My wife is a teacher and her principal recently bought every class an iPad 2, which has proven to be a great teaching aide. However, he is apparently planning on advising all the parents to also purchase iPad 2s for their children. Knowing how quickly iDevices come out, and are subsequently discontinued, my wife is worried that suggesting iPad 2s instead of the iPad 4 (or even the 5 if it comes out soon) will prove to be bad advise which could come back to bite them. So I guess the question is, has anyone heard any rumblings on when the iPad 2 might get discontinued? Or even any educated guesses? Thanks in advance.
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iPad iPad 2's future
- Thread starter Danial79
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No one knows that answer but Apple so it's all a guess. There is speculation on this forum that the iPad 2 could get the axe this round and replaced with either the iPad 3 or iPad 4. They have better internals than the iPad 2. The best advice for anyone is to wait to see what Apple announces in the next 1-2 months.
The school decided to buy the "iPad 2" model of the iPad. I would assume that the principal is recommending it to parents because that's what he bought for the school; he might not even be aware that there are different models.
If you buy an iPad 2 and it gets discontinued, that's no problem whatsoever. It doesn't stop working, and it will get repaired if it breaks. On the other hand, if parents prefer to buy a different model, like an iPad 4, that's up to them. The screen is better, the processor is better, but it's more expensive - up to the parents what to buy.
You could ask the principal if there are reasons not to buy an iPad Mini.
iPad 2 will get the iOS 7 update, but it's likely that it won't get the update to iOS 8. While it won't stop working the minute it gets discontinued (and it will almost certainly be discontinued when the next iPad comes out), it's a device that is nearly 2 and a half years old since it was first introduced. And as another poster suggested already, new iPads are expected in another month or two, so now is the worst time to buy iPads. Unless you need a tablet now, you should wait. And when buying, you should buy the latest model you can afford. So in my opinion, advising people to buy iPad 2 is bad advice, unless the primary objective is to save money, and even if you are looking to save money, in another month or two, you should be able to buy an iPad 3 or 4 for about the same price as you would pay for a 2 today.
We would have to see how Ipad 5 turns out.
I wouldn't waste money upgrade my 2 to a 3 or a 4. If 5 turns out to look exactly like 4 with spec upgrade then I dont think 2 would be obselete.
I wouldn't waste money upgrade my 2 to a 3 or a 4. If 5 turns out to look exactly like 4 with spec upgrade then I dont think 2 would be obselete.
I believe the iPad 2 will be moved to Education. The education cost is pretty reasonable, especially when bought in volume. Los Angeles Public Schools just bought nearly 700,000! It still runs the apps that students and teachers need it to, remember in schools, it's not supposed to be a Gaming device! 
As far as advising Parents to buy and a 2... The principal made a statement they probably shouldn't have made.
As far as being a great educational tool, definitely! I've either had a class set or 1:1 for going on three years! I can't see going back to teaching/learning "Old School" again.
Coachingguy
As far as advising Parents to buy and a 2... The principal made a statement they probably shouldn't have made.
As far as being a great educational tool, definitely! I've either had a class set or 1:1 for going on three years! I can't see going back to teaching/learning "Old School" again.
Coachingguy
Discontinued or not, I wouldn't risk it. There are many things that Apple needs to do to make the iPad more education-friendly, and no doubt many of them will require hooks in the OS. I'd be concerned that those hooks will require a version of iOS that the 2 can't run well or at all.