iPad Curious...what is everyone's problem w/ iPad 3?

[rui no onna]

Coincidently I have never had any of the aforementioned "heat issues" with either my 3 or my 4.

I've actually had overheating issues with my iPad 3. Bit of an extreme case, though. Was using the iPad as GPS, screen was on full brightness, iPad was getting direct sunlight (in hot California desert with outside temp over 100F) and the case was acting as a sort of insulator. The iPad turned itself off to prevent damage. Removed it from the case so it can cool down more quickly. Aside from that, the iPad 3 does get warm when playing games, running benchmarks, etc but never hot. 😱

 

[barryl85]

I liked my iPad 3 till iOS6 then I found it to be a hog to use and safari would reload tabs constantly, I have the air now and it also reloads tabs even with only 2 open but everything else is lightning fast!

 

[urkel]

iPad 3? From almost 2 years ago? Oh, I remember that one.

BTW, you couldn't pay me to go back to a 30 pin connector. Or an iPad 3.

Last year I updated everything and went all lightning. And to be honest, 30pin life was infinitely better. More 3rd party support, interesting accessories, more reliable cables and no fake incompatibility nag screens from iOS7.

I get that technology moves forward and all but the lightning 3rd party industry is dead and in many ways this was a step backwards.

 

[scaredpoet]

Personally, I still love the iPad 3. I skipped upgrading to the 4 and kept using it up until the iPad Air came out. Now it's being used by my significant other, who's retiring the iPad 2.

It DOES get pretty warm, and it does feel slower compared to the Air. Does that make it a dog? Not really. But some like to bash the older models, because they're older. Maybe it's to justify their purchases to themselves? Who knows, though really, it shouldn't matter to anyone else if you're keeping your iPad for years or tossing them out of new ones every month. Whatever works for you.

 

[marc55]

I have the iPad 3 and have not noticed any issues with it.

 

[ks-man]

Count me as another one who has a 3 and no complaints with it. I just traded in my original iPad at Target and that one definitely felt slow but for our basic use the iPad 3 is perfect. I don't really worry about the weight issue as myself (and most others) put cases on these devices so the case has just as much of an impact on the weight as the different model devices as well.

There is also one other thing my iPad 3 has over the Air (at least for a few more months). I'm still on iOS 6 and jailbroken. If you want to jailbreak your device you can't yet go to iOS 7. Due to that I have no desire to upgrade to iOS 7 so it is completely possible that my iPad 3 would stutter but I wouldn't know about it.

Would I swap my iPad 3 for an iPad 4 if it didn't cost me anything, absolutely. Am I regretting my decision to buy the iPad 3, not in the slightest.

 

[rkuo]

The iPad 3 was a quantum leap over the iPad 2 because of the extra RAM and display. Longevity is more an issue of RAM than processor speed right now. Games still have to be targeted at iPad 2/iPad Mini specs ... so the iPad 3 is going to hold its own for a long while yet.

 

[ks-man]

The iPad 3 was a quantum leap over the iPad 2 because of the extra RAM and display. Longevity is more an issue of RAM than processor speed right now. Games still have to be targeted at iPad 2/iPad Mini specs ... so the iPad 3 is going to hold its own for a long while yet.

That's interesting you say that. My parents have an iPad 2 (and I a 3) and I've always felt mine was just a little bit faster than theirs but always read that iPad 2 test scores better that of the 3 and just assumed I was making it up. Usually I would test speed in using a browser so I wonder if I was feeling the extra ram while people were quoting processor scores.

Doesn't matter at all. Both myself and my parents are very happy with our respective devices but I never realized that they had different amounts of ram.

 

[rkuo]

That's interesting you say that. My parents have an iPad 2 (and I a 3) and I've always felt mine was just a little bit faster than theirs but always read that iPad 2 test scores better that of the 3 and just assumed I was making it up. Usually I would test speed in using a browser so I wonder if I was feeling the extra ram while people were quoting processor scores.

Doesn't matter at all. Both myself and my parents are very happy with our respective devices but I never realized that they had different amounts of ram.

Yeah ... benchmarks don't mean anything when the iPad 2 reloads every web page or app you tab back into because of insufficient RAM. The 1GB of RAM in the iPad 3 vs the 512MB in the iPad 2 makes all the difference in the world.

 

[chdwil]

My big issues with ipad 3 were horrible battery life and it took forever to charge.

 

[aggieastrosfan]

For the most part, I loved my 3. I still remember the first time I saw that retina screen, I was amazed.

I did not always enjoy having a heater in my lap, and the occasional lags and crashes were annoying. I don't use my iPad for gaming, but more business-related uses. Annotating PDFs was torture on the 3. I finally found an app where I could at least get it done without nearly throwing my iPad at the wall, but that doesn't mean I still didn't think about it occasionally.

I never complained about the weight/size of the 3, but I did notice a difference from the 2. Overall, I probably didn't really need to upgrade - I just wanted to, and had the means to do so, so I did it.

Holding the Air after the 3 is like holding my petite 2 year old niece after trying to pick up my long and lean 8 year old - it is an amazing, very noticeable difference. There is no heat from the Air, doing the same activities I was doing on the 3. It is snappier, and overall smoother.

Even if I wanted to go back, I couldn't, as the iPad shuffle has already taken place. Our son, who inherited my iPad 2 16 gb when he decided to keep that and have me sell his previously-inherited 4th gen 64gb iPod touch to pay for my 3, decided to take our deal of an early Christmas present of my 64gb 3 since he was always running out of room on the 16gb 2. The 2 is going to MIL as an early Christmas present. So I guess I'm "stuck" with the Air. 🙂

FWIW, my son LOVES the 3. Or so he says. He mainly watches videos and plays Minecraft, and hasn't noticed any issues. He says it's faster than the 2 (of course, he could be saying that just so he doesn't lose the extra 48gb of space we gave him!). Of course, he did just put Infinity Blade 1 and 2 back on it now that he has room again, so we'll see how those do!

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My big issues with ipad 3 were horrible battery life and it took forever to charge.

How quickly I forget. Battery life and charging time are TERRIBLE. I now charge the 3 with the 12W charger that came with the Air, and use the 10W from the 3 to charge my Air.

 

[ks-man]

My big issues with ipad 3 were horrible battery life and it took forever to charge.

The second part of this I certainly agree with. The length of time to charge is crazy. If I ever notice I'm low on battery and plug it into the charger I'll only gain a few percentage points an hour. You really need to leave it plugged in all night which sucks if you didn't plan ahead.

 

[rockyroad55]

probably the price difference between that and the 4.

 

[h00ligan]

Very simply, the A5X chip is not powerful enough to drive the retina without stuttering. Plus it gets too warm, making the bottom left side of the iPad warm when playing games or anything intense. The weakest iPad of all....that's why. A trial for the iPad 4. That's why Apple quickly dumped it.

My girlfriend uses the 3 and has never had one issue with it. People here are far more likely to moan about minor things nobody notices. She loves her ipad.

 

[davidinva]

I enjoyed my iPad 3 from release day until a few days ago when it was shipped to its next owner.

Same here for using my 3. Does get warm and can be heavy, but didn't see any reason to go to a 4, but the new iPad Air is tempting.