to keep charged. The newer models that I replaced them with can do all the things the old one can do, so I really dont have a need for the old one those are my feelings

 

[splifingate]

I 'found' two GrubHub kiosks at the dump last year.

At the pearl of each heavily-plastic-laden kiosk was a '22 13" iPP (128GB units)

After getting the MDM cleared, I was able to gift them to others for usage.

Beautiful machines, and a terrible waste to potentially be compacted into a landfill.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

That’s good advice. Those who don’t think that are not thinking at all.

You're doing it again.
And I'm not the only person noticing.

 

[Sami13496]

Fundamentally, we should stop buying new devices unnecessarily and stop trying to justify to ourselves why we need a new device when we really don’t. If we burst our bubble and are honest, all the recent iPhones and iPads are essentially the same. They’re like big cakes with a few little berries on top. Every year, a new version of the cake comes out, and the only change is that one of the berries looks slightly different. That tiny berry change then gets endlessly discussed here as we try to justify to ourselves why we’re dropping hundreds or even thousands of on it. I’ve had an iPhone XR since 2019, and it runs the same iOS as the new iPhone 16. It’s the same phone—the only difference is the “berry.”

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

This is my intital statement. I don’t think that comes across as aggressively or authoritatively as you suggest.

Multiple people have said so.
You don't get to tell other people how you're coming across.

 

[01cowherd]

There's always quite a few unpatched zero-day exploits around and they usually target rather new devices.

Zero-days, by definition, tend to target the newest software versions because they're novel. Zero-days still work on older software versions but are instead just exploits or "n-days".

But if the primary app you're using on an old iPad is a recipe app or Spotify, or Pandora, etc, how is this really relevant?

Don't think you're safe just because you're only streaming music. The last security update for 18.4.1, for example:

Processing an audio stream in a maliciously crafted media file may result in code execution

Again, is it likely? No.

Your initial statement came off sounding like this: "Don't ever drive any car that is not a modern vehicle because it isn't safe". Technically true…but altogether doesn't account for the things people do to mitigate risk with 'less safe' vehicles.

Going with the referenced commenter's statement, it would be more like

Just take care if you keep [driving the old car with such poor safety features]

Also, do people do anything to mitigate the risk of driving less safe vehicles? I think most people would drive the exact same, assuming it's a similar car shape and size (e.g., sedan compared to sedan).


But while I wouldn't run an obsolete device, I wouldn't worry too much about your device being hacked as an entry point into your home network. Your router would probably be hacked first. For those who forgot: https://arstechnica.com/security/20...net-went-undetected-for-four-years-until-now/ You don't have to do anything risky on an internet-connected device to be hacked; being connected to the internet is itself risky. I don't think people are visiting sketchy websites on their NAS, but that didn't help. As for not responding to sketchy messages, you don't have to respond to messages to be hacked—for example, the infamous Pegasus hacks.

If you want a concrete action rather than the generic and somewhat useless "be careful", the above article has a good one: Regularly restart your old devices. Not all malware is persistent, especially so on iOS which has verified boot.

 

[cupcakes2000]

You're doing it again.
And I'm not the only person noticing.

Multiple people have said so.
You don't get to tell other people how you're coming across.

What are you wittering about?
I’m deeply sorry if my suggesting (not to you, I may add) that people should take care when connecting an insecure device to the internet is offending your sensibilities.
I hope this apology will be enough for you to stop quoting me with completely off topic suggestions that you and unnamed other people are noticing something about the tone in which I’m typing.

Edit to say: It’s just occurred to me, I’ll bet you assume I’m an English native speaker. Perhaps that’s what’s getting your goat. Well, FYI I’m not - it’s my second language. So perhaps with that in your mind you can be at peace with how you’re interpreting my posts.

 

[Fyrus]

Hi Everyone,

Nothing special just a quick observation of mine.

I find it interesting how useful older iPads still are in spite of them being massively out of date. For example, in my kitchen I have an old iPad 3rd generation running version 9.3.5 of the iPad OS. The iPad lives in my kitchen in an Apple iPad Dock (Model A1381) with the audio out attached into my Apple iPod Hi-Fi speaker and the power to the wall to keep the iPad charged. This setup gets used every single day for streaming Pandora and other compatible audio apps to the speaker. I also have recipes stored on the iPad for cooking and I occasionally use it for reading materials I've stored on it from various places and sources. In other words this thing is great and extremely useful for me. The best part is I got the iPad and the iPad dock free when I found them discarded in a recycle bin. Shockingly the battery still also holds a great charge and I've never had any issue when I un-dock it for reading....the battery seems to just go and go. Anyways I really find it disturbing when I see article on all of the e-waste in the world and especially how it's dumped in developing parts of the world and it's really something to be able to usefully continue the life of my older "obsolete" electronics and not have to really compromise what I use them for for as long as possible.

Anyways, just my 2 cents about this subject.

Thanks everyone.

Great to see you found some use out of this old iPad. But the way you use the device, while it works for you, would not be my preferable method of using an iPod Hi-Fi. Just connecting it to an AirPort Express will give it AirPlay 2 capabilities, making it usable for pretty much any audio running on any Apple device without limiting it to certain apps.

I dont know, I like the message you’re trying to send here… but in all honesty I would prefer not having a decade old lithium ion battery constantly connected to power in my house. It’s not worth it to replace, of there’s even recently produced high quality batteries availble for it.

 

[nathansz]

It says what I intended it to say.

So you intended to say basically nothing?

 

[eyoungren]

Zero-days, by definition, tend to target the newest software versions because they're novel. Zero-days still work on older software versions but are instead just exploits or "n-days".


Don't think you're safe just because you're only streaming music. The last security update for 18.4.1, for example:

Again, is it likely? No.


Going with the referenced commenter's statement, it would be more like

Also, do people do anything to mitigate the risk of driving less safe vehicles? I think most people would drive the exact same, assuming it's a similar car shape and size (e.g., sedan compared to sedan).


But while I wouldn't run an obsolete device, I wouldn't worry too much about your device being hacked as an entry point into your home network. Your router would probably be hacked first. For those who forgot: https://arstechnica.com/security/20...net-went-undetected-for-four-years-until-now/ You don't have to do anything risky on an internet-connected device to be hacked; being connected to the internet is itself risky. I don't think people are visiting sketchy websites on their NAS, but that didn't help. As for not responding to sketchy messages, you don't have to respond to messages to be hacked—for example, the infamous Pegasus hacks.

If you want a concrete action rather than the generic and somewhat useless "be careful", the above article has a good one: Regularly restart your old devices. Not all malware is persistent, especially so on iOS which has verified boot.

I'm going to put things this way.

I (we) have been warned by you (others) that using older devices without current updates is risky.

Thank you for the warning.

I will continue to do what I will do. I am not going to live in fear of older devices being hacked because I don't update them.

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

What are you wittering about?
I’m deeply sorry if my suggesting (not to you, I may add) that people should take care when connecting an insecure device to the internet is offending your sensibilities.
I hope this apology will be enough for you to stop quoting me with completely off topic suggestions that you and unnamed other people are noticing something about the tone in which I’m typing.

Edit to say: It’s just occurred to me, I’ll bet you assume I’m an English native speaker. Perhaps that’s what’s getting your goat. Well, FYI I’m not - it’s my second language. So perhaps with that in your mind you can be at peace with how you’re interpreting my posts.

You're coming across as authoritative and judgmental to people who are NOT asking for your advice.

I don't care what language is native to you, I care about how you're coming across in the language you're choosing to use here.

That wasn't an apology, either. Maybe take some time to read all the feedback you're getting.

 

[Reverend Benny]

It would have been a nice gesture from Apple that whenever a device goes "out of support" Apple would offer to "open up" the SW, release enough info about the HW and SW so that enthusiasts could release an alternative OS for the device.
I know they are trying to get the iPad running Linux decently and with a little support from Apple it could bring new life to old EOL devices.