Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPad mini iPad Mini Lifespan

J

Jaffaman27

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2010
93
14
Tampere, Finland
Howdy and sorry for yet another iPad Mini thread.

I had the original iPad but couldn't justify the price-usage ratio at that time. It was a cool device but too expensive to be used so rarely I used it. But now as iPad as a product has matured a little and the Mini is here I'm interested again.

Anyway. I'm just thinking the lifespan of the Mini..
iPad 2 is still around, but probably not for too long.
The specs in Mini are similar to iPad 2.
So no retina, but more importantly the processor etc lacks compared to the iPad 3/4.

I don't really see any problem with the screen or the speed of iPad Mini, it looks and feels quite great. But what worries me is the specs in the long run.
- How long developers will continue to support iPad Minis inferior specs compared to the bigger brothers? The screen, processor, memory etc.
I don't play any fancy games on my iPad (or plan to play), but I would like to play the upcoming new point and click games (like Broken Sword and Double Fine Adventure etc.).

Do you see Mini users having any problems with the apps (games and others) or new iOS versions? How is the original iPad working today? That could be a good indicator I guess..

So what do you think?
Is the Mini going to be ok for 2-3 years and still usable (with upcoming apps)?
Or should I wait for the next version? I'm in no rush, but I don't feel that the next one with Retina gives me much more in that regard, only thinking about the future support.

Oh..And one more thing:
Black or white? :p
How durable is the black?
 
Chupa Chupa

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
I think you nailed it when you said you don't play graphically complex games. The mini is going to run everything else fine. I'm sure larger game developers will continue to push the limits of whatever the latest chip is in the iPad. That's a good thing. But most devs are "mom & pop" operations. They need to sell to the largest population possible. There are a lot of iPad 2s out there, and now the mini. No dev is going to intentionally remove that group from potential customers unless there is no way to make the app he/she wants to make.

And I'm positive Apple is going to keep pushing out iPad 2 and mini iOS updates for at least 2-3 more cycles. By then the iPad 2 and mini will be less than useful because of tech improvements and likely less expensive iPads, similar to how the iPhone price dropped as it matured.
 
F

FlashHead

macrumors regular
Feb 22, 2010
249
0
I think that for the vast majority of users the iPad mini will usable for years to come.
 
J

Jaffaman27

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2010
93
14
Tampere, Finland
Sounds good. Hope it turns out to be true.. :)

And for me the iPad Mini would be just for consuming and entertainment now and then. I have macbook and iMac for other things. And will be upgrading my phone soon too, but something else than Apple tho (Lumia).. :rolleyes:

Mostly what I hv been thinking is some casual games now and then like Angry Birds or Peggle or similar. And some retro-esque Point&Click Adventures..or Point&Tap now I guess. :p Nothing too fancy.
Also some Spotify and Netflix and e-books etc.. Mostly simple things.

I just dont want to buy an iPad now and realize that next year the new apps are not compatible anymore or the next iOS update slows down the gear considerably.

So any suggestions on the color?
White looks fancy, but black would probably be more elegant and my style. It's ok if the iPad eventually shows that it has been used, but what I've been reading there is some problems with the black. Is it really that big of a problem or should I just buy the white as its "already" silver and therefor doesn't show the scratches or dents so easily.

Thanks again for your help. Really appreciated.
 
Night Spring

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,614
7,793
I think for iOS devices, you can count on two OS upgrades. So we are now on iOS 6, the mini should be ok to get iOS 7, it will probably get iOS 8 with a limited feature set, and most likely it won't be receiving an update to iOS 9. Once you stop getting OS updates, you'll start finding apps that don't work unless you have the latest OS, and not just games. For instance, The Magazine (for geeks like us) by Instapaper creator Marco Arment requires iOS 6.

A three-year old iOS device is still usable for basics stuff, but if you are tech savvy enough to follow MacRumors, chances are that you'll be salivating after some feature or app that only runs on the latest iOS device.
 
ZBoater

ZBoater

macrumors G3
Jul 2, 2007
8,497
1,322
Sunny Florida
Night Spring said:
I think for iOS devices, you can count on two OS upgrades. So we are now on iOS 6, the mini should be ok to get iOS 7, it will probably get iOS 8 with a limited feature set, and most likely it won't be receiving an update to iOS 9. Once you stop getting OS updates, you'll start finding apps that don't work unless you have the latest OS, and not just games. For instance, The Magazine (for geeks like us) by Instapaper creator Marco Arment requires iOS 6.

A three-year old iOS device is still usable for basics stuff, but if you are tech savvy enough to follow MacRumors, chances are that you'll be salivating after some feature or app that only runs on the latest iOS device.
Click to expand...


While this may be true, this is so far out in the future most people would have moved on to the iPad Mini 5 by then....
 
Night Spring

Night Spring

macrumors G5
Jul 17, 2008
14,614
7,793
ZBoater said:
While this may be true, this is so far out in the future most people would have moved on to the iPad Mini 5 by then....
Click to expand...

The OP was saying he hopes to use the mini for two-three years. My point was that he was likely to get two years of solid usage out of the mini, but a third year was questionable.
 
S

Stetrain

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2009
3,550
20
I think it should be fine. By some measurements it is more powerful (per pixel) than the iPad 3. It has the same internals and similar screen resolution as the iPod touch 5th gen, the iPhone 4S, and the iPad 2, all of which seem to be pretty powerful devices even by current standards.
 
C

CoMoMacUser

macrumors 65816
Jun 28, 2012
1,024
339
For any iOS device, the way to maximize lifespan is to avoid installing OS upgrades as soon as they're issued. Instead, wait a few weeks to see what other users say. For example, I regret upgrading my iPad 1 to iOS 5 because the additional features don't outweigh the performance degradation.

The wild card is apps. Eventually all developers upgrade their apps to require or work best with more recent version(s) of iOS. So if you believe you'll always want or need the latest version on your favorite apps, then you're probably looking at a lifespan of about 2.5 years. I'm basing that on how the iPad 1 can't handle some app upgrades. For example, my iPad 1 won't install the latest version of the Starwood hotel app even though iTunes allows my device to download it.
 
C

children

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2008
248
0
it will be useable for a very long time, just know when to stop updating (it will slow down in the future due to updates)
 
ActionableMango

ActionableMango

macrumors G3
Sep 21, 2010
9,612
6,907
As of June 2012, iPad 2 still accounted for 41% of iPad sales. Throw in the iPad Mini, and I'd say that it is likely that plenty of iPads sold today are A5 with 1024x768 screens.

Add to that the iPad 3, which was shown to perform equal to or slower than the iPad 2, and you've come up with a vast majority of iPads all having roughly the same performance.

So yes, two years no problem and probably three since you aren't a gamer.
 
J

Jaffaman27

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2010
93
14
Tampere, Finland
Wow. Thanks for all the replies.

I think it sounds like the majority thinks that for 2 years Mini will be golden with pretty much everything. After that I have to start thinking what to do with updates etc.
Sounds reasonable. And even after that I think there is some ways to use it. Or I can always give to a relative or something if I'm itching to upgrade to whatever cool is out there by then. :)

So no opinions on the colors? I guess I can always look around the forum. Just thought I'd ask while I'm here. :)
 
X

xVeinx

macrumors 6502
Oct 9, 2006
361
0
California
The hardware should be good enough to run most apps for the next few years. Apple isn't about pushing specs constantly, only bringing ram to 1 Gb after some time. Also, games are more likely to need the 1Gb ram when used in conjunction with a retina display; fewer pixels requires less ram, etc. My guess is that well-designed apps won't start to bring the mini to it's knees for a couple years. At least, that's my hope, since I picked one up against my better judgement :). Glad I did though, I'm finding it to be much more useful than I anticipated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom