iPad Air In praise of......the iPad Air 2???

[dantracht]

You read my subject line correctly.....I am writing this for no reason other than to praise the iPad Air 2.

I have recently inherited, due to the fact that my GF no longer used it, my old iPad Air 2, wifi/4g 128 GB, purchased in early 2015, and given to her in 2017 when I upgraded to my now sold (and quite disappointing due to that touch screen issue that drove me nuts) 2017 iPad Pro 2017 12.9". As I still had the original leather case for it, my old friend went back into its former case and is now back in service, despite the fact that I have an Air 4 and a Mini 5.

Some observations:

• I am amazed at how well this iPad still works despite its age and aged specs. Even with the latest iPadOS installed, it works quite well and I do not see much sluggishness in its performance. Admittedly, I do not do anything that intensive (emails, videos, web browsing, reading) but I am way more impressed than I thought it would be. I have a 2017 Fire HD 10 tablet that is already not supported by the latest Fire OS and is already nearly unusable. Yes, it's cheaper, but still....
• The size: IMHO, 9.7" is a great size, although my Mini is, for me, the best iPad in terms of size and portability. For the Air 2, however, the thinness, and overall quality of the design was, and still is, second to none. I've had the 6th and 7th gen iPads and they were never quite the same in terms of feel, for reasons that have been discussed at length on here. The Air 2 just.....feels right. Love the Air 4, don't get me wrong, but doesn't feel as....nice....at least to me, in the hand as the 2 does.
• Touch ID Home Button: still works best for an iPad. I use my iPad primarily for bedtime reading, and I find the touch ID home button works with the most reliability. As much as I adore my Air 4, the touch ID in the power button is nowhere near as reliable, and I have to frequently either re-set the fingerprint in settings or just enter the passcode. Could it be the dry skin on my fingers? I have no idea. I just find that it does not work as well on the power button on the Air 2 or Mini 5.
• The case: How I miss cases like the Air 2 case that Apple made. Why Apple can't make a front and back case like they used to for their newer iPads is beyond me. The Air 4 is the first iPad in 11 years of iPad ownership that I chose a third-party case for, in this case, an ESR case, simply because it protected the sides of the iPad, unlike the Apple folio case.

So, that's it, folks. My praise of a nearly 7-year-old iPad. Doesn't have the pizazz of the newest models, but it will get iPadOS 15, or at least most of the features of 15 anyway.

Wasn't expecting it to be back in the fold of my "Apple fleet" but I am happy to have it back!

 

[LeonPro]

Is that how old the iPad Air 2 is already? I gave this to my son when his first iPad mini was passed on to his little sister (who eventually upgraded to an iPad 7). He's 10yrs old and uses is it a lot for his Roblox games and never complained on it's performance (he has my old Asus gaming computer that I passed on to him and uses that daily also for Roblox). He has no issues switching back and forth. He tells me when things are lagging so I can fix it for him.

 

[dantracht]

Is that how old the iPad Air 2 is already? I gave this to my son when his first iPad mini was passed on to his little sister (who eventually upgraded to an iPad 7). He's 10yrs old and uses is it a lot for his Roblox games and never complained on it's performance (he has my old Asus gaming computer that I passed on to him and uses that daily also for Roblox). He has no issues switching back and forth. He tells me when things are lagging so I can fix it for him.

Yup, it was introduced in the fall of 2014. At the time I had an iPad 4, and the Air 2 replaced that.

 

[Spock]

I still used my up until last year and the only reason that I upgraded was that I wanted to use the Apple Pencil. It was still a very capable device when I retired it.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

My girlfriend has a 2018 Fire HD and it was unusable within 2 years. It’s little wonder Apple dominates the tablet market when Android-derived devices are poorly supported. She’s now loving the Air 4 I bought her.

 

[Rafterman]

It's true that people don't always need the latest and greatest. But...an Airpad 2? I mean...damn.

 

[QCassidy352]

It's true that people don't always need the latest and greatest. But...an Airpad 2? I mean...damn.

iPad Air 2, with a tri-core A8x processor. Not an iPad 2, with an A5.

 

[Digitalguy]

Not my experience. I sold mine 2 years ago as it was too laggy... And it lacks a lot of features...
Instead, I have a this kind of feeling for the now 6 years old first pro... Still reasonably fast (and much faster than the air 2 in daily use), much less reloads thanks to the 4GB of RAM, much better speakers, pencil, smart connector, etc. Still an amazing device for the age...

 

[Jack Neill]

I loved my iPad Air 2, best iPad I had ever had until I got a better one.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Not my experience. I sold mine 2 years ago as it was too laggy... And it lacks a lot of features...
Instead, I have a this kind of feeling for the now 6 years old first pro... Still reasonably fast (and much faster than the air 2 in daily use), much less reloads thanks to the 4GB of RAM, much better speakers, pencil, smart connector, etc. Still an amazing device for the age...

If you're talking about the 2016 9.7 pro with the A9X chip it only had 2gbs of ram..
Correction: another forum member pointed out you were referring to the 12.9 Pro. My apology's...

On another note my Air2 still works very well on 14.7.1 for what I need a tablet for.. Battery is getting long in the tooth but that's expected on a device thats 6 years old..

 

[rui no onna]

If you're talking about the 2016 9.7 pro with the A9X chip it only had 2gbs of ram..

Apple iPad Pro 9.7 (2016) - Full tablet specifications

www.gsmarena.com

On another note my Air2 still works very well on 14.7.1 for what I need a tablet for.. Battery is getting long in the tooth but that's expected on a device thats 6 years old..

The 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 has 4GB RAM. During release, it was simply called iPad Pro because there were no other Pro models at the time.

• I am amazed at how well this iPad still works despite its age and aged specs. Even with the latest iPadOS installed, it works quite well and I do not see much sluggishness in its performance. Admittedly, I do not do anything that intensive (emails, videos, web browsing, reading) but I am way more impressed than I thought it would be. I have a 2017 Fire HD 10 tablet that is already not supported by the latest Fire OS and is already nearly unusable. Yes, it's cheaper, but still....

Web browsing, particularly online shopping with Javascript heavy pages, is actually what I dislike doing most on older iPads. It can be super sluggish (or outright crashes).

Of course, compared to an underpowered FireHD (frequently on sale for ~$100), then yeah, the Air 2 is nicer.

 

[Significant1]

My girlfriend has a 2018 Fire HD and it was unusable within 2 years. It’s little wonder Apple dominates the tablet market when Android-derived devices are poorly supported. She’s now loving the Air 4 I bought her.

I still have a Sony Z2 tabel I use. It is of course no match for my 11" 2020 ipad pro. It is slow and was already slow compared to air 2 at the time, but I like the aspects ratio for video. Fine for reading. The boost reddit app on Android is better than anything currently on ios, since Antenna on ios was discontinued (I am looking, looking and looking. Worst of all is, that while Antenna is still running on my "new" ipad, I cannot restore my purchase and go pro, because any trace of the app is completely wiped from app-store). It it light and supposed to be waterproof (not sure it is) and due to age, I don't have to nurse it. I am also suprised how well Google manage to keep it supported. Everything is still updated with latest versions, but due to storage and app bloat, I must limit what apps I have installed.

 

[svish]

iPad Air 2 is an excellent iPad. Still use it occasionally after having upgraded to Pro 11" last year.

 

[Arctic Moose]

I couldn't agree more, the iPad Air 2 must be the the iOS device that has held up the very best over time. (The 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" is a decent contender, but it is too early to call it. Will revisit in another two or three years.)

My six-year-old is still using mine purchased launch day in 2014, the year before he was born, and it is perfectly fine.

When his little sister (now three) started fighting him for it I bought another iPad Air 2 for practically nothing.

They both hold up well compared to the 8th generation iPad I bought recently, although the battery in the one I purchased used is suffering a bit now. (In some ways, most notably the laminated screen, it is actually better.)

 

[BugeyeSTI]

The 2015 iPad Pro 12.9 has 4GB RAM. During release, it was simply called iPad Pro because there were no other Pro models at the time.

Thanks for the correction, I wasn't aware the first Pro was a 12.9 variant. I assumed the post was about 9.7 models..

 

[Digitalguy]

I couldn't agree more, the iPad Air 2 must be the the iOS device that has held up the very best over time. (The 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" is a decent contender, but it is too early to call it. Will revisit in another two or three years.)

My six-year-old is still using mine purchased launch day in 2014, the year before he was born, and it is perfectly fine.

When his little sister (now three) started fighting him for it I bought another iPad Air 2 for practically nothing.

They both hold up well compared to the 8th generation iPad I bought recently, although the battery in the one I purchased used is suffering a bit now. (In some ways, most notably the laminated screen, it is actually better.)

I think in a couple of years the 2015 pro will have held much better than the 2014 air 2. The 2017 10.5? It's a much newer device and many suffered from the white spot. The redesign 2018 is going to age much better over the long term.... Even now the 10.5 doesn't sell for much because of old design and risk of white spot

 

[Digitalguy]

If you're talking about the 2016 9.7 pro with the A9X chip it only had 2gbs of ram..
Correction: another forum member pointed out you were referring to the 12.9 Pro. My apology's...

On another note my Air2 still works very well on 14.7.1 for what I need a tablet for.. Battery is getting long in the tooth but that's expected on a device thats 6 years old..

Yeah, I was speaking of the older 2015 pro. Having said that when I sold the air 2 I already had the 9.7 pro in addition to the 12.9 pro, and the difference between the 2 was very noticeable...
The 9.7 has a much less reflective screen, much better speakers, pencil and keyboard support and is noticeable faster unless you multitask (and lag was the main reason why I sold the air 2). Still not a great experience because of only 2GB of RAM... but a couple of notches above the air 2....

 

[Seanm87]

Loved my iPad Air 2 back in the day. Had it for 5 years from 2014 to 2019.

Out of curiosity, what’s the battery life like on the air 2 now?

 

[azentropy]

Still have two iPad Air 2s in use. One was my main for a year+, then my parents used them for 2+ years. Now one is my “kitchen” device and the other is what I let my friends 6 year old daughter play with when she comes over (which she is right now!).

 

[Isengardtom]

I still have one too. I don’t use it anymore but still works fine. Was thinking of maybe using it as a beta software testing device

 

[Significant1]

Mine is also still in use daily by my father. Last time I visited though, I had to remove unused apps, to free up space, so the OS could update to latest version.

 

[silverblack]

I too think the Air 2 is a great (may be even the best) device for browsing the web on the couch. I use it just with a Smart Cover, and it is truly the lightest and thinnest iPad with a full size screen (hence not counting the mini).

The curve edges of the Air 2 (6.1 mm) somehow makes it feels thinner than the current iPad Pro with square edges even it is a hair thinner (5.9 mm). With the Logitech Keys-to-go slim keyboard, the Air 2 is even a great iPad for traveling.

However the old processor and lack of ram are definitely limiting the Air 2. I do notice the stuttering when switch apps. It was also really struggling when I was editing a 10-20 MB Word document with figures, due to long lags and constant crashing, to the point that it was almost useable. But I don’t need to do this often, especially during trips.

 

[Saladin12]

I’m still currently using a Air 2 and have to say I love it. I do want to get the Air 4 but right now the Air 2 works so well. The only issue I have is that its the 16gb model which is unbelievably limiting in 2021. Will upgrade my iPhone this month and maybe get the Air 4, or its upgrade if that’s out, next year sometime.

 

[twisted panties]

?

 

[Devvy]

I expected mine to be obsolete 1.5 years ago, but it is still going on
It was a lot of money when I bought it, more than 5 years ago, but I am happy I went with the 64GB model.
A particular dot release of iOS 13 made it feel quite sluggish, but somehow that got ironed out later on. The thing is still quite usable, and the biggest problem I have is that I currently don't know what possibly could replace it for a sensible price. The base iPad would be fine for our needs, but we would get a thicker, heavier iPad with a worse screen and just 1GB of RAM more than we currently have. The Air4 is relatively quite expensive, especially compared to the much beefier M1 pro.
For the time being I am happy the Air2 still runs, so I don't have to decide.