iPad iPad 4 on iOS 8 and beyond?

[FSMBP]

How does the fourth gen iPad (released Oct 2012) perform with iOS 8? Also, do we think it will do well with iOS 9?

The reason I ask is that I'm planning on getting it for my father (as he just casual browses the web and Skypes) and I want to make sure it will last 2+ years in terms in usability.

 

[nj-morris]

How does the fourth gen iPad (released Oct 2012) perform with iOS 8? Also, do we think it will do well with iOS 9?

The reason I ask is that I'm planning on getting it for my father (as he just casual browses the web and Skypes) and I want to make sure it will last 2+ years in terms in usability.

It's bearable. I have one as my main device, and there are some things that sometimes go wrong, Multitasking gestures is arguably the only noticeable problem, aside from sometimes not being able to shut down apps.
As for iOS 9, I'm not too sure, but there might be a lot more

 

[FSMBP]

It's bearable. I have one as my main device, and there are some things that sometimes go wrong, Multitasking gestures is arguably the only noticeable problem, aside from sometimes not being able to shut down apps.
As for iOS 9, I'm not too sure, but there might be a lot more

Thanks for the info! I will keep that in mind.

 

[iOZZY]

My ipad 4 is working fine with iOS 8.1.2 with the exception of the aforementioned multi fingered gestures failing after a while. Battery life is excellent, 18hrs usage on last cycle.

I do have reduced transparency turned on, with it off the iPad 4 shows its limitations.

 

[sracer]

It's bearable. I have one as my main device, and there are some things that sometimes go wrong, Multitasking gestures is arguably the only noticeable problem, aside from sometimes not being able to shut down apps.
As for iOS 9, I'm not too sure, but there might be a lot more

I have experienced apps force-closing and lagginess in the UI running iOS 8 on my iPad 4.

 

[jimHdk]

I have an iPad 4 on iOS 8.1.2 and it is running fine.

 

[mhdena]

Why not keep it where it is?

I have an Air on 7, 7 is where it will stay.

 

[tomaseriksson]

Im actually pleased on how well my iPad4 runs on iOS8, with the exception for multitasking gestures. They are laggy and often unresponsive. But everything else is smooth in my opinion.

 

[Yebubbleman]

How does the fourth gen iPad (released Oct 2012) perform with iOS 8? Also, do we think it will do well with iOS 9?

The reason I ask is that I'm planning on getting it for my father (as he just casual browses the web and Skypes) and I want to make sure it will last 2+ years in terms in usability.

From what I've seen, it's not bad. It's not the super-powerful beast it was with iOS 6, but it's fine. Figure that each release depreciates the performance by a degree for each internal processor generation (i.e. A6/A6X ran iOS 6 the fastest, ran iOS 7 second fastest, ran iOS 8 third fastest and A7 ran iOS 7 the fastest, ran iOS 8 second fastest, and so forth). Next year, the iPad Air is likely to run iOS 9 as well as the fourth generation iPad ran iOS 8 this year (give or take performance glitches/idiosyncrasies) and the fourth generation iPad will probably run iOS 9 as well as the third generation iPad ran iOS 8 this year. That's usually how it works.

That being said, you guarantee an additional year of time with it by going with an original iPad Air, which probably won't cost that much more.

 

[crjackson2134]

Keep your iPad 4 on iOS 7 for best performance. It's usable with iOS 8, but performance is disappointing.

 

[sanke1]

If you are planning on getting a tablet, get iPad Air 1. That will definitely last you 2 years till RAM limitations kick in.

 

[Aaron from KY]

If you are planning on getting a tablet, get iPad Air 1. That will definitely last you 2 years till RAM limitations kick in.

iPad 4 and Air both have 1GB of RAM, the thing that will hold both back is the aging of their CPUs compared to current models.
iPad4 Geekbench multicore(2 cores): 1400
iPad Air 1 Geekbench multicore(2 cores): 2600
iPad Air 2 Geekbench multicore(3 cores): 4500

 

[TacticalDesire]

Performance is just fine. Slowdown is minimal with all the latest updates. Like some said the gestures are a little slower but other than that it isn't bad.