iPad Mini Supports Siri, iPad 2 Still Doesn't

Trying to figure out Apple's decisions these days is a little hard. I understand Apple not including Siri on the iPhone 4. I installed it a while back and my device came to a screeching halt. However the iPad 2 has the same internal specs as the iPad Mini so that doesn't make sense (unless they don't want to spend the effort porting to a "legacy" device).

Also slightly on that subject. Why didn't the 1st gen iPad get iOS 6??? It has better specs than the iPhone 3GS and is newer. It is kind of on par with the iPhone 4. Explain that quandry to me?

george-brooks said:

Will the 2 be going away, with the 3 taking its place, or is the new iPad simply a direct replacement for the iPad 3? Will overstock units be sold as refurbs or what?

On another note, is Siri even that useful on an iPad? I don't own one so I can't speak from experience but I feel like most of Siri's useful functions are phone specific.

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While there is inventory, I think Apple might cut the price of the iPad 2 the way it has cut the prices of previous generation iPhones.

MacRumorUser said:

So apple does not want the consumer to spend $399 so they blocked Siri forcing those that want it to spend $329 ???

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Hey! Don't put words in my mouth. If you have a question what I mean, then ask a question.

The iPad 2 is clearly the disconnect in the iPad family. It's the oldest product with an obsolete data port. Apple isn't going to spend the money to update the connector, and they're not going to spend any money (developer, test cycles, etc.) to add Siri capability to the device.

Why is it still in the line? I don't know. Perhaps they have a fair amount of stock and they want to maintain its price as they clear the inventory. I fully expect the iPad 2 will be dropped form the product line no later than early in 2013.

I like to use Siri on my iPhone 4S, but i never missed it on my iPad 2.

MacRumors said:

Before the launch, there was some speculation that there may have been technical reasons why the iPad 2 was not capable of supporting Siri. The new iPad mini does have internal improvements over the iPad 2 but does share the same A5 processor. It may also be possible there could have be microphone improvements with the new device, but Apple hasn't specified.

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Because it's unfathomable that Apple is withholding Siri on the iPad 2 simply to get people to upgrade. It's not like they've ever done that before. Oh, wait. They did. With Siri on the iPhone 4.

Sometimes the answer you don't want to hear really is the most likely one.

coder12 said:

I find myself using it all the time. It's easier to say "Call my dad" while walking than to Power On >> Slide to Unlock >> Home >> Phone >> Favorites >> Parents' Home >> Call or to ask about places to eat or for directions. It's been quite the lifesaver for me when I find ways to integrate it with my workflow.

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When it works...

"Hey Siri, call my pops!"

"I have found three stores that sell mops. Two of them are fairly close to you."

kas23 said:

Really, should we worry about this? Is Siri really all that?

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It's nifty but it's not like it's the only way to use the iPad.

mdelvecchio said:

if apple didnt want to support the ipad2, they would simply stop supporting it. like google/motorola. they wouldnt continue to manufacture and sell them.

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You mean like the continuing support for the iPod Classic?

Apple supply older hardware only until a product has been released that fills the same niche. Unless it's a professional product in which case they will drop it like a hot rock just because.

Apple are just acting like pricks here and no amount of anti-Android rhetoric masks that fact. Siri could work on an iPad 2. People have got it to work on an iPad 2. Apple can very easily allow it to work on an iPad 2.

They choose not to purely for sales and marketing purposes. They've done it before and they will continue to do so. Restricting a feature purely to give a newer product a minor marketing advantage is Apple MO.

The other fact worth noting here is that Siri is borderline useless on an iPad and just a novelty act. It has limited response information as it is on a phone and serves mainly as a hands-free system. On the iPad, a device which always sits in your lap, voice control is pointless.

No Siri for iPad2

WatchTheThrone said:

Of course it doesn't....Apple needs people to upgrade duh....

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On a technical viewpoint (not getting into opinions with likes and dislikes).

While iPad2 has the same A5 chip and graphics ... they do not have the higher performance LTE radio combo chip, nor the cameras, nor the microphone quality. Siri is an iCloud service, and depends upon high speed interface with Apple servers. I have dictation apps from Nuance that work quite well, but doesn't have the search features offered via Siri.

I noticed another comment mentioned something about licenses, as well.

As Apple continues to upgrade, they (like everyone else) do not upgrade the hardware that has already been sold. It is just the way it is. (it is not just a software issue).

Hope this helps.

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ArcaneDevice said:

You mean like the continuing support for the iPod Classic?

Apple supply older hardware only until a product has been released that fills the same niche. Unless it's a professional product in which case they will drop it like a hot rock just because.

Apple are just acting like pricks here and no amount of anti-Android rhetoric masks that fact. Siri could work on an iPad 2. People have got it to work on an iPad 2. Apple can very easily allow it to work on an iPad 2.

They choose not to purely for sales and marketing purposes. They've done it before and they will continue to do so. Restricting a feature purely to give a newer product a minor marketing advantage is Apple MO.

The other fact worth noting here is that Siri is borderline useless on an iPad and just a novelty act. It has limited response information as it is on a phone and serves mainly as a hands-free system. On the iPad, a device which always sits in your lap, voice control is pointless.

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Strong opinions ... not much for the facts department though ...

As for function, voice dictation is quite handy on an iPad2 (which I have and use all the time). I really don't care for the on-screen keyboard ... I use a blue tooth Apple keyboard when I want to do a lot of typing. Great keyboard.
But, maybe you could go EZ on the strong opinions ... not worth much to me.

CaryMacGuy said:

Also slightly on that subject. Why didn't the 1st gen iPad get iOS 6??? It has better specs than the iPhone 3GS and is newer. It is kind of on par with the iPhone 4. Explain that quandry to me?

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It is not on par with the iPhone 4 in terms of memory. iPhone 4 has 512MB of memory. The original iPad has 256MB of memory, which is more on par with the 3GS.

Have you ever run iOS 5 on the original iPad? Horrible, especially with Safari, which constantly crashes due to a lack of memory.

bpeeps said:

When it works...

"Hey Siri, call my pops!"

"I have found three stores that sell mops. Two of them are fairly close to you."

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Haha that made me laugh! Same thing for "Siri, call me an ambulance!" -- "Okay, I can call you 'ambulance' from now on if you'd like"

madhatter61 said:

On a technical viewpoint (not getting into opinions with likes and dislikes).

While iPad2 has the same A5 chip and graphics ... they do not have the higher performance LTE radio combo chip, nor the cameras, nor the microphone quality. Siri is an iCloud service, and depends upon high speed interface with Apple servers. I have dictation apps from Nuance that work quite well, but doesn't have the search features offered via Siri.

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Bullcrap. The 4S doesn't have LTE either.

There's no technical limitation, so stop trying to find one. It's a marketing decision, pure and simple.

Mindcrime said:

The iPad mini Wi-fi only doesn't have GPS, so I imagine the Siri functionality is limited --

Long press Home button....

"BOOP!"

"I want to drink coffee"

"Would you like to search the web for 'I want to drink coffee?'"

Long press....

"BOOP"

"Where is the closest coffee shop?"

"Would you like to search the web for 'Where is the nearest coffee shop?'"

"AARRGGH!"

"I'm sorry, Mindcrime, I do not understand what you mean."

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGH!"

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It does not have a GPS chip, but it can still guess where you are based on the location info given to Apple by people who have iPhones or iPads that are capable of connecting to a cellular network. If Apple has location info submitted by people who are/were connected to a neighboring hotspot that your device sees, then it can use that data too.

adnbek said:

Bullcrap. The 4S doesn't have LTE either.

There's no technical limitation, so stop trying to find one. It's a marketing decision, pure and simple.

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Agreed. I keep my iPhone 4S on Edge most of the time to save battery (I only turn on 3G when using the personal hotspot) and Siri feels just as snappy. Siri uses VERY little bandwidth.

Zunjine said:

Oh man, the sense of entitlement and the childish whining is almost too much.

Not offering some new features (e.g., Siri) to older devices is not "planned obsolescence" because not adding new features doesn't stop your old features from working – the device is no less useful than it was the day before these new features were released for newer devices.

When you buy a device you buy the device as is. Any new features that are later given to you FOR FR etc...

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Unfortunately Apple IS still selling an iPad 2 as a new device and has had plenty of time to incorporate the feature. They should have at least continued iPad 2 spec sheet but added Siri support and renamed it the iPad 2.5, thus negating current iPad 2 users from the entitlement of a feature by product name and enabling new buyers to have current technology.

Apple are in the wrong and a bit lazy, iPad 2 in current form should be way cheaper considering its age.

Siri is extremely overrated. I have used it twice. It's easier to just google information.

I tapped the microphone key by mistake twice. Then I turned off Siri on my iPhone 5. I cannot envisage a situation in which I would ever use it, so this IMO is one in favour of the iPad 2 lol; but everything else falls the other way.

Mini

I bet the mini has 1gb of ram thus letting it run Siri and extending the life(for future updates) I know it's the A5 chip,but who says they couldn't have doubled the ram for the mini apple has been full of surprises as of late

adnbek said:

Bullcrap. The 4S doesn't have LTE either.

There's no technical limitation, so stop trying to find one. It's a marketing decision, pure and simple.

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I stand by that it is a licensing issue with Nuance - the iPad 2 debuted before Siri was introduced and Apple cannot have some iPad 2s Siri capable and others not - if the iPad 2 debuted after the 4S it would have it.

Apple I'm sure would love to include it, but its a bigger issue than what may appear on the surface to observers like ourselves.

coder12 said:

I find myself using it all the time. It's easier to say "Call my dad" while walking than to Power On >> Slide to Unlock >> Home >> Phone >> Favorites >> Parents' Home >> Call

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I do this without Siri.

Siri was fun the first time I messed with my iPhone 5. After that, I don't see myself using it that much. If you want Siri, just get an iPhone and you won't care either that it's not on your iPad 2.

musicpenguy said:

I stand by that it is a licensing issue with Nuance - the iPad 2 debuted before Siri was introduced and Apple cannot have some iPad 2s Siri capable and others not - if the iPad 2 debuted after the 4S it would have it.

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Except you said nothing about licensing issues. You talked about LTE, the mics and the cameras,

musicpenguy said:

Apple I'm sure would love to include it, but its a bigger issue than what may appear on the surface to observers like ourselves.

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I think you give Apple too much credit.

It's fairly logical why the iPad 2 is still available...

mono1980 said:

I'm really surprised Apple hasn't dropped the iPad 2. I don't know why anybody would buy it over the iPad Mini or the new 4th Gen iPad. It's the worst value of the bunch that's for sure.

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It's likely that the reason is that many businesses and integrators that have deployed or built solutions around iPad have done so around the dock connector. Apple is obviously maintaining the availability of that model so that those businesses can continue to deploy them while they update their solutions for lightning.

It's common for many vendors to do this where they have a large business or enterprise market, it's not so necessary in consumer where everybody wants the new shiny.

Not every business is agile enough to deploy an entirely new interface technology overnight, likewise the iPad2 is unlikely to be supply constrained and businesses can continue to purchase it readily, where the iPad3 and Mini will be difficult to obtain for a month or so following launch.

The iPad 2 has been relegated to entry-level status. It's two-generations old now....why would anyone expect Apple to make upgrades to it?

hh83917 said:

Um Apple will probably tell you it's the microphones in the iPad2 being not good enough to do voice recognition or something...

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I believe the iPad 2 does not contain the background noise suppression technology, initially a standalone DSP by Audience, now integrated into the ARM SOC. So Siri could work , but nowhere near as well, on an iPad 2. The iPad Mini probably has it.