Should I update my iPad Air from iOS 9.3.2 to iOS 12?

[moshmike]

With the release today of the final version of iOS 12 and having read all the praise for the performance of the new operating system on older devices, I’m really pondering if it’s a good idea to update my iPad Air (1) from 9.3.2 to iOS 12.

As you all imagine, I got stucked on iOS 9 for fear of crippling my device with later OS’s. I think I made the right decision after reading the reviews for iOS 11.

I have seen speed comparisons for iOS 11.4 vs iOS 12 beta and iOS 10.3.3 vs iOS 12 beta on the iPad Air but nothing from 9.3.x vs iOS 12 beta.

The help would be very appreciated because, as it is, my iPad Air runs quite decent (except for the frequent Safari crashes) and I don’t want to bring this beautiful device to its knees. Thanks in advance!

 

[rdy0329]

Yes, you get all the latest features and security updates while enjoying iOS 10 speed (but not as fast as iOS 9).

 

[moshmike]

Yes, you get all the latest features and security updates while enjoying iOS 10 speed (but not as fast as iOS 9).

Thanks for the reply rdy0329! I'm a little afraid to update but I have seen that several apps require iOS 10 or later and maybe that's what will oblige me to finally do it.

 

[redheeler]

I was also reluctant to update my iPad Air 2, so it has jumped all the way from iOS 8.4.1 to iOS 12 in one update. No regrets so far. It’s surprisingly smooth and has brought a lot of new features, though admittedly the Air 2 has 2 GB RAM which makes a difference.

iOS 9 was never the best performer on older devices, and I don’t think 10 ended up being any worse.

 

[rdy0329]

Thanks for the reply rdy0329! I'm a little afraid to update but I have seen that several apps require iOS 10 or later and maybe that's what will oblige me to finally do it.

By now, the consensus is, the Pros outweighs the cons. (if leaping from a very old version to the new one)

 

[moshmike]

I was also reluctant to update my iPad Air 2, so it has jumped all the way from iOS 8.4.1 to iOS 12 in one update. No regrets so far. It’s surprisingly smooth and has brought a lot of new features, though admittedly the Air 2 has 2 GB RAM which makes a difference.

iOS 9 was never the best performer on older devices, and I don’t think 10 ended up being any worse.

Thanks for your response redheeler. Actually, like you said, I have seen several people amazed by iOS 12 on their iPad Air 2 but have not seen a lot of info for the original iPad Air.
1 GB of RAM is what has caused this device to show its age, specially with Safari. Thanks again!
[doublepost=1537287919][/doublepost]

By now, the consensus is, the Pros outweighs the cons. (if leaping from a very old version to the new one)

Well, I think I will make the leap having in mind I probably should get a newer iPad soon anyways. It has been a great device for my job (Marketing, Education).

 

[Lismange]

I wouldn't do that because iOS 9 last version where slide to unlock is for lock screen available

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I say do it. My Air2 has never worked better..

 

[SteveOfTheStow]

Put it on my Air and it seems a bit snappier. I don't do much with it, mind; just light browsing, RSS, digital magazines.

 

[mikzn]

For me it was losing some apps purchased on older verions of iOS - but iOS12 seems to work well and has new features and after iOS 11 there does not seem to be many apps dropped becuase of the new OS (After the iOS11 update)

 

[aengelbrecht]

iOS 11 sucked on my iPad Air, just upgraded to iOS 12 and it feels much better and usable again. Lots of new features form iOS 9, but expect some performance drop with iOS 12. Only had it for a day on iOS12, but it is huge improvement from 11, but still feels a bit less responsive than iOS 10. However it doesn't feel super sluggish with 12 like it did with 11, so very usable.

I think systems with 2GB+ RAM (like the Air 2) fares much better with iOS 11 & even 12 than the older ones with only 1GB.

 

[FeliApple]

I wouldn't do it. Not from iOS 8-9. Performance is excellent on those versions - as probably is battery life - and I honestly don't think iOS 12 can maintain that. The Air 1 is quite less powerful than the Air 2.
[doublepost=1537308070][/doublepost]

I was also reluctant to update my iPad Air 2, so it has jumped all the way from iOS 8.4.1 to iOS 12 in one update. No regrets so far. It’s surprisingly smooth and has brought a lot of new features, though admittedly the Air 2 has 2 GB RAM which makes a difference.

iOS 9 was never the best performer on older devices, and I don’t think 10 ended up being any worse.

Wow, that's quite a risk! (Even more so considering that this is iOS 12.0) I'm glad it paid off, and if you don't notice any difference then Apple probably did a great job on this one. (In my opinion, people generally don't notice differences because they don't really remember what original OS was like, simply because it's impossible not to notice if you are actually familiar with how devices work on original versions.)
I'm running iOS 9.3.4 on an iPad Pro 9.7 (so original version as well) but I use my iPad a lot and I can't take that risk.
Have you noticed any decrease in battery life?

 

[redheeler]

I wouldn't do it. Not from iOS 8-9. Performance is excellent on those versions - as probably is battery life - and I honestly don't think iOS 12 can maintain that. The Air 1 is quite less powerful than the Air 2.
[doublepost=1537308070][/doublepost]
Wow, that's quite a risk! (Even more so considering that this is iOS 12.0) I'm glad it paid off, and if you don't notice any difference then Apple probably did a great job on this one. (In my opinion, people generally don't notice differences because they don't really remember what original OS was like, simply because it's impossible not to notice if you are actually familiar with how devices work on original versions.)
I'm running iOS 9.3.4 on an iPad Pro 9.7 (so original version as well) but I use my iPad a lot and I can't take that risk.
Have you noticed any decrease in battery life?

Haven’t used it long enough yet to give a definitive answer on battery life, but the difference doesn’t seem very noticeable.

 

[dlastmango]

Just following up on this thread... Did you do the upgrade? If so, what's your thoughts?

Thanks.
Chris

 

[last48fm]

Did you update? How's it going?

 

[E.Lizardo]

With the release today of the final version of iOS 12 and having read all the praise for the performance of the new operating system on older devices, I’m really pondering if it’s a good idea to update my iPad Air (1) from 9.3.2 to iOS 12.

As you all imagine, I got stucked on iOS 9 for fear of crippling my device with later OS’s. I think I made the right decision after reading the reviews for iOS 11.

I have seen speed comparisons for iOS 11.4 vs iOS 12 beta and iOS 10.3.3 vs iOS 12 beta on the iPad Air but nothing from 9.3.x vs iOS 12 beta.

The help would be very appreciated because, as it is, my iPad Air runs quite decent (except for the frequent Safari crashes) and I don’t want to bring this beautiful device to its knees. Thanks in advance!

I'm running 12 on mine and am very happy with it. On my iPhone 6 max it's another story though. Anyway I say go for it.

 

[moshmike]

Just following up on this thread... Did you do the upgrade? If so, what's your thoughts?

Thanks.
Chris

Did you update? How's it going?

Hey Chris and last48fm, sorry for my (very) late answer. Actually I never did upgrade, because I could sell my iPad Air for a very decent amount of money and got myself an iPad 6th generation (2018) in a very cool offer.

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

With the release today of the final version of iOS 12 and having read all the praise for the performance of the new operating system on older devices, I’m really pondering if it’s a good idea to update my iPad Air (1) from 9.3.2 to iOS 12.

As you all imagine, I got stucked on iOS 9 for fear of crippling my device with later OS’s. I think I made the right decision after reading the reviews for iOS 11.

I have seen speed comparisons for iOS 11.4 vs iOS 12 beta and iOS 10.3.3 vs iOS 12 beta on the iPad Air but nothing from 9.3.x vs iOS 12 beta.

The help would be very appreciated because, as it is, my iPad Air runs quite decent (except for the frequent Safari crashes) and I don’t want to bring this beautiful device to its knees. Thanks in advance!

absolutely not

 

[reallyReal]

I reluctantly upgraded from iOS 9 (last version) to iOS 12 (last version) yesterday as I couldn't stand anymore Safari freezing and reloading each web page 2-3 times.

I was expecting significantly worse performance overall and instead my iPad Air 1 is a brand new world now. Performance are about the same, some things seem a little bit faster, some others seem a little bit slower, but my general feeling is that is faster and more polished. It's of course visibly slow when compared with latest iPads but in my opinion is still completely usable.

Battery time might be slightly worse, but I say that from a few hours of Youtube use, so, I don't know actually. Safari works great again, and the iPad can now run a lot of apps that didn't run anymore under iOS 9.

All in all I feel like I have a new device on hand, I was pleasantly surprised, and thus I strongly recommend the upgrade.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Not that it matters anyway, but the original iPad Air is capped at iOS 12. It will not be able to update to iPadOS 13.

 

[moshmike]

All in all I feel like I have a new device on hand, I was pleasantly surprised, and thus I strongly recommend the upgrade.

Thanks for your insight reallyReal! As I said on another reply, I sold my iPad Air and got an iPad 6th gen (2018). Nevertheless, it’s great to read about the performance improvement. Greetings!