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iPad Air Wondering whether we'll ever upgrade from our iPad Air 2s…. Any reasons to?
- Thread starter Saturn007
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Everyone has different opinions on what “good” performance is. We have a 6th gen, air 3 and an M1 pro. The 6th gen performance is noticeably choppy, usable? Sure, but definitely not a smooth and fluid experience, and I highly doubt your Air 2 is running better.
But if you’re happy with it and have nothing faster to compare it to, then you’ve obviously gotten used to it’s performance and seem ok with it still.
If you have an apple store or any store that sells them, try out a display model.
But if you’re happy with it and have nothing faster to compare it to, then you’ve obviously gotten used to it’s performance and seem ok with it still.
If you have an apple store or any store that sells them, try out a display model.
Exactly, having had the air 2 and the 9.7 pro together or a while I know exactly the difference until IOS 12, and things haven't improved since, on the contrary they got worse. I mean back in the day the 9.7 pro (which is very close the the 6th gen) felt fast compared to the air 2, and I have only updated it to 13.4, no more, now it's still usable but compared to a 3rd gen pro it's much choppier. The mini 4 was very close to the air 2, just a tad slower, but almost on par, now it's unbearable, but again, 15 years ago nobody was complaining about HDDs being slow, now that we are all on SSDs an HDD feels unbearably slow... but if you never had a SSD.... then HDD is the norm... it's all relative...
The one thing making me consider the iPad 9 is all the tests showing it has vastly better battery life.
itrelevant side note. When I bought my iPad Air 2 the main reason for its name was the light weight. Today it is not any lighter that the other models, in my view. A few g at most.
itrelevant side note. When I bought my iPad Air 2 the main reason for its name was the light weight. Today it is not any lighter that the other models, in my view. A few g at most.
My iPad Air 2 started getting bad at like iOS 13 or so. Sluggish menus, laggy AF, super slow, and the battery drains quick. I took it to Apple 6 months ago or so and they ran a diaognistic and said the battery is fine… it died on me yesterday with 6% left… I don’t use it too often, but nice to have to stream on the go and on the plane. After doing some research I think I’m going for the latest Air. Wish they kept the green color. The Smart Cover for it surprised me with it covering the whole back too… defeats the purpose of getting a color for the iPad now…. Not sure what they were thinking with that.
I actually always preferred those smart covers with the front and back covering the devices and a hinge for the foldable part. When they launched the iPad Pro they stopped selling that style of cover and I really missed it. The current Smart Folio is pretty close to that old style, but has zero protection for the sides. (Granted, I've never had that cause any problems, but it does bother me sometimes.)
depends on the use..
for “ipad”u use I would get thr base model
and for computer use - ipad air/pro
for “ipad”u use I would get thr base model
and for computer use - ipad air/pro
OP here.
STILL FAST
Our iPad Air 2s remain smooth, fast, with no sluggishness, even on iOS 15. (The battery hit from iOS 14 remains, however.)
Never seen slow menu response, slow moving between apps, etc.
Must be people's work flows, usage patterns, or apps — must have a much greater number of apps open, a browser with lots more tabs, running videos, playing music while they work, playing games that eat up processor and RAM, etc.
My work flow is basic. I typically run five or six open at a time and switch between some of them to copy and paste, but they must not be memory hogs or gracefully relinquish RAM when in the background.
Unlike on the Mac, I typically have only a handful of tabs open in Safari on the iPad, don't play video games or resource intensive ones, etc.
I have three ad blockers in Safari and also quit it whenever I’m done browsing (sometimes during) and clear all cookies and history. I have background app refresh and location services turned off and most notifications turned off, too. That's an old habit from iPad 1 days.
Given our apps and work flow, I doubt we'll see any real speed up with an iPad 9 or 10, but wouldn't mind being happily surprised.
I may find out this fall when I try one — but that's to get what should be much better battery life!
SMART COVERS
Really like our smart covers. Open up the cover and the iPad turns on instantly!
My smart cover comes with a translucent back. Quite spiffy as you can still see the Apple and it gives the iPad a colorful sheen! I was glad to see that many similar ones are made for more recent iPads, too!
STILL FAST
Our iPad Air 2s remain smooth, fast, with no sluggishness, even on iOS 15. (The battery hit from iOS 14 remains, however.)
Never seen slow menu response, slow moving between apps, etc.
Must be people's work flows, usage patterns, or apps — must have a much greater number of apps open, a browser with lots more tabs, running videos, playing music while they work, playing games that eat up processor and RAM, etc.
My work flow is basic. I typically run five or six open at a time and switch between some of them to copy and paste, but they must not be memory hogs or gracefully relinquish RAM when in the background.
Unlike on the Mac, I typically have only a handful of tabs open in Safari on the iPad, don't play video games or resource intensive ones, etc.
I have three ad blockers in Safari and also quit it whenever I’m done browsing (sometimes during) and clear all cookies and history. I have background app refresh and location services turned off and most notifications turned off, too. That's an old habit from iPad 1 days.
Given our apps and work flow, I doubt we'll see any real speed up with an iPad 9 or 10, but wouldn't mind being happily surprised.
I may find out this fall when I try one — but that's to get what should be much better battery life!
SMART COVERS
Really like our smart covers. Open up the cover and the iPad turns on instantly!
My smart cover comes with a translucent back. Quite spiffy as you can still see the Apple and it gives the iPad a colorful sheen! I was glad to see that many similar ones are made for more recent iPads, too!
I am like you, and not just with my ipad air 2, also my apple watch 3, my 2017 imac.
i spend a lot of time looking, thinking of upgrading certainly the first two, and i can easily afford, but at the back of my mind both do what i need them to.
my ipad is fine, need to get a new cover for it, but apart from that. still seems snappy, i use it for browsing internet, watching tv when away, sending music to my homepod, reading the paper.
wish i could play tropico and a few other new games but then i probably would just buy them and not play them much.
part of the problem is apple have too much choice, and so i look at the new base ipad and it doesnt excite me. i look at the air and pro and they look cracking, but then i think why am i paying that amount of money for an ipad to replace one that does all i need it. so the circle goes round again. same with my watch.
i guess the first time an app i use wont update will be the time i happily go to the shop and buy an air or pro.
Still use one of mine, the other the battery just goes from 50% to dead sometimes. I was using it as a kitchen iPad where I had recipes and stuff on it and used it as a timer etc.
They have had a long fruitful life server as my primary iPads for a couple of years, to my parents for a few more, and then back to myself as my spares and what my friend's 7 year old daughter uses. It is still great for her in playing some simple Apple Arcade games, YouTube for kids etc. However it soon will be retired as I'm moving my parents from their Air 3 and 10.5 Pro to Air 4s. I'll reclaim the Air 3 and 10.5 Pro for what the Air 2s are doing now.
Interestingly those were the last two Cellular iPads I bought and I just this AM got an email from T-Mobile that they were "cancelling" my plan/number as they have been inactive. I originally bought them when T-Mobile was offering 200mb/month for free for life, but didn't subscribe to more than that for years.
They have had a long fruitful life server as my primary iPads for a couple of years, to my parents for a few more, and then back to myself as my spares and what my friend's 7 year old daughter uses. It is still great for her in playing some simple Apple Arcade games, YouTube for kids etc. However it soon will be retired as I'm moving my parents from their Air 3 and 10.5 Pro to Air 4s. I'll reclaim the Air 3 and 10.5 Pro for what the Air 2s are doing now.
Interestingly those were the last two Cellular iPads I bought and I just this AM got an email from T-Mobile that they were "cancelling" my plan/number as they have been inactive. I originally bought them when T-Mobile was offering 200mb/month for free for life, but didn't subscribe to more than that for years.