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iPad Pro How many more iPadOS updates can I expect to get on my 2018 Pro?

The Cockney Rebel

The Cockney Rebel

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Original poster
Jul 17, 2010
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My iPad runs perfectly, and serves me well.

I‘ll only upgrade, when it no longer gets the next iPadOS update.

Is there a usual rule of thumb?

Thanks in advance .
 
The Cockney Rebel said:
My iPad runs perfectly, and serves me well.

I‘ll only upgrade, when it no longer gets the next iPadOS update.

Is there a usual rule of thumb?

Thanks in advance .
Click to expand...

A12X is on par to A14 in multi core, both have 4GB of RAM and the same size, screen etc. Since the Air 2 ( which is a Pro before the Pros came out), Apple has supported an older Pro Model than an Air/Mini/Budget iPad, from the first two A9X Pros to iPadOS 16 and now A10X iPad Pros in iPadOS 17 released before the Air 3/Mini5/iPad 6th Gen ( that has the A10 but released in 2018)

Simply put iPad Pro 2018 is fine for a couple more years. It’s still not in obsolete or vintage status which makes it safe as noticing this in the future increases its chances.

The 12.9 inch A10X iPad is in vintage status but The A10X 10.5 inch iPad on the other hand is the only iPad Pro not to have been discontinued when its successor came out ( because the Air 3 used the same design and replaced it), but that iPad may be a saving grace for A10X iPads to be supported.

I hope this works out for you
 
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The Cockney Rebel said:
My iPad runs perfectly, and serves me well.

I‘ll only upgrade, when it no longer gets the next iPadOS update.

Is there a usual rule of thumb?

Thanks in advance .
Click to expand...
It used to be a usual rule of thumb bit Apple seems a little more generous these days and offering security patches for older OS. Now they seem to sometimes drag their feet when it comes to release bug and security updates for the older OS (as of now 15, 16 and in extreme cases 12.).

I'm not a fan of having to ditch old hardware that is working fine but that's how things work today, Apple are among the better ones supporting their hardware with updates cuz they do make money from it.

I'm guessing your device will at least be able to run iPadOS 18, and fingers crossed that the older 10.5 pro will be doing that as well, doubt it, but who knows, its has a fair bit of RAM
 
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As people seem to keep their mobile devices like tablets around for longer and these type of devices are a mature technology by now, my expectation is that Apple will tend to offer longer software support at some stage.

When and how they’ll change their product support patterns is up to anyone’s guess.
 
The Cockney Rebel said:
I just like having the latest features.

When my iPad gets to the point of not receiving updates, I’ll upgrade.
Click to expand...
I understand and that does make sense, especially if you, like most people, have only 1 iPad. You are still good to go for 3-4 years in terms of support.
Having said that, Apple has shown that they are not giving every feature to every iPad. My 2017 pro got way less features than my 2018 because it lacked an NPU. My 2021 pro (M1) got external monitor support and some other feature in addition to the previous models, thanks to more RAM and faster storage. But so far the A12X has been treated pretty well in terms of features (mainly thanks to its NPU), but things may change somewhat. It's possible for instance that the AI features coming with iPadOS 18 would require a more advanced NPU like that of A14/M1... So it might only get partial features.
 
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Digitalguy said:
I understand and that does make sense, especially if you, like most people, have only 1 iPad. You are still good to go for 3-4 years in terms of support.
Having said that, Apple has shown that they are not giving every feature to every iPad. My 2017 pro got way less features than my 2018 because it lacked an NPU. My 2021 pro (M1) got external monitor support and some other feature in addition to the previous models, thanks to more RAM and faster storage. But so far the A12X has been treated pretty well in terms of features (mainly thanks to its NPU), but things may change somewhat. It's possible for instance that the AI features coming with iPadOS 18 would require a more advanced NPU like that of A14/M1... So it might only get partial features.
Click to expand...
If it gets to the point where I’m missing out on features that I want, I’ll upgrade.

Thanks for the advice.
 
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Reverend Benny said:
It used to be a usual rule of thumb bit Apple seems a little more generous these days and offering security patches for older OS. Now they seem to sometimes drag their feet when it comes to release bug and security updates for the older OS (as of now 15, 16 and in extreme cases 12.).

I'm not a fan of having to ditch old hardware that is working fine but that's how things work today, Apple are among the better ones supporting their hardware with updates cuz they do make money from it.

I'm guessing your device will at least be able to run iPadOS 18, and fingers crossed that the older 10.5 pro will be doing that as well, doubt it, but who knows, its has a fair bit of RAM
Click to expand...

for iOS 12 considering its last iOS Update was in January 23rd last year, it’s safe to say no more updates for those devices stuck on it

As of OS’s 15 and 16, they will still get sporadic updates though OS 16 ones will get them more

Yes the A10X and A12X Pros have 4GB of RAM ( besides the 1TB one). If the 1TB Version gets more iPadOS updates than the 64/256/512 GB Ones then it would be another iPad Mini 4 scenario where A8 2GB got more updates than A8 1GB ones ( and the Apple TV HD Now is the longest supporting OS Device now)
 
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Homme said:
for iOS 12 considering its last iOS Update was in January 23rd last year, it’s safe to say no more updates for those devices stuck on it

As of OS’s 15 and 16, they will still get sporadic updates though OS 16 ones will get them more

Yes the A10X and A12X Pros have 4GB of RAM ( besides the 1TB one). If the 1TB Version gets more iPadOS updates than the 64/256/512 GB Ones then it would be another iPad Mini 4 scenario where A8 2GB got more updates than A8 1GB ones ( and the Apple TV HD Now is the longest supporting OS Device now)
Click to expand...
It definitely won't. Since it's the same device (3rd gen pro). We have proof of that with the A9X (1st gen pro). The 4GB model did not get any more than the 2GB RAM model unfortunately (A8 2GB and 1GB were different devices).
I have the 6GB 2018 model, and unfortauntely it will get no more that the oher variants, while it could handle as much and the 2020 model (which will get at least one more OS version, but very likely 2 more).
But at least it behaves way better than the 4GB variant (I have both, one as 11" and the other as 12.9") in terms of reloads.
 
I have the newest iPad Pro and it’s good to know I could keep it for a long time. I’m sick of upgrading for minor features. Fully intend on keeping this until it stops getting updates
 
The Cockney Rebel said:
My iPad runs perfectly, and serves me well.

I‘ll only upgrade, when it no longer gets the next iPadOS update.

Is there a usual rule of thumb?

Thanks in advance .
Click to expand...
My 2018 iPad Pro has received 5 years of updates so far.

I expect one, maybe 2 more years of updates for it, but those updates are likely going to be in name only (ie: I won't really be getting anything new from it except the bare minimum).
 
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Apple has made it a complex dance that isn’t as clear cut as it used to be. You’ll have to decide what matters to you in newer iPad OS versions to decide if it is worthy of upgrading. The current crop of Pros are so powerful that I think they’ll last as long as the OS is supported by third party apps and your use case irrespective of what Apple does.

My point about a complex dance… Apple used to release iOS updates that contained the same features for all supported devices. It could mean that some features were slower on older devices who lacked the processing power to keep up (or Apple didn’t invest the effort to optimize for them who knows). That’s shifted now and Apple will often support devices for a longer period of time, but the trade off us they now will cut features from older devices on newer OS releases. So you will definitely get iOS 18, but you may not be able to use many of the new features of iOS 18. Similar to the flack around Stage Manager when it launched.

If the new feature is worth it you might still be tempted to move up.

I don’t foresee anything in the iPad space that would fit that bill for me, but your usage will differ and so will your mileage.
 
LogicalApex said:
Apple has made it a complex dance that isn’t as clear cut as it used to be. You’ll have to decide what matters to you in newer iPad OS versions to decide if it is worthy of upgrading. The current crop of Pros are so powerful that I think they’ll last as long as the OS is supported by third party apps and your use case irrespective of what Apple does.

My point about a complex dance… Apple used to release iOS updates that contained the same features for all supported devices. It could mean that some features were slower on older devices who lacked the processing power to keep up (or Apple didn’t invest the effort to optimize for them who knows). That’s shifted now and Apple will often support devices for a longer period of time, but the trade off us they now will cut features from older devices on newer OS releases. So you will definitely get iOS 18, but you may not be able to use many of the new features of iOS 18. Similar to the flack around Stage Manager when it launched.

If the new feature is worth it you might still be tempted to move up.

I don’t foresee anything in the iPad space that would fit that bill for me, but your usage will differ and so will your mileage.
Click to expand...
Agreed, and this is the advantage of not caring about (and not installing) updates at all: I judge releases on two things: hardware merits and my own hardware’s suitability.

The latter only degrades if compatibility isn’t good enough (which takes years on end for me, especially on iPads), and the former now takes a lot longer.

I wanted to upgrade from my 9.7-inch iPad Pro to my Air 5 for these two reasons: the full-screen design of newer iPads, and the effect of apple forcing my 9.7-inch iPad Pro out of iOS 9 and into iOS 12, which significantly affected battery life.

Now? Now my Air 5 runs a perfect iOS version (iPadOS 15), and the full-screen design makes newer releases less appealing, so I should be fine.

Updates obliterate devices, so users who do update may find their devices unsuitable for use on grounds of insufficient hardware due to iOS updates’ obliteration... and I’ll never experience that.
 
A12 family, so probably one more: iPadOS 18.

I'd expect A12 to be cut off from iOS 18. iPadOS tends to get one more version with the same SoC. We saw this with A10 where iPhone 7 got cut off but iPad 6 remained.

Apple continues to provide critical security patches for iOS/iPadOS n-2.
 
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JPack said:
A12 family, so probably one more: iPadOS 18.

I'd expect A12 to be cut off from iOS 18. iPadOS tends to get one more version with the same SoC. We saw this with A10 where iPhone 7 got cut off but iPad 6 remained.

Apple continues to provide critical security patches for iOS/iPadOS n-2.
Click to expand...
A12 will get at least iPadOS 19, since the iPad 7 is getting iPadOS 18 (you can bookmark this post and check it at WWDC)
A12 family will not lose support at the same time. A12Z will probably get until iPadOS 21 or even 22 (A12X should get iPadOS 20)
 
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FeliApple said:
Agreed, and this is the advantage of not caring about (and not installing) updates at all: I judge releases on two things: hardware merits and my own hardware’s suitability.

The latter only degrades if compatibility isn’t good enough (which takes years on end for me, especially on iPads), and the former now takes a lot longer.

I wanted to upgrade from my 9.7-inch iPad Pro to my Air 5 for these two reasons: the full-screen design of newer iPads, and the effect of apple forcing my 9.7-inch iPad Pro out of iOS 9 and into iOS 12, which significantly affected battery life.

Now? Now my Air 5 runs a perfect iOS version (iPadOS 15), and the full-screen design makes newer releases less appealing, so I should be fine.

Updates obliterate devices, so users who do update may find their devices unsuitable for use on grounds of insufficient hardware due to iOS updates’ obliteration... and I’ll never experience that.
Click to expand...
iPadOS 15 is one of the greatest ( top3) OS’s ever I agree

From M1/ A15 iPads to the Air 2/Mini 4 getting it I couldn’t agree more
 
That's possible but not guaranteed. Apple didn't release an iPad with an A11x and there were two models with the A12 in subsequent years that were nearly identical. I wouldn't be surprised if the 2018 model gets three more years of updates. Very unlikely to get more than that though.
 
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