Compare to PCs where Windows (and sometimes Mac) is supported for decade old hardware. Tablets seem to be intended more to be tossed out every couple years. But if tablets are to be the post-PC devices they were pitched to be, then shouldn't they also be able to be kept updated and secure for as long as Windows PCs?
When you buy an iPad, how many years do you expect it to work for your needs before you by another one?
- Try to ignore the fact that features of newer devices often convince people to upgrade earlier than planned at time of purchase.
In the comments try to add any feature improvements you believe the iPad could adopt to extend their usefulness.
My main reason for updating iPads frequently was they weren't quite good enough before. We've seen rapid performance and feature upgrades in a very short span of time. It's like we leap-frogged from Pentium I/Windows 3.1 to Skylake/Windows 10 in just 6 years.
I believe with A8X, they started matching Intel Atom performance. With A9X, CPU was actually comparable to low-power Intel Core m processors. Even the A7 isn't doing so badly at web browsing, etc. when compared to the performance of an older Core 2 Duo ULV Windows laptop.
For iPhones, the A6/A7 marked the start of longevity (at least at the iPhone 5's resolution). For retina iPads, I think that's gonna be A8X/A9. Reckon 3-4 years of good performance is actually a realistic expectation now. 5+ years with some slowdown.
That said, we're a pretty exacting bunch here. Heck, I know a co-worker who bought iPad 3's late 2012 for his kids and then got them $150 Windows 10 Atom netbooks last year. He ended up returning the netbooks. He mentioned to me that his kids told him the netbooks were too slow and while their iPad 3 was running slower, it was still faster than the netbook. Yes, the much maligned 4-year old iPad 3 provided better performance than a newer Atom netbook.
