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iPad 4 on iOS 9

TribeFan1

TribeFan1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 1, 2013
125
31
So i currently have an iPad 4 running iOS 6.1, and its pretty quick but I would like some better app compatibility, so i have been considering updating it to iOS 9. My concerns with updating are the crashing of safari and the device just getting slower overall. I do like iOS 6 on it, but I also am starting to think it may be time to update the iPad or upgrade to the Air 2 with the staples deal. So how does iOS 9 run on the iPad 4? And how is the battery life? Thanks for the replies and the help!
 
Anybody running ios 9 on the ipad 4? Any thoughts on it at all?
 
I don't have an iPad, but I will say that it's probably not worth upgrading to a new iPad just yet. If I were in your position, I would keep my iPad for another year and wait for an iPad Air 3 sale by the end of 2016.

The better app compatibility is probably worth it, not to mention that the iPad 4 is not the lowest supported iPad model, so iOS 9 shouldn't run that bad on it.
 
I bought one from Staples and it stalls like yours, yours must be a porker of a problem. I see that.
 
I have one running 9.0.1. Coming from iOS 6.1, it won't feel as smooth, especially navigating the homescreen/spotlight search. That said, apps load quickly and work smoothly. It's not a pain to use at all.

In fact, I can think of a number of apps that I use that don't even work on iOS 7 or even below 8.2 (Google Photos) so I think it's well worth the small trade off.

If you decide to go for it, I would give it a shot ASAP. Apple is still signing 8.4.1 which is really solid and smooth, but they won't be for long.

I also hear good things about 9.1 beta as far as smoothness, you could also reevaluate in a month or so.

I'm not going to upgrade until the Air 3 next year.
 
I'm rocking an iPad 4 running 8.4.1, runs brilliant, battery excellent. It was running horribly going from 6,7,8 plus in between updates but I did a full restore at 8 and that sorted the bugs out. Since then iOS at 8.4.1 is great.

It is running so well I'm reluctant to upgrade to iOS 9 at all as I see no extra features for this model iPad. Will probably leave it on iOS8.4.1 forever now and update whatever 'new' iPad I decide on in the future, probably an iPad Pro.
 
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I loaded iOS 9 on my iPad 4 - and have no issues of any kind. I am enjoying the new features available with iOS9, very much. It is worth it to me.
 
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Thanks for the responses!

How is safari on it? And the battery life? And this likely sounds dumb, but what are some of the features that work well on the iPad 4 that are still included with the new updates? I know the split screen and multitasking stuff doesn't work on it
 
Safari, to me, is unchanged. Same performance...which is good. Too many tabs (i.e., more than 1), will reload the same. No change in battery life at all. I like the access to return to previous app too.
 
The only drawback is you can't use the great ios9 features - split view, slide over, and ad blockers - on ipad4, but performance and battery life (without tech spec graphs, just how it feels) seem about the same as the last Ios8 version.
 
ios9 runs fine on my old ipad3. Hardly the fastest thing in the box and it's annoying that it won't run the content blockers, but still perfectly good.
 
For what it's worth... Two weeks ago I had to reset a few of those iPads for my work/internship (Desktop Support Technician at a school here). They were running iOS 8. I was actually very curious about how iOS 9 would run on an iPad 4, so decided to update one. And though there's a visible lag, it wasn't as bad as I did expect. It felt like it's at the same level as iOS 8.

Most basic apps, including Safari, did seem to work well. At least, it's not as bad as iOS 9 on the iPhone 4s. :p
 
TribeFan1 said:
So i currently have an iPad 4 running iOS 6.1, and its pretty quick but I would like some better app compatibility, so i have been considering updating it to iOS 9. My concerns with updating are the crashing of safari and the device just getting slower overall. I do like iOS 6 on it, but I also am starting to think it may be time to update the iPad or upgrade to the Air 2 with the staples deal. So how does iOS 9 run on the iPad 4? And how is the battery life? Thanks for the replies and the help!
Click to expand...

Do NOT do it!

On iOS 9 my iPad 4 was laggy, to the point where it killed the experience.

I went back to iOS 8.4.1 a couple of days back and once again my iPad 4 is smooth, and enjoyable to use.

I'm giving this iPad to my nephew when I get my iPad Pro in November, and I'm going to advise him to stick with iOS 8.4.1.

Honestly, don't do it ... especially as Slide Over & PIP doesn't even work on these devices.

Download 8.4.1 and install that instead ...
 
TheLondonFella said:
Go back to 8.4.1, while you still can ...
Click to expand...

Part of my reasoning for staying on 8.4.1 was that is the maximum version of iOS 8. Working well and with all OS 8 upgrades. The iPad 4 on iOS 9.0, might run OK but what's to say 9.1,9.2 etc doesn't introduce bugs. Then you end up with a partially upgraded device running an OS that offers no new extra features and maybe introduces some bugs when it hits the minor revisions.

iOS 8.4.1 and no further is a safe bet.

In hindsight and speaking generally the best version to stick at would have been iOS 8.3, as there's no Music Home Sharing on 8.4.1. However for me the 128GB storage negates that issue and I do quite like Apple Music so can store my 60GB locally and supplement with Apple Music if necessary.
 
IOS 9.01 runs fine on my iPad 4. As you mentioned no split screen and other features, Safari still reloads tabs like IOS 8 did. But I'm pleased with the IOS 9 experience.
 
9.01 smooth on mine ... It has a lot of apps and data, so I was expecting indexing to take a while, so I left it to do that and did a shutdown every day for 3 days, and then it was good. This was OTA not a clean install.
 
9.01 Runs really well on the iPad 4 tho it does not have everthing IOS9 has to offer :/ Really want that split screen and other things. Makes me want to upgrade tho, don't know what to...
 
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Has anyone had experience with the Microsoft Office applications? How do they run?
 
TribeFan1 said:
Thanks for the responses!

How is safari on it? And the battery life? And this likely sounds dumb, but what are some of the features that work well on the iPad 4 that are still included with the new updates? I know the split screen and multitasking stuff doesn't work on it
Click to expand...
just get air 2...it will last for long time.
 
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