iPad 2GB RAM in iPad Air 2. Where should I see the difference?

KittyKatta said:

One of the reasons I upgraded to the Air 2 was because of the 2GB RAM. But after a few days of usage then I'm not seeing where this extra memory is benefitting me.

Web pages still reload when I switch tabs.
Some games still reset when I switch apps.
Long Web pages done pre-cache so photos at the end of article dont load until i get there


I like my Air 2 and think its an okay upgrade, but I was just hoping I'd be able to see these improvements without asking people what to look for. So... what should I look for?

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how many tabs do you have open? ive had around 7 - 8 and i come back to them days later and theyre still in the same spot

KittyKatta said:

One of the reasons I upgraded to the Air 2 was because of the 2GB RAM. But after a few days of usage then I'm not seeing where this extra memory is benefitting me.

Web pages still reload when I switch tabs.
Some games still reset when I switch apps.
Long Web pages done pre-cache so photos at the end of article dont load until i get there


I like my Air 2 and think its an okay upgrade, but I was just hoping I'd be able to see these improvements without asking people what to look for. So... what should I look for?

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In general I have experienced none of those problems.

The extra RAM won't completely eliminate reloads, but it does greatly increase the threshold at which it happens. If you are opening complex games, I would not be surprised if some of those can consume most of the RAM and cause Safari to reload.

I found Safari to be pretty stable with 5-6 tabs, but still reloaded semi-frequently. I have switched back to Mercury which has been my primary browser for a couple of years and I can consistently hold 8-12 tabs in memory for long periods of time with no reloads. Plus many of the other programs I use regularly don't have to refresh when I switch back to them, even if I haven't used them in a day or two. Just makes for a smoother overall experience.

Future applications and future OS upgrades. Safari should be better out of the gate but it's going to take awhile before it's fully supported by developers.

It's a little heavier than 1GB of RAM.

It CANT be? The 2GB of Ram was supposed to be the end all upgrade.

Guess *maybe* safari has something to do with it after all. Oops.

Seriously - for most users the tab reloading problem wasnt a problem on the Air 1 either since having 7-10 tabs opened and currently being actively used was NOT the norm at all. Neither is playing a high end game and deciding in the middle of it that you want to hit a website or whatever the heck people are doing.

Oy vey.

Like someone already alluded to...

You can put 8 gigs in there, it won't do you any good if the OS doesn't know what to do with it.

My experience coming from an Air 1, multitasking gestures are quicker, and apps seem to save "state" longer.

But all in all, I am not seeing a night and day difference.

s2mikey said:

It CANT be? The 2GB of Ram was supposed to be the end all upgrade.

Guess *maybe* safari has something to do with it after all. Oops.

Seriously - for most users the tab reloading problem wasnt a problem on the Air 1 either since having 7-10 tabs opened and currently being actively used was NOT the norm at all. Neither is playing a high end game and deciding in the middle of it that you want to hit a website or whatever the heck people are doing.

Oy vey.

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I disagree. Having 7 tabs open is the norm. And, as the web services keep getting heavier, I can't often have even 3 tabs open in my Air without reloading. Try comparing prices from a few online shops, for instance. Or using hotel reservation systems while checking maps. Perhaps those kinds of tasks should be done on a PC?

I agree on the part that Safari has a lot to do with it. Then again, not much better with Chrome.

iPad Air 2 with 2GB offers a better overall user experience than 1GB iDevices with less frequent reloading and premature background app closures. You can ignore the few people who need to downplay 2GB and defend 1GB since they're stuck with the lesser device.

KittyKatta said:

Wow. I bought an iPad and asked a question. Apologies to everyone offended, but I had no idea that 2GB RAM was some sort of sore subject (but I am curious to find out why people are angry about it. so if anyone wants to elaborate then I'd appreciate it).


Opening multiple tabs or multitasking while playing games on an iPad "is NOT the norm at all"?

Seriously, did I miss something because this is the first time I've ever heard this idea that "people multitasking on the iPad are using it wrong".

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Nah, I'm basically busting chops here. Sorry if it came across too serious. There was a huge thread on safari tabs reloading that got quite interesting though. All kinds of speculation, half truths, misinformation, and general BS. It was great reading though.

IMO, multitasking is something that means different things to different people. I can totally see a scenario where someone would want muitiple safari tabs opened whilst doing some research or something. I can see a case where you'd be emailing and then hop over to another app for something else using the swipe gestures.

What I can't see is the completely ADD-behavior where people are constantly doing everything all the time in some frenzied state. It's like.... Take care of one thing and then go do the next thing. Why would you be in the middle of a fun game and then "have" to go surf the web or send an email right then and there? It can't wait? Guess not in this day and age of instantaneous everything. Hell, people get angry when their text takes more than ONE second to send or receive. Guess I'm getting old,

mi7chy said:

iPad Air 2 with 2GB offers a better overall user experience than 1GB iDevices with less frequent reloading and premature background app closures. You can ignore the few people who need to downplay 2GB and defend 1GB since they're stuck with the lesser device.

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Stuck with a lesser device? How so? I can go buy whatever tablet I want right now but since the Air 2 vibrates like an 80s pager I've decided to pass on it. Thanks though. My Air works like a charm too. I appreciate your concern and reply to this matter.

Robotti said:

I disagree. Having 7 tabs open is the norm. And, as the web services keep getting heavier, I can't often have even 3 tabs open in my Air without reloading. Try comparing prices from a few online shops, for instance. Or using hotel reservation systems while checking maps. Perhaps those kinds of tasks should be done on a PC?

I agree on the part that Safari has a lot to do with it. Then again, not much better with Chrome.

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The reservations example is a great one.... You are correct there. I guess I can see it. I've had up to 3-4 open at once and didn't seem to have any trouble but it does seem very site specific which is why some folks see the reloads a lot and others hardly ever do or just don't.

s2mikey said:

What I can't see is the completely ADD-behavior where people are constantly doing everything all the time in some frenzied state. It's like.... Take care of one thing and then go do the next thing. Why would you be in the middle of a fun game and then "have" to go surf the web or send an email right then and there? It can't wait? Guess not in this day and age of instantaneous everything. Hell, people get angry when their text takes more than ONE second to send or receive. Calm down, ya'll.

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Which is why I never encounter a reloading problem in Safari with 1-3 tab open and nothing running in the background. I have used multi-window, multi-tasking on my Samsung and it's pretty slick having two apps split on the screen like Chrome and Google Mail but that's a rarity for me.

mi7chy said:

iPad Air 2 with 2GB offers a better overall user experience than 1GB iDevices with less frequent reloading and premature background app closures. You can ignore the few people who need to downplay 2GB and defend 1GB since they're stuck with the lesser device.

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Over justifying a purchase much?

Sorry if you bought it for 2GB of RAM thinking it was going to fix everything and make it a MacBook Pro. I've been a proponent of more RAM for the sake of a temporary fix and pushing the platform forward, but I didn't expect it to magically fix Safari which is quite buggy. My MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM often has issues crashing in Chrome or Firefox when I get up past 80-90 tabs (I do web dev and design, so don't ask). However, I notice a huge difference between my iPhone 6 Plus and my iPad Air 2 when it comes to tabs, and even compared to my old Mini 2. I tested up to 16 websites (ones that I typically have open, pulled from my bookmarks and history) before it reset in the 17th at the 12th tab switch, and on my iPhone 6 Plus I usually cap out at 3 at most. But in typical use of 8-10 tabs during a browsing/research/whatever session, I don't have reloads. Now sometimes I'll have reloads if I switch thorough several tabs after I've resonded to an email, snapped a photo to send in a text, checked the weather and made a sketch in Adobe Draw and came back to Safari, but I don't mind that as much, and often the tab I was in doesn't refresh which is usually good enough, especially compared to the crap we had to deal with before. Depending on the game they can max out the RAM, but considering most games haven't been upgraded for new devices it shouldn't happen unless you're switching around a few times through higher end games. Lastly the caching seen on websites is often implemented by the site itself. They dynamically load content based on scroll position so that it lessens load in their server. Other pages that implement infinite scrolling (a terrible design pattern btw) do this by nature. So unless the website is insanely media heavy it's probably the way they designed it so unavoidable.

There's no difference. Webpages reload constantly, its no faster. Apple suckered its loyal customers.....again.

IbisDoc said:

There's no difference. Webpages reload constantly, its no faster. Apple suckered its loyal customers.....again.

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Certain ones? Really? I'm curious because most folks say the problem has mostly gone away for them. I've never had an issue with my Air bit I dont get too tab crazy either.

IbisDoc said:

There's no difference. Webpages reload constantly, its no faster. Apple suckered its loyal customers.....again.

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My experience is different.

s2mikey said:

It CANT be? The 2GB of Ram was supposed to be the end all upgrade.

Guess *maybe* safari has something to do with it after all. Oops.

Seriously - for most users the tab reloading problem wasnt a problem on the Air 1 either since having 7-10 tabs opened and currently being actively used was NOT the norm at all. Neither is playing a high end game and deciding in the middle of it that you want to hit a website or whatever the heck people are doing.

Oy vey.

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I don't know you but it is VERY easy to tell you must have an iPad Air 1. There is a tad of jealousy and denial in your post.

I've been through multiple iPads and use them at least 2 to 3 hours a day. The iPad 3 never had the tab reloads that the Air 1 has. The iPad Air 2 finally brings me back to the iPad 3 and 4 days where I can have multiple tabs without a reload. The iPad Air 1 is very much a problem in this respect.

The 2GB RAM actually is the end all upgrade because they doubled the RAM and future iPads will likely have 2GB as standard for the next few years. Imagine your boss tells you he's going to double your salary. You would jump for joy and tell all your family. Why? Because doubling ANYTHING is a significant upgrade.

Tabs reload less often and things stay in memory longer on the Air 2. If you want that and can ignore some vibration from sound or if it doesn't bother you, get the Air 2. If you can't, then wait and see if they fix it in the Air 3.

It's as simple as that.

Kendo said:

I don't know you but it is VERY easy to tell you must have an iPad Air 1. There is a tad of jealousy and denial in your post.

I've been through multiple iPads and use them at least 2 to 3 hours a day. The iPad 3 never had the tab reloads that the Air 1 has. The iPad Air 2 finally brings me back to the iPad 3 and 4 days where I can have multiple tabs without a reload. The iPad Air 1 is very much a problem in this respect.

The 2GB RAM actually is the end all upgrade because they doubled the RAM and future iPads will likely have 2GB as standard for the next few years. Imagine your boss tells you he's going to double your salary. You would jump for joy and tell all your family. Why? Because doubling ANYTHING is a significant upgrade.

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Actually, my signature which is clearly written below my posts is a *dead* giveaway that I have an Air 1.

Why do Air 2 owners think us Air 1 guys are jealous? Its a $600 tablet, not a Lamborghini Aventador Marcello Gandini edition. I could buy twenty Air 2's right now....and proceed to pile them up and make a muscle relaxing machine with all of the vibrating that would go on.

Just as you guys claim we are jealous, we can claim that you all are totally insecure and need to feel "good" about your purchase. Doesnt matter, really. Does it?

It's pretty much guaranteed future iPhones and iPads will follow the iPad Air 2 and come equipped with 2GB DRAM making all previous devices obsolete especially the iPad Air 1 since it has up to 30% penalty on DRAM being 64-bit and the reason why it reloads more often than comparable 1GB iPad 3 and 4 that are 32-bit without the penalty.

In general you’re looking at a 20 - 30% increase in memory footprint when dealing with an all 64-bit environment.

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ljx718 said:

how many tabs do you have open? ive had around 7 - 8 and i come back to them days later and theyre still in the same spot

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This exactly has been my experience. The 2GB ram has helped with what I use my iPad for on a daily basis IMMENSELY.

s2mikey said:

Certain ones? Really? I'm curious because most folks say the problem has mostly gone away for them. I've never had an issue with my Air bit I dont get too tab crazy either.

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If 2 or 3 tabs is "tab crazy", consider me guilty of some serious craziness.