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iPad Air 1 and iOS 8.3 stuttering

C

curropb

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 19, 2013
55
7
Hi everyone!

Primarily I'm sorry for my english, I will try to explain correctly...

One week ago I updated my iPad Air to iOS 8.3. A lot of bugs have been addressed (happy for that), however I'm worried with the performance of my iPad.

Sometimes, when I am scrolling, the iPad stutter. I have tried everything, I have restored twice my iPad (restoring with iTunes and DFU mode), resetting networks, resetting settings... I don't know if there is an issue with my touchscreen or if there is an issue with iOS 8.3 and my iPad Air.

I attach a video where you can check the stuttering:
http://youtu.be/0U-jWmRimEI

You can see in the first part of the video that the scrolling stutter, however in 19" approximately the scroll is buttery. I have the same issue every time with my iPad, when I scroll a webpage in safari, and in 3rd party apps...

I would thank you if you have the same problem and you can help me. The stuttering is randomly. I have an iPhone 5s with the same OS and the scrolling is buttery.

Thanks in advance
 
Last edited:
My iPad Air doesn't do this.

The only area where the Air isn't as smooth as the Air 2 in terms of UI is on Spotlight when the keyboard slides up from the bottom and on Safari in landscape mode when you tap the address bar when on a website. The animation as the address highlights and slides left is ever so slightly sluggish. It's fine in portrait mode though.
 
I speak with Apple support team and say we don't see any problem . You never again feeling like ios 7.1.2 you must buy ipad air 2 . I compared the scrolling on low price android phone but very smoother than ipad air .
 
RebornProphet said:
My iPad Air doesn't do this.

The only area where the Air isn't as smooth as the Air 2 in terms of UI is on Spotlight when the keyboard slides up from the bottom and on Safari in landscape mode when you tap the address bar when on a website. The animation as the address highlights and slides left is ever so slightly sluggish. It's fine in portrait mode though.
Click to expand...

Nah, that still stutters in portrait. control center and Notification Center stutter on lock screen, over open folder, over keyboard. Turning anything with a keyboard open is just bad. Turning spotlight or power off screen also stutter. Turning app store is bad too. There are many more areas but I don't want to describe ALL of them.

However, my iPad does not stutter just from flipping pages like that. Not sure what to say.
 
XTheLancerX said:
Nah, that still stutters in portrait. control center and Notification Center stutter on lock screen, over open folder, over keyboard. Turning anything with a keyboard open is just bad. Turning spotlight or power off screen also stutter. Turning app store is bad too. There are many more areas but I don't want to describe ALL of them.

However, my iPad does not stutter just from flipping pages like that. Not sure what to say.
Click to expand...

This is the reason why my Air is still running 7.1 and i'll wait to see if the iOS 9 development team gets it's act together and puts out a more optimized, polished OS for the iPad.
 
I have that same stutter with my iPad Air 1. It can happen randomly even when doing some basic flipping pages or browsing lightweight web pages using Safari. It comes and goes randomly. Didn't happen with iOS 7. At first I thought touchscreen could be broken, so I changed iPad Air to a new one, but stutter remains. iPhone 5 is smoother here too.
 
Rodster said:
This is the reason why my Air is still running 7.1 and i'll wait to see if the iOS 9 development team gets it's act together and puts out a more optimized, polished OS for the iPad.
Click to expand...

I also had high hopes that iOS 9 would fix this mess, but with Craig Federaghis bad track record, and no guarentee for more polished OS since that crappy watch is the thing now, I went and bought cheap Lumia phone and Nvidia android tablet. They are not perfect either, but less frustrating to use than iOS 8. Btw, that Lumia has smooth scroll with slow CPU and low RAM.
 
MaciMac100 said:
I also had high hopes that iOS 9 would fix this mess, but with Craig Federaghis bad track record, and no guarentee for more polished OS since that crappy watch is the thing now, I went and bought cheap Lumia phone and Nvidia android tablet. They are not perfect either, but less frustrating to use than iOS 8. Btw, that Lumia has smooth scroll with slow CPU and low RAM.
Click to expand...

The only thing that brings the whole iPad experience WAY DOWN is the crappy Safari. So i've been using my Android devices more and guess what? No more web browser crashes. I was thinking of getting an Air 3 but now i'm more interested in the Surface 3 for $599.
 
Rodster said:
The only thing that brings the whole iPad experience WAY DOWN is the crappy Safari. So i've been using my Android devices more and guess what? No more web browser crashes. I was thinking of getting an Air 3 but now i'm more interested in the Surface 3 for $599.
Click to expand...


Yes, Surface is starting to look more appealing, especially since it's now passive cooled. I have chinese Intel Atom Baytrail Windows 8.1 tablet and it's a beast for that low price. And no annoying touchscreen stutter like my expensive iPad Air! (and they both have the same LG 9.7" retina display)
 
MaciMac100 said:
Yes, Surface is starting to look more appealing, especially since it's now passive cooled. I have chinese Intel Atom Baytrail Windows 8.1 tablet and it's a beast for that low price. And no annoying touchscreen stutter like my expensive iPad Air! (and they both have the same LG 9.7" retina display)
Click to expand...

The worst part is that I prefer the iPad for web browsing because of the 4:3 display.
 
MaciMac100 said:
I have that same stutter with my iPad Air 1. It can happen randomly even when doing some basic flipping pages or browsing lightweight web pages using Safari. It comes and goes randomly. Didn't happen with iOS 7. At first I thought touchscreen could be broken, so I changed iPad Air to a new one, but stutter remains. iPhone 5 is smoother here too.
Click to expand...
Hi, did you restore your old backup in your replaced iPad?

Today I've been testing another iPad Air and there's is no stuttering at all. I don't know where can be the issue...

Did you have any problem in the App Store to get a replacement of a new iPad? My stutter is randomly and it's possible I go to the App Store and there is not
any stutter...
 
curropb said:
Hi, did you restore your old backup in your replaced iPad?

Today I've been testing another iPad Air and there's is no stuttering at all. I don't know where can be the issue...

Did you have any problem in the App Store to get a replacement of a new iPad? My stutter is randomly and it's possible I go to the App Store and there is not
any stutter...
Click to expand...

No, I started it as a new. No backups.

I also tested fresh install with no apps installed, no settings changed -> still stutters.

I have also iPad 4 and it has the same stuttering issue since iOS 8. It's most noticable when slowly scrolling just like in your video. However it's totally random when it appears. iPhone 5 doesn't stutter like that. Weird.

In store I didn't notice any problem with iPad Air 2.

I didn't buy my iPad Air from Apple Store, because there ain't one here, but from Apple authorized seller and they sent it to Apple and it took a week and then it was replaced with a new one, new IMEI etc. Thats' why I'm thinking it may be iOS 8 fault, but I could be wrong and got another faulty iPad Air.
 
Thanks Macimac100 for your help.

I will go to Apple Store (genius) the next week. I will update my info here...
 
The stuttering is due to introduction of transparency at unnecessary places.
 
sanke1 said:
The stuttering is due to introduction of transparency at unnecessary places.
Click to expand...

I still see scrolling stutter when turning transparency off but seems like it goes away more quickly. However, keyboard and some other lists have clearly higher fps then. Great, so Tim Cook is trying say it's time buy iPad Air 2. Then they handicap by "update" to boost sales when iPad Air 3 is released . There should be possibility to go back iOS version device shipped with.
 
Yesterday I was testing an iPad Mini Retina (exactly the same hardware than the iPad Air, transparencies enabled) and didn't see any stuttering...just the typical when you release the NC or CC.

However my iPad lags randomly even when I am scrolling in "light" webpages, and scrolling around the different pages of the desktop (see my video).

On Thursday I will go to the Apple Store and I will test several iPads Air before talking with the genius...
 
Hi again

Finally today I was in the Apple Store showing my ipad to a Genius. The issue appeared soon and the Genius told me that stuttering wasn't right.

My ipad is in the second warranty year, and the Genius told me than they couldn't give me a replacement (they only cover the first year). He asked me if i had restored my device, and i told him that I had restored it for 2 times (itunes restoring and DFU restoring).

He also told me that there had been a lot of people with the same device (ipad Air) with the same issue, but he couldn't assure me if it's a software issue (iOS 8.3) or a hardware issue (touchscreen or memory issue).

Finally the Genius wrote me a report to attach it to Fnac shop (where I bought my device), because the issue was easily checked...

He thinks that Fnac shop will give me a replacement.

Besides all, I was testing several ipads Air in the Apple Store and i couldn't see any stuttering in anyone... However I think that exposition ipads who are in the Apple shops brings a "light" iOS 8.3 to avoid memory issues => lags.

Sorry for my english...
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the info. Hopefully your replacement doesn't have the issue. Mine replacement stutters like the first I got.
 
At this point i'm quite sure that stuttering is app dependant. And has nothing to do with hardware.

Those apps that are new (did not existed prior to iOS 8) scroll seamslessly, even if they feature heavy content.

Old apps that have not been rewritten to accomodate to iOS 8 new scroll events code sutter. What pisses me off is that native apps have not been rewritten for iOS 8 and hence stutter (Music app or iBooks).

Even if you don't speak spanish just try a free newspaper app called vozpopuli. It scrolls as good as ever. It was released for the first time ever last month. I bet you won't see any stuttering on that app even on legacy devices like the iPhone 4s.
 
It's possible, but if that's the case, then Apple haven't rewritten any of their own stuff for iOS 8, since I got stutter in homescreen (like in first post video), settings app, safari etc.

iOS 8 is a mess -OR- I have faulty replacement/I'm scrolling my iPad Air wrong/Should just accept there's no going back to iOS 7.1.2.
 
Curropb: It will be interesting to know if your replacement will work. I have 60 days left of my 90 days of extended AppleCare...
 
MaciMac100 said:
Curropb: It will be interesting to know if your replacement will work. I have 60 days left of my 90 days of extended AppleCare...
Click to expand...
Don´t worry Macimac100. I will update the info.

Now my ipad is in the technical service (Fnac shop). They have to check the issue, although the Genius (Apple store) told me the most probably was I was going to get a replacement because the Fnac shop don´t repair Apple devices... I hope to receive my new device in 3-4 weeks (at least they told me that period)

ELFARI: soy español, jeje.

El problema es que mi ipad laguea pero no siempre, sino de forma intermitente (es aleatorio), en ocasiones está perfecto, sin embargo en otras ocasiones es como si tuviese una merma de rendimiento. Desconozco si es por el panel táctil o por un problema de memoria, o simplemente un porblema de iOS 8.3 (pero manda huevos que el ipad Air teniendo 1 año vaya ya teniendo problemas de rendimiento). Ya lo he restaurado 2 veces, una restaurando copia de iTunes y otra con DFU desde 0 y volviendo a descargar las aplicaciones desde la APP Store sin pasarlas desde iTunes, pero nada, igual... El caso es que el chico de la Apple Store me dijo que lo que hacía mi ipad no era normal. Además mi pareja tiene un ipad Mini Retina (que tiene exactamente el mismo hardware que el iPad Air) y no hace lo que hace el mío. Estuve en la tienda toqueteando los ipad Air que tenían en exposicion y todos iban fluidos como el primer dia (y tenían el 8.3). De todas formas, y es lo que puse en un post anterior, imagino que las versiones de IOS que tienen los ipad de exposición están trucados para no mostrar lag...o bien están overcloqueados o bien son una versión "light" de iOS.
Si lo prefieres seguimos hablando por privado que a mi el inglés me cuesta.
 
Last edited:
Hi again

Yesterday I get my Ipad Air replacement and in the afternoon I restored my old backup (from my previous ipad) in my new device.

The stuttering is still there, the new Device didn't fix my issue...so i think it´s an issue induced by IOS 8.3

The genius told me several people had gone to the Apple Store to complain about my same issues (sometimes the Ipad stutters, low performance, lags, etc).

I hope 8.4 improves the performance in Ipad Air 1, because after a year, it´s inexcusable the low Ipad 1 performance with IOS 8.3...
 
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