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All iPads Anyone else think iPads become obsolete too quickly?

Reminisce32

Reminisce32

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2009
221
1
Anyone else think iPads become obsolete too quickly? The iPad 1 came out just over 3 and a half years ago and now it can't even download Google's YouTube app, can't run pinterest without crashing, and everything else is slow.

Watching some Jimmy Kimmel videos on youtube making fun of Apple products makes buying anything new feel dumb for me because all the points are actually true. It almost feels like Apple is doing something on the software end to make these devices become unusable so fast just so people can shell out 500+ every few years.

Anyone else feel this way? I get around 8 years out of my PC, Xbox 360, etc. Why not iPad?
 
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It's the price of fast technological advancement. Compare the abilities of the first iPad with the iPad Air. Also Apple still sells the iPad2 & will likely continue to support it for at least a couple more years when it will be 5 years old. That's pretty solid support.
 
santos79 said:
Then how do you explain that Apple is still selling the iPad 2?
Click to expand...

Ripping off customers? I don't know, you explain. I was under the impression iPad 2 didn't even work well with ios 7, yet Apple is selling iPad 2 for $399.
 
Have done every update to date on an iPad2 w/16gb. Maybe I'm too stupid to realize what I'm missing..but for me, my iPad still functions great for all my needs. Truly haven't noticed anything negative worth mentioning...
 
You're comparing to an xbox and PC - why not to a smartphone? Smartphones don't have 8 year useful lives, not even close.

The hardware in a modern PC is vastly overpowered for the things most people do. (Modern games being the exception) we are getting to that point in mobile devices -- for example, the A7 is "twice as fast" as the A6, but to what end? Was the A6 too slow to do anything? Not really. -- but we're not quite there yet, and even if we are, we only just got there. When you look at an original iPad, the hardware was sufficient for the time, but just barely.
 
Obsolete is not a word i will use as we can still do basic functions on it. However, i feel foolish now possessing a gen 1 mini as the mini 2 is so so much better.
 
I think only the iPad 1 suffered from a shortish life in terms of relevance. Notice I say relevance, obsolescence is a really strong word and often misused.

I own a launch day 3 and, although I was slightly irked at the churn between it and the 4, it's still a very good and usable iPad. Just not as good as it ought to have been really, and in hindsight a clearly compromised device.

The only device that I've had that did go off the cliff in terms of performance was the iPhone 3G when iOS4 arrived. With iOS3, even now it'd be a serviceable device (basic browsing, text, email, iPod) if we take ourselves outside the tech bubble, but it was an absolute disaster with iOS4. Fortunately, only had to suffer it for a couple of days prior to getting my launch day 4, and then sold it.

Tldr; for non tech nerds and forum goers, most devices work fine for years and years.
 
I still have an Original Ipad that works for what I need it for, playing movies and reading on it.
 
If they didn't update every year or so, people would move on. Yearly refreshes are expected from most companies. Sometimes it's just a bump, but even those are necessary to remain in the public eye.

Here's the thing though, you don't have to upgrade every year.
 
Apple has a great business model in giving us 1 (or more) upgrades each year. They know some people will upgrade every generation and it's great for business.

I don't fault them for it. Although I did feel a little ripped that my ipad 3 was upgraded so quickly afterward, but I got over it. It's been fine.
 
Wow 8 years with the same computer? That is.. crazy or you don't play any games.

I upgrade my computer about ever 3 years. I have an iPad 2 and I will be buying the new iPad Air.
 
New iOS updates consume much more resources from the hardware (RAM and CPU, which is really low on most models: 512MB RAM in the Mini and iPad 2, 1GB on the rest), so yes, every time you update iOS your iPad becomes more and more slow.

Nice trick by Apple, eh?

Apple fans let Apple get away with anything.
 
The upgrade cycle is a bit quick for my pace. I tend to upgrade my iPhone more often, but consider an iPad more like a laptop as far as frequency. In reality it's more in-between, every 2-3 years. Wish it was a little longer than that, but that's the price of progress and fancy new apps and iOS versions. I think the main issue is that for now, early tablets were rather slow. We're finally inching up to laptops now and I expect to get a longer life as a result. It just took a while to get from 0-60.

santos79 said:
Then how do you explain that Apple is still selling the iPad 2?
Click to expand...

I really have no explanation for that aside from money. My iPad 2 doesn't run well in iOS 7.

macguy360 said:
Ripping off customers? I don't know, you explain. I was under the impression iPad 2 didn't even work well with ios 7, yet Apple is selling iPad 2 for $399.
Click to expand...

As I was saying above, it doesn't run well. It works, don't get me wrong, but it seems so much slower and laggy and crash prone. Probably the 512MB of ram.

Sensamic said:
New iOS updates consume much more resources from the hardware (RAM and CPU, which is really low on most models: 512MB RAM in the Mini and iPad 2, 1GB on the rest), so yes, every time you update iOS your iPad becomes more and more slow.

Nice trick by Apple, eh?

Apple fans let Apple get away with anything.
Click to expand...

It's not really a trick by Apple. Most companies don't give away free updates all the time. Google does, but good luck getting it installed on your device. But this has been the story of the PC industry for years. OS updates consume more resources. That's a fact of life. I just think it's exaggerated with tablets because they started out so under-powered compared to the tasks that we perform. We're finally catching up and I expect life-cycles of iPads to grow a bit over the next few years as a result—unless Apple stops bumping RAM!
 
The iPad mini was obsolete on the day it was released.....actually probably even before it was released.
 
imurdaddy said:
Have done every update to date on an iPad2 w/16gb. Maybe I'm too stupid to realize what I'm missing..but for me, my iPad still functions great for all my needs. Truly haven't noticed anything negative worth mentioning...
Click to expand...

+1 Every once in awhile I'll run into a website that doesn't play nice but other than that my iPad 2 16GB with iOS 7 hums right along
 
No - but I ddo see how power users or those that always get caught up in the latest and greatest could feel that way. Computers/tablets/phones are always "obsolete" in about 6-12 months. It has been this way since day 1. I realize that computers are easier to upgrade which helps but I dont find the iPads being any more in violation of this than any other electronic.

The nice thing is that older iPads keep working ever after new ones come out. I have an Ipad 2 and it works just as well as it did when I bought it 2+ years ago. At some point, sure, the hardware cant support most of the apps or whatever.

Obsolete is actually a subjective word when talking about tablets. For 80% of the users, iPads last for a long, long time.
 
iPad 1 had only 256k ram on the cpu. That's it's problem. That an websites are getting more and more complex and it becomes a problem getting even a single webpage to load in the ram. Much less multiple tabs. Let the page fully load before futzing with it. Else don't be surprised by a crash.

Obviously Apple expects the iPad 2 to at least be adequate, unless they are doing a quiet upgrade to the internals. Bodes well for the useful lifespan of the 3 and 4.
 
The Rise of Technology is Exponential.

Did you see how the CPU charts curved up ?


That is what exponential means, its always going faster and ever increasing.
 
yegon said:
You really need a dictionary.
Click to expand...

Uhh...no I don't.



ob·so·lete [ob-suh-leet, ob-suh-leet] Show IPA adjective, verb, ob·so·let·ed, ob·so·let·ing.
adjective
1.
no longer in general use; fallen into disuse: an obsolete expression.
2.
of a discarded or outmoded type; out of date: an obsolete battleship.
3.
(of a linguistic form) no longer in use, especially, out of use for at least the past century. Compare archaic.
4.
effaced by wearing down or away.
5.
Biology . imperfectly developed or rudimentary in comparison with the corresponding character in other individuals, as of the opposite sex or of a related species.
 
Like how you bolded the only bits that vaguely pertain to the Mini lol.

What can the iPad 4 do that a Mini v1 can't beyond speed and pretty pretty?
 
santos79 said:
Then how do you explain that Apple is still selling the iPad 2?
Click to expand...

Well I think that in the long term it may come back to bite Apple in the tush. The tablet market is already saturated and Apple should wise up and stop selling previous versions of tablets. By doing so, they would sell more iPad Airs. They do this with the computer line. For example, I don't see them selling last years model along with current Macbook Pro's. I definitely don't see them selling the popular 17" MBP with antiglare screen like so many people here have longed for. Apple is under different leadership now and time will tell if they have the vision that Jobs did...
 
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