Ipad Air 1 with IOS 11

[Zebrakatten]

Hello,
I'm wondering if anyone with an Air 1 have updated their device to IOS 11? I'm really curious how well it works now that people have had a couple of days to test it. I'm currently holding off updating but I do want to upgrade if it doesn't make my device unusable.

Should I just upgrade and what are your experiences?

 

[PeteS1963]

I have an Air 1 that’s been upgraded to iOS 11 and I have to say I’m impressed. Many animations are smoother and slightly quicker than iOS 10. Apps seem to take very slightly longer to open but it’s minimal - most people want notice the difference. Once in an app it’s just as quick.

I have just finished doing my tax return and as a little exercise I did it all on the Air 1. The new features in iOS 11 definitely made it easier. I also have an Air 2 and apart from the obvious hardware/software differences for me the Air 1 is very good on iOS 11. I would not downgrade to iOS 11 and I have downgraded iOS in the past.

As for my iPhone 6 Plus - that’s terrible on iOS 11 and ill be going back to iOS 10 until I get my iPhone X.

I’d give iOS 11 a go on your Air 1. If, for whatever reason, You don’t like iOS 11 then there’s still time to downgrade.

 

[Zebrakatten]

Thank you, that sounds very encouraging! Do you know how long you can downgrade? I thought Apple did their best to prevent people from downgrading.

 

[Netman]

I’m happy to upgrade my iPad Air to iOS 11 I’m satisfied with the new experience on it.
I encourage you get updated and there’s more to come with iOS 11.x.x

 

[Zebrakatten]

Okay I think I'll do it now then Especially since I (apparently?) can downgrade if it doesn't work out.
Thank you for your help!

 

[PeteS1963]

Thank you, that sounds very encouraging! Do you know how long you can downgrade? I thought Apple did their best to prevent people from downgrading.

Apple doesn't make it easy to downgrade, although it’s not hard and there are instructions on the Internet. However, Apple still have to be signing iOS 10. Previous versions are normally signed for about 2 weeks but there’s no guarantee exactly when they will stop signing.

 

[HippyRabbitFish]

Okay I think I'll do it now then Especially since I (apparently?) can downgrade if it doesn't work out.
Thank you for your help!

If you haven't already started, be sure you know about the fact that old 32-bit apps will not be downloadable or even run under iOS 11.

If you aren't sure if you have them, go to Settings > General > About and tap Applications. If you have any 32-bit apps, they should be listed. These apps, if there are no updates that remove them from the list, are 32-bit, and will cease to exist under iOS 11.

 

[Zebrakatten]

Thank you, I've finished upgrading and so far I'm not noticing much of a difference. Maybe some slight lag when using the notification center but I can't be sure that wasn't there before and it's not bothering me. I also usually experience a bit of slow-down the first couple of days after a major upgrade so I suspect it's partly that as well.

There were unfortunately a couple of apps that I hadn't even though to check (and 2 I already knew) but fortunately they weren't important and I didn't use them much. Unfortunate but not too bad. Thank you for the warning!

 

[user1234]

I have been running iOS 11 since public beta 1 and upgraded to final when it was available to beta testers about a week before official release, and my over all impression is that iOS 11 runs well on the Air 1. There are a few bugs they didn’t fix despite me reporting them during several beta releases, but all in all it’s perfectly fine.

The one issue that still bothers me is that I can’t search for apps to launch them like I used to. Now I have to type in the entire name of the app. Before I could type just ”gma” and gmail would show up, not I have to type ”gmail”, otherwise it will only show me the shortcut to the gmail entry in the settings app. It’s really annoying with longer app names like ”Google Keep” though

Otherwise I just think the Air 1 feels really old now since it can’t do split screen, which was made much more useful with the new dock and drag and drop features.

 

[PeteS1963]

I agree that lack of split view makes it feel old rather than performance issues.

However, I was surprised to be able to cut and paste images, multiple images, links etc between apps using slide over. Sure, it’s clunky compared to split view but it’s a useful feature that didn’t exist before iOS 11.

 

[frou]

The UI in general does seem a bit jerky on my iPad Air 1. iOS 11 marks the first time that device has felt anything but liquid smooth.

IIRC the Air 1 has the same CPU/GPU as the iPhone 5S. The extra resolution and features are going to cause it to suffer vs the 5S, which itself is not stellar with 11.

I'd still update though. Might as well get the inheritance from being the first 64bit models.

 

[PeteS1963]

The UI in general does seem a bit jerky on my iPad Air 1. iOS 11 marks the first time that device has felt anything but liquid smooth.

IIRC the Air 1 has the same CPU/GPU as the iPhone 5S. The extra resolution and features are going to cause it to suffer vs the 5S, which itself is not stellar with 11.

I'd still update though. Might as well get the inheritance from being the first 64bit models.

If that’s the case why is my iPhone 6 Plus significantly slower and jerky compared to my iPad Air.? The difference is light and day. Yes, I tried a clean install on the 6 Plus although I didn’t bother with the Air 1. And obviously the majority of the features are on iOS 11 for iPad. What gives?

It’s was so bad that I’ve been forced to downgrade to iOS 10 on the iPhone 6 Plus until (if I ever) get my iPhone X.

 

[m.x]

Are there any new insights? Is the Air still going strong?

 

[Ranger11]

I upgraded my iPad air to iOS 11 and photo sync from my iMac to the iPad via iTunes is broken. Apple support says they are aware of the issue and a fix is coming. In the mean time, I went back to iOS 10.3.3.

 

[Zebrakatten]

Are there any new insights? Is the Air still going strong?

It's still going strong for me. I'm noticing some slight stutters (seemingly randomly) when opening apps. It's happened maybe 3 or 4 times a day (and I generally use it for several hours each day). The notification center is still laggy when I activate it but other than that it runs very smoothly, at least as well as on 10 and in some apps (safari amongst them) it even runs a bit better.
I know it might be different for each person/ipad but based on my experience I can only recommend updating. I really like the dock at the bottom, it's a lot easier changing between apps now.

 

[Frankfurt]

Works on mine with lots of stuttering and significant delay in opening apps.

 

[user1234]

No complaints here. Some slowdowns but no dealbreakers. To me the improvements are worth dealing with a few rough edges. I'm sure it's going to improve with future updates.