iPad Air 2 - feeling sad

[Liam Steven]

Is anyone else’s iPad Air 2 feeling a bit sad right now? 🙁

I think this is the first time one of my devices hasn’t got the latest software.

I get it, I really do (I remember iPad 2 got too many software releases and was just atrocious) but my Air 2 is in mint condition, battery is perfect, and despite being fractionally slower than it once was, it’s still a decent device.

Am I missing anything significant in iPadOS16?

 

[Paddle1]

iPadOS 16 isn't even out yet since being allegedly delayed by Apple. Since the main iOS 16 feature is probably the customizable Lock Screen it's not as big of an update as it is for the iPhone. Unless of course you have one of the newest iPad Pros or the new Air and get Stage Manager and such.

 

[bodonnell202]

The biggest new feature with iPadOS 16 is stage manager, and it’s only coming to devices with an M1 chip. If the Air 2 still works for you I suspect it will receive security updates for another year or two so just hang onto it and keep enjoying it! After that app support will start to drop off at which point it’s probably time to move on. First released in 2014 the Air 2 has had a good run!

 

[BugeyeSTI]

My Air 2 is still on 14.8.1 and I'm perfectly fine with it staying there... Performance is good (battery is a little tired) and I never liked the changes made in iPadOS15 so doesn't bother me not to be offered iPadOS16 when it finally drops..

 

[WinterWolf90]

The air 2 was amazing. I upgraded from a 3. I finally upgraded to an air 4 but then when the 5 came out and had 8
GB I upgraded to that and sold my air 4 and kept the air 2. Mostly to use when I cook for recipes.

 

[Isamilis]

Is anyone else’s iPad Air 2 feeling a bit sad right now? 🙁

I think this is the first time one of my devices hasn’t got the latest software.

I get it, I really do (I remember iPad 2 got too many software releases and was just atrocious) but my Air 2 is in mint condition, battery is perfect, and despite being fractionally slower than it once was, it’s still a decent device.

Am I missing anything significant in iPadOS16?

I am in the opposite actually. I prefer to stay on the old iPadOS given the hardware is also already old. It’s still better to have the responsive performance and good battery life even though it’s old version, rather than the newest but it’s lagging everywhere, warm and need to charge it often.

 

[contacos]

I have an iPad Air 2 and an iPad Air 4. I already have the beta installed on the 4 but since it is not getting Stage Manager anyway, there is hardly any difference compared to the 2 on iPadOS 15. I think the bigger change will be next year when the Lockscreen customizations will hopefully arrive on iPad

 

[FeliApple]

How‘s battery life exactly? How many hours of screen-on time are you getting? Taking into account what happened to my 9.7-inch iPad Pro after Apple forced it to iOS 12 (a far more powerful SoC and three iOS versions earlier), I doubt battery life is anywhere near what it was on iOS 8.

Perspectives can be so different! If it were up to me, I’d like Apple to provide me with exactly zero major iOS updates. Just block my devices from ever receiving any update, under any circumstances.

I will give an example of what I said about perspective: Discussing the iPhone Xʀ on iOS 16, somebody told me: “But I am getting 6-7 hours! It’s good! Wouldn’t you be happy with that? I think it‘s great!” No? I’m getting 16 hours of very light use, 11 hours of heavy use with a lot of camera use at 75% brightness, if I were to get 6 hours I’d throw it out the window, I get 6 hours on my 6-year-old 6s on iOS 10.

 

[GalileoSeven]

I’ve got an OG Air that didn’t even make it to iOS 13 (still on 12.5.6 or .7). Battery life is okay, but there’s a small smattering of apps it can’t run, including 1Password which makes it a PITA to use.

Scored a 5th gen iPad Mini (mainly because I saw the small size as something of a novelty) and it’s much more useable, but I do miss the bigger screen size

 

[v1ctorS]

iPadOS 16 isn't even out yet since being allegedly delayed by Apple. Since the main iOS 16 feature is probably the customizable Lock Screen it's not as big of an update as it is for the iPhone. Unless of course you have one of the newest iPad Pros or the new Air and get Stage Manager and such.

Features like Stage Manager, External Display Support and Memory Swap make iPadOS 16.1 the biggest leap forward for the iPad since Apple started separating the two operating systems.

 

[Paddle1]

Features like Stage Manager, External Display Support and Memory Swap make iPadOS 16.1 the biggest leap forward for the iPad since Apple started separating the two operating systems.

As I said you need one of the newest iPads to get the biggest features. The iPad Air 2 gets none of that.