iPad ipad 3, worth upgrading to iOS 9?

[Ih8reno]

Just as the title states I wanted to get opinions on whether it is worth it to install the new iOS today when it comes out on my 16gb iPad 3. It has gotten so slow in the past versions of iOS that it stutters when typing and become a hassle on occasions to use for basic tasks. Has anyone used it (iOS 9 betas) on theirs and has it improved since iOS 8?

 

[JozefC]

Just as the title states I wanted to get opinions on whether it is worth it to install the new iOS today when it comes out on my 16gb iPad 3. It has gotten so slow in the past versions of iOS that it stutters when typing and become a hassle on occasions to use for basic tasks. Has anyone used it (iOS 9 betas) on theirs and has it improved since iOS 8?

Well Hmmmm... I went from iOS 7.1 on my iPad 3 to 8.4.1 and then to 9.0 and 9.1. I have to say that iOS 8.4.1 seemed to me really slow, then also 9.0 and 9.1 at first moment. But I have restored my device after a while of iOS 9.1 testing and turned off some accessibility features in settings. I have to say that things are a lot of better now. It is quite usable. I use it as my main typing device at University and also for some light office work. Before the restore I was not able to do such things.

 

[Ih8reno]

Well Hmmmm... I went from iOS 7.1 on my iPad 3 to 8.4.1 and then to 9.0 and 9.1. I have to say that iOS 8.4.1 seemed to me really slow, then also 9.0 and 9.1 at first moment. But I have restored my device after a while of iOS 9.1 testing and turned off some accessibility features in settings. I have to say that things are a lot of better now. It is quite usable. I use it as my main typing device at University and also for some light office work. Before the restore I was not able to do such things

Thank you for the response. I think for now at least I'll leave well enough alone. I don't see any reason important enough to me to upgrade the iOS version.

 

[rusty2192]

I was just wondering the exact same thing and came looking for a thread. My iPad 3 is still running 7.1 as I was always scared to upgrade to 8.X. I was also curious if they slimmed down 9.0. I think I'll take the wait and see approach for now also until I hear some more opinions.

 

[Mystro]

My trusty iPad 2 and iPad 3 had to be updated to iOS 8 because there were too many apps that wouldn't work with any pre iOS 8.

 

[loby]

I was just wondering the exact same thing and came looking for a thread. My iPad 3 is still running 7.1 as I was always scared to upgrade to 8.X. I was also curious if they slimmed down 9.0. I think I'll take the wait and see approach for now also until I hear some more opinions.

Well...I have to say that I updated my iPad 3 today from slow 8.x and it is running much better than before.

Streaming-lining down the OS seemed to help. If you are on ios 8x, I can suggest upgrading. Not sure how fast to compare iOS 7 with iOS 9 (seems like light years ago to remember), but I have noticed great improvement over iOS 8x. I can actually continue to use my iPad 3 as I desired to do.

The only thing I have noticed is that it takes about 1 second to open up an app. Kind of a delay when you count: "one-one thousand" and then opens, but again much better improvement, especially the new feature of holding down two keys and giving the ability to move the curser around. Great feature when typing.

 

[JonnyBlaze]

Same experience as post above. My iPad 3 is much better on iOS 9 than 8. Everything feels more speedy, and there are some very useful new features. I really like the two finger curser move thing too!

 

[mickeydean]

iOS9 is the best since iOS5/6 for iPad 3 usability. Might not sell iPad 3 now.

 

[Beachguy]

Glad to see some positive reports. After the last 8.4 update, my iPad 3 was crashing and sluggish beyond belief. I'm hoping this changes with iOS 9.

Not sure what to do with my iPad 2, though.

 

[Wahlstrm]

Best iOS x.0 upgrade yet for my ipad2. No issues so far and Safari feels better than it has for many years now.

Just think of the android users who don't even get updates on devices that are a few months old an Apple still delivers on my 4 years old iPad

 

[mykelala01]

I skip IOS 8x on my old IPad 2... Yesterday I did a clean install, of IOS 9 on it. What could I say it is better than IOS 7.x.x. My Ipad 2 Feels like brand new again. It is more responsive/useable. I guess Apple forget to embed obsolescene programs, into its brand new IOS. Don't worry they might on IOS 9.1 or IOS 10

 

[DTphonehome]

I was actually planning on selling my iPad 3 and upgrading to a new Air 3, since it was so slow. Since they didn't announce a new iPad Air, I figured I'd update the iPad 3 to IOS 9 and see how it ran. Bottom line, MUCH better than on 8.4. So much so that I'll probably keep the 3 until the next Air update.

 

[mickeydean]

Not sure if this was common but 8.4 crashed and crashed. It would repeatedly restart with no end in sight. So I would have it be useless for 30min or 1hr even with a reset.

I've done OTA's since the very first day so probably got some junk.
iOS9 has been more responsive and some heavy apps like a 3D anatomy app loads much quicker than before. No crashes now.

 

[token787]

My battery drainage is terrible on 9.0!! (Ipad 4)

 

[MH01]

Thanks for the replies all, will upgrade my iPad 3, it's horrible on iOS 8

 

[ftlum]

9.1 has been much better than 8.4. I no longer have the severe keyboard lag that was making my iPad 3 unusable. It's still a little sluggish sometimes and you do get stuttering when you scroll in any app, but I can definitely recommend 9.1 over 8.4. I'm not sure about ios7; my recollection is that things ran well on it (I don't recall ever having performance issues with it). However, the new trackpad feature alone makes iOS 9 worthwhile..

 

[MarcoCapa]

My father upgraded his iPad 3 to iOS 9 today and he says that is not bad at all... if you trust him

 

[loby]

Apple could have made us with iPad 3's have to update and buy due to the slow speeds we were getting with iOS 8x, but instead gave us a break...

We who first bought the iPad 3 got hit hard with an 7-8 month upgrade to the iPad 4...left a bad taste in our mouths and many lost confidence in Apple putting less quality over just making a buck (or yen depending on where you are on the globe)

iPad 3 has (I heard) the same processor as the iPad 2, but running retina, so CPU was pushing it from the beginning and would run slower as the newer iOS came out by design. Apple has instead given the iPad 3 life again.

Thanks Apple. Don't think by helping us out that you will lose on sales as some have already said that they will now not upgrade (buy) for some time because of the extended life, pretending to give you a message that you made a mistake and those who were going to buy another iPad will now not because iOS 9 giving life to older products. This is how Android makes their money, making customers buy new because the last model is obsolete fast etc.. These type of entries may be competitors trying to tell you that you lost more sales by making older iPads run longer, hurting a category that is already suffering in sales.

On the contrary, you have gained the respect again for servicing your customers. We who have iPad 3's will update soon...we just like our ipad 3's and are glad that you are allowing us to use it more instead of forcing us to upgrade. You have not lost sales by allowing older models to run longer. You have gained loyalty and confidence that the expensive price we pay on your products are worth it....again.

Thanks again Apple. I am enjoying my iPad 3 again. You did not have too, but you did. It is running much better and look forward to the iOS 9.01 that will hopefully make it run even better again!

 

[lockerc18]

Apple could have made us with iPad 3's have to update and buy due to the slow speeds we were getting with iOS 8x, but instead gave us a break...

We who first bought the iPad 3 got hit hard with an 7-8 month upgrade to the iPad 4...left a bad taste in our mouths and many lost confidence in Apple putting less quality over just making a buck (or yen depending on where you are on the globe)

iPad 3 has (I heard) the same processor as the iPad 2, but running retina, so CPU was pushing it from the beginning and would run slower as the newer iOS came out by design. Apple has instead given the iPad 3 life again.

Thanks Apple. Don't think by helping us out that you will lose on sales as some have already said that they will now not upgrade (buy) for some time because of the extended life, pretending to give you a message that you made a mistake and those who were going to buy another iPad will now not because iOS 9 giving life to older products. This is how Android makes their money, making customers buy new because the last model is obsolete fast etc.. These type of entries may be competitors trying to tell you that you lost more sales by making older iPads run longer, hurting a category that is already suffering in sales.

On the contrary, you have gained the respect again for servicing your customers. We who have iPad 3's will update soon...we just like our ipad 3's and are glad that you are allowing us to use it more instead of forcing us to upgrade. You have not lost sales by allowing older models to run longer. You have gained loyalty and confidence that the expensive price we pay on your products are worth it....again.

Thanks again Apple. I am enjoying my iPad 3 again. You did not have too, but you did. It is running much better and look forward to the iOS 9.01 that will hopefully make it run even better again!

Honestly, I have to believe that any performance improvement for iPad3 was incidental and unintentional. Apple didn't go out of its way to help iPad3 owners out specifically. I have one, and IOS9 does seem to run better than 8.x on it, for sure. That will let me keep my iPad3 until at least the Air 3 comes out. But I really don't see Apple doing anything special to help old device owners out. That goes against their strategy of obsolescing older devices as an inducement to upgrade. But I'm glad it worked out this way.

 

[mickeydean]

Honestly, I have to believe that any performance improvement for iPad3 was incidental and unintentional. Apple didn't go out of its way to help iPad3 owners out specifically. I have one, and IOS9 does seem to run better than 8.x on it, for sure. That will let me keep my iPad3 until at least the Air 3 comes out. But I really don't see Apple doing anything special to help old device owners out. That goes against their strategy of obsolescing older devices as an inducement to upgrade. But I'm glad it worked out this way.

Of course. Will be wary of non-security future upgrades in case it bricks the ipad 3. 8.4.1 was really bad with the crashes for my iPad.

 

[Wahlstrm]

Honestly, I have to believe that any performance improvement for iPad3 was incidental and unintentional.

I think this is much an effect of this being 1. A more refined OS and 2. Apples way of keeping old products updated. Apple let us have the bug fixes and the updated core of the OS but leave out all the GPU/CPU-taxing stuff they know the machine won't handle well, parallax eye-candy etc. If you could put the version we iPad2/3 owners run on an iPad Air2 it would probably make the iPad Air2 even faster.

 

[Dark Goob]

Honestly, I have to believe that any performance improvement for iPad3 was incidental and unintentional. Apple didn't go out of its way to help iPad3 owners out specifically. I have one, and IOS9 does seem to run better than 8.x on it, for sure. That will let me keep my iPad3 until at least the Air 3 comes out. But I really don't see Apple doing anything special to help old device owners out. That goes against their strategy of obsolescing older devices as an inducement to upgrade. But I'm glad it worked out this way.

Actually they publicly said that they intended to improve performance on older devices. It's true

 

[Ih8reno]

I personally decided in the end not to update and I'm sticking to 8.3. I reset all content and settings and put a few of my most used apps on it and performance isn't great but much better then before.

 

[BrennerM]

Another iPad 3 owner here. iOS 9 definitely helped with stability on mine, especially in Safari. I don't really see a speed increase over 8. My battery is starting to fade after 3 years of constant use, it doesn't last as long as it used to (but still many hours of usage).

I'm considering getting an iPad Pro. It is about the same weight as my iPad 3 + case so I could get a much bigger screen and faster iPad with multitasking and not really gain any weight in the device. If I get the Pro I will probably not use a case but I might use stickers to make it less slippery in the hand.

 

[jpgr15]

I personally decided in the end not to update and I'm sticking to 8.3. I reset all content and settings and put a few of my most used apps on it and performance isn't great but much better then before.

I upgraded mine to iOS 9. It certainly didn't make things any worse.