All iPads Does 1GB of RAM run smoothly?

[Night Spring]

That would make two of us. It was blatant sarcasm pointing out the absurdity of the idea that a flagship device like the Air wouldn't run smoothly, or would be underpowered out of the gate. Yeah, it's only 1GB RAM, but it's also iOS, which isn't exactly an intensive operating system.

I mean. C'mon dude. I made an Oceans Eleven reference. It was clearly sarcasm.

Sorry, but that sailed right over me. Been reading too many forum posts with ridiculously extreme POVs recently, I'm afraid.

 

[afsnyder]

My iPad 4 USED TO run super smooth.
iOS 7.1.1 must be Apple's attempt at an Android emulator, because my iPad is now as laggy and unresponsive as the Android tablets I've owned.

I suggest plugging it into a computer and restoring it.

 

[Saint.Icon]

Sorry, but that sailed right over me. Been reading too many forum posts with ridiculously extreme POVs recently, I'm afraid.

I know the feeling. There are some individuals on here that are in dire need of therapy for the complexes they have going.

I at least try to keep it entertaining.

 

[redman042]

I'm deciding whether to buy an ipad air now or later.
The only reason I was waiting for the next generation was because of RAM.
I'll be using it heavily to view textbooks (>500 pages in PDF) and I'll also be using it to watch videos on youtube.

Do you think 1GB will not cause any problems on me?

One of my main business uses for my iPad Air is viewing/annotating complex PDFs (color proposals, technical reports, and engineering drawings generated in AutoCAD and saved to PDF).

The Air works great for this. I use the app PDF Expert, which has an optimized rendering engine which works great for complex PDFs. GoodReader was my prior go-to app for this and is also good (though the UI is a bit less slick).

These PDF readers only load a page or two at a time into RAM, so you shouldn't have a problem unless individual pages in your PDF files have huge images that take a lot of RAM to load (this would be unusual).

That said, the Air would definitely benefit from more RAM, but where I experience the shortfall is just in app switching. I get a lot of app reloading when doing anything complex. But once I'm in an app, I don't usually have issues.

The only other issue with PDFs on the iPad is font substitution. The iPad has a somewhat limited font library and, unless they are embedded in the PDF, you might see substitutions.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

My iPad 4 USED TO run super smooth.
iOS 7.1.1 must be Apple's attempt at an Android emulator, because my iPad is now as laggy and unresponsive as the Android tablets I've owned.

Just because the one you chose was laggy doesn't mean they all are. You make posts like this with broad generalisations and then act all surprised when people react

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I'm deciding whether to buy an ipad air now or later.
The only reason I was waiting for the next generation was because of RAM.
I'll be using it heavily to view textbooks (>500 pages in PDF) and I'll also be using it to watch videos on youtube.

Do you think 1GB will not cause any problems on me?

As long as you don't mind the constant page refreshes in browsers when you have more than 4 pages open, yes, ipad would suit you.

 

[sracer]

Just because the one you chose was laggy doesn't mean they all are. You make posts like this with broad generalisations and then act all surprised when people react

Hey scooter, I'm not generalizing... I'm reporting what I experienced first hand.

 

[iosuser]

In a word, NO it doesn't

I haven't used my iPhone 5s for couple of months now, other than using it for my workout app. It's one of those things I never want to change, and I have 4yrs worth of my workout logs in there. I thought it's a complete waste to keep the 5s just for this, so I loaded it on my iPad Air and restore the data from the cloud (the app has its own back/restore facility).

Like I've always done in the past 4yrs, inbetween sets I have 60 seconds of downtime, so I flip over when there's a new message and reply. I did exactly that. I thought to myself that 60 seconds felt extra long this time, so I flipped back to my workout app. Well guess what it closed the workout app when I flipped over to check an email so the 60s timer closed with it I have never seen this happen in the past 4yrs of using the same app on any iphones up to the 5s.

I've gotten over the constant Safari pages reload, but this is ridiculous. I'm thinking to dump the ipad instead

 

[jjhoekstra]

I read a lot of PDFs on my iPad (128 Gb iPad air), and even the large medical textbooks up to 1300 pages are handled smoothly and with aplomb. So as far as I see large PDFs are no reason to wait for larger RAM.

 

[spaceballl]

I thought the rumor-mill was suggesting that the iPad Air 2, or whatever they call it, might still only have 1GB of RAM... I really hope not.

 

[Zorlac]

It runs fine as far as single apps goes. But forget multitasking. Simply impossible on the air. 1gb just isn't enough, and anyone who argues otherwise is a fool.

 

[Count Blah]

It runs fine as far as single apps goes. But forget multitasking. Simply impossible on the air. 1gb just isn't enough, and anyone who argues otherwise is a fool.

Forget having more than a couple tabs open without reloads. If ios8 has multitasking, then the air is an even bigger RAM failure.

 

[Saint.Icon]

Forget having more than a couple tabs open without reloads. If ios8 has multitasking, then the air is an even bigger RAM failure.

Making the rounds, eh Count?

It amazes me how just a few people claim this reloading "issue", yet spam it around enough to make it seem legitimate.

If you feel the Air is so inadequate, sell yours and go buy something else. I'd imagine that's far easier to do that than to sit and continually spam a message board with your dissatisfaction. Unless, of course, you have nothing but a petty vendetta against Apple to keep you going in your day to day life.

 

[Night Spring]

It amazes me how just a few people claim this reloading "issue", yet spam it around enough to make it seem legitimate.

I think it's more than a few people. My iPad Air on iOS 7 reloads Safari tabs more often than my iPad 3 did on iOS 6. I'm not interested enough to update my iPad 3 to iOS 7 to find out which is more at fault, the Air or iOS 7. But I do think there IS more tab reloading. Whether or not it is a major issue -- for me, it isn't. But it is not imaginary, and from what I've read on this forum, it's affecting more than a few people. I do get the sense that most people have learned to live with it, or decided it's no longer worth complaining about since iOS 8 is just around the corner. Which is likely why it seems like only a few people are affected, but back when iOS 7 and Air first came out, a lot of people were complaining about the reloading.

 

[Saint.Icon]

I think it's more than a few people. My iPad Air on iOS 7 reloads Safari tabs more often than my iPad 3 did on iOS 6. I'm not interested enough to update my iPad 3 to iOS 7 to find out which is more at fault, the Air or iOS 7. But I do think there IS more tab reloading. Whether or not it is a major issue -- for me, it isn't. But it is not imaginary, and from what I've read on this forum, it's affecting more than a few people. I do get the sense that most people have learned to live with it, or decided it's no longer worth complaining about since iOS 8 is just around the corner. Which is likely why it seems like only a few people are affected, but back when iOS 7 and Air first came out, a lot of people were complaining about the reloading.

So you claim it's an issue, but that it's not enough of one to verify, back up, or confirm in any way whatsoever by simply updating another iPad for comparison?

 

[Night Spring]

So you claim it's an issue, but that it's not enough of one to verify, back up, or confirm in any way whatsoever by simply updating another iPad for comparison?

Well... I'd say it is a FACT that iPad Air on iOS 7 reloads more frequently than earlier iPads did on iOS 6. FOR ME, it's not big enough of an issue that I'd bother updating another iPad just to check on what is causing it, especially since I prefer to keep the iPad 3 on iOS 6. However, I can see how other people might find this more annoying than I do. So for them, it could be a real issue.

 

[Count Blah]

Making the rounds, eh Count?

It amazes me how just a few people claim this reloading "issue", yet spam it around enough to make it seem legitimate.

If you feel the Air is so inadequate, sell yours and go buy something else. I'd imagine that's far easier to do that than to sit and continually spam a message board with your dissatisfaction. Unless, of course, you have nothing but a petty vendetta against Apple to keep you going in your day to day life.

My issues are these ...
1 - safari tabs reload way too much. I have stopped researching when typing forum responses, because what I type will disappear due to a reload. This is with Safari being the only app open, and only 2 tabs.
2 - apple went from 32 -> 64 bit CPU, and did not increase the ram on the iPad. iPhone I can possibly understand, because you are not pushing as many pixels. But for the air?!?!? You have less effective ram on the air, than the iPad 3&4.
3 - Apple, knowing the iOS roadmap, purposely chose to NOT increase ram to encourage people to upgrade their air to take advantage of the multitasking that will be in ios8. With 1 gig of ram and 1/2 devoted to iOS, that means two apps will have to live in 256megs of ram when multitasking. Make that 2 gigs of ram(enough to handle safari on the air now - BTW), and now you have 759megs of ram for each of two multitasking apps. 256 versus 750 - that is HUGE. Ask the iPad 1 folks if their experiences would be any better with 750megs of ram versus the pathetic 256 that they got. It's called planned obsolescence.

I am using my air every day. Other than safari and the lack of future usability in a multitasking iOS future, I think it's pretty good. However I am mad at myself for getti it, knowing that the 1 gig of ram would be an issue with future usability.

My personal situation is that my family inherits the prior gen of hardware. So the reselling routine does not mesh with my usage model. Besides, the resale of the airs is pathetic, due to a glut of produce, existing discounts to mode the glut, and lots of people wanting to sell as well. People are not recouping all of their $$$ anymore on resales.

 

[ARH1956]

My personal situation is that my family inherits the prior gen of hardware. So the reselling routine does not mesh with my usage model. Besides, the resale of the airs is pathetic, due to a glut of produce, existing discounts to mode the glut, and lots of people wanting to sell as well. People are not recouping all of their $$$ anymore on resales.

When were people recouping ALL of there $$$ previously?

 

[Count Blah]

When were people recouping ALL of there $$$ previously?

Claims of folks making money on resales leading up to air release. Now you lose shirt on resale.

 

[Saint.Icon]

My issues are these ...
1 - safari tabs reload way too much. I have stopped researching when typing forum responses, because what I type will disappear due to a reload. This is with Safari being the only app open, and only 2 tabs.
2 - apple went from 32 -> 64 bit CPU, and did not increase the ram on the iPad. iPhone I can possibly understand, because you are not pushing as many pixels. But for the air?!?!? You have less effective ram on the air, than the iPad 3&4.
3 - Apple, knowing the iOS roadmap, purposely chose to NOT increase ram to encourage people to upgrade their air to take advantage of the multitasking that will be in ios8. With 1 gig of ram and 1/2 devoted to iOS, that means two apps will have to live in 256megs of ram when multitasking. Make that 2 gigs of ram(enough to handle safari on the air now - BTW), and now you have 759megs of ram for each of two multitasking apps. 256 versus 750 - that is HUGE. Ask the iPad 1 folks if their experiences would be any better with 750megs of ram versus the pathetic 256 that they got. It's called planned obsolescence.

I am using my air every day. Other than safari and the lack of future usability in a multitasking iOS future, I think it's pretty good. However I am mad at myself for getti it, knowing that the 1 gig of ram would be an issue with future usability.

My personal situation is that my family inherits the prior gen of hardware. So the reselling routine does not mesh with my usage model. Besides, the resale of the airs is pathetic, due to a glut of produce, existing discounts to mode the glut, and lots of people wanting to sell as well. People are not recouping all of their $$$ anymore on resales.

How's that planned obsolescence thing working? I know several people still using first gen iPads. And even more using iPad 2s.

You can allege a problem all you want. What it comes down to is that it's not real. You may claim it, along with the couple of other people that have the miserable need to whine incessantly, but that doesn't make it widespread, nor an actual problem. You're also rambling on about a feature that is only rumored and may not ever see the light of day. But of course, that doesn't stop you from finding more reason to complain about how miserable your experience with a luxury item it.

As far as resale goes, you're spewing more falsehoods. You act as if the Air is worthless, and that's simply a lie. No one ever gets full price for a used iPad unless they're dishonest scum. Reselling for 75% of new price, which is incredibly possible for a used Air, is an excellent return on a device you've used for several months.

Since you're so miserably unhappy with the iPad Air, why not switch to another platform? I guarantee Apple won't miss you.

 

[Count Blah]

How's that planned obsolescence thing working? I know several people still using first gen iPads. And even more using iPad 2s.

You can allege a problem all you want. What it comes down to is that it's not real. You may claim it, along with the couple of other people that have the miserable need to whine incessantly, but that doesn't make it widespread, nor an actual problem. You're also rambling on about a feature that is only rumored and may not ever see the light of day. But of course, that doesn't stop you from finding more reason to complain about how miserable your experience with a luxury item it.

As far as resale goes, you're spewing more falsehoods. You act as if the Air is worthless, and that's simply a lie. No one ever gets full price for a used iPad unless they're dishonest scum. Reselling for 75% of new price, which is incredibly possible for a used Air, is an excellent return on a device you've used for several months.

Since you're so miserably unhappy with the iPad Air, why not switch to another platform? I guarantee Apple won't miss you.

I've posted a video of this in the past. But I can't go research it right now, because this post would be lost.

I know lots of people who's only complaint with their former iPad 1, was the lack or ram. Yet you seem to think 256Megs is a-ok.

The misses uses my old ipad2. She is anything but a power user, so it works just fine for her. My much more advanced air fails miserably when using safari, due to the tab reload issue. It used to fail even more spectacularly, due to restarts, prior to 7.1 - but I'm sure you were claiming that wasn't an issue either, right?

For just about everything but browsing(about 75% of my air usage), the air is fine. That is because third party apps stay in their ram lane. I've just had to alter the way I use the browser now. Other than just posting a couple quick lines in a forum, the air is useless for me.

Next time I have time on my computer, I'll post the two tab reload video I made. But I'm sure you'll call that fake/imagined as well.

 

[GalFriday]

I read 500-page PDF documents on my iPad Air all the time, and before that I did the same on the my iPad 3 and iPad 2 (which had 512MB of RAM). It's never been a problem.

OP: The current iPad Air will be fine for your needs. If you need something now, there's no reason to wait. On the other hand, if you absolutely want the latest and greatest, and can wait until around November, then do that. Or you could buy one now and then sell/trade it in when the next model comes out.

I agree. I've had no problem with large PDFs on my Air. Seriously, don't be one of those people who always holds back thinking the latest and greatest is just around the corner-you'll never get anything that way. It's a losing battle. Even if you get the iPad Air 2 the minute it's released, you won't win because you can bet Apple already has the iPad Air 3 planned out.

Despite what some of the more nitpicky and hard to please members here may say, the iPad Air is a great tablet and money well spent.

 

[tmanto02]

It runs perfectly smoothly right up until it crashes occasionally. Usually about once a week and always in Safari. My personal experience.

 

[GalFriday]

How's that planned obsolescence thing working? I know several people still using first gen iPads. And even more using iPad 2s.

You can allege a problem all you want. What it comes down to is that it's not real. You may claim it, along with the couple of other people that have the miserable need to whine incessantly, but that doesn't make it widespread, nor an actual problem. You're also rambling on about a feature that is only rumored and may not ever see the light of day. But of course, that doesn't stop you from finding more reason to complain about how miserable your experience with a luxury item it.

As far as resale goes, you're spewing more falsehoods. You act as if the Air is worthless, and that's simply a lie. No one ever gets full price for a used iPad unless they're dishonest scum. Reselling for 75% of new price, which is incredibly possible for a used Air, is an excellent return on a device you've used for several months.

Since you're so miserably unhappy with the iPad Air, why not switch to another platform? I guarantee Apple won't miss you.

I agree. I am pretty new here but I am already tired of all the posts bashing the Air and calling it useless, garbage, worthless etc. Really really tired of it. I joined here because I was excited to finally have an iPad of my own and all those posts really took that excitement away from me. So did the posts from a few people fixated on the tab reloading nonsense and bent on making those of us who have not experienced the issue feel bad by calling us names (fools, stupid, etc). It's ridiculous and making me not want to spend time here. I love my iPad and have had no issues with low memory, crashing, or tab reloading. My screen is just fine and no I am not going to run some ridiculous program to test for "image retention".

Seriously, those so miserable and irate at the iPad Air, sell it and go away. Stop trying to drag the rest if us down with you.

 

[Count Blah]

Then put us on ignore if you can't handle the truth of poor experiences others are having.

 

[GalFriday]

Then put us on ignore if you can't handle the truth of poor experiences others are having.

Just did, thanks for alerting me there was such a feature. I'm tired of your bitterness and insistence on hijacking as many threads as possible to go on another rant about tabs reloading.