All iPads iPad Air 2. Should I upgrade to IOS12 before it’s too late or keep rocking 11?

[Fishels]

Is there a pretty big hit in battery from IOS 11 to 12 in terms of battery life on the Air 2? If there is any substantial hit I’d rather stay on 11. Personally I would like to not upgrade to 13 on my Air 2 and just get a new iPad in the next couple of years.
Will I suffer any consequences of choosing to remain on 11? How long is it usually before apps like Facebook and YouTube stop working and offering updates on a older iOS? If that kinda thing is a ways off I’ll probably just keep rolling as I will probably buy a new device in 2 years anyway.


Sorry if these are dumb questions but I forgot that 12 is about to be extinct forever. Is it a good idea to create a backup before making a update in general?

 

[Shirasaki]

You should upgrade to iOS 12 while you still can. Don’t worry too much about battery life of a device that is likely more than 2 years old. As for the app support, it will last for one additional year or two before official compatibility becomes a problem.

 

[ericwn]

12 is generally considered a performance upgrade compared to 11 so I would definitely do that.

 

[AutomaticApple]

Is there a pretty big hit in battery from IOS 11 to 12 in terms of battery life on the Air 2? If there is any substantial hit I’d rather stay on 11. Personally I would like to not upgrade to 13 on my Air 2 and just get a new iPad in the next couple of years.
Will I suffer any consequences of choosing to remain on 11? How long is it usually before apps like Facebook and YouTube stop working and offering updates on a older iOS? If that kinda thing is a ways off I’ll probably just keep rolling as I will probably buy a new device in 2 years anyway.


Sorry if these are dumb questions but I forgot that 12 is about to be extinct forever. Is it a good idea to create a backup before making a update in general?

Upgrade to iOS 12 ASAP.

 

[Fishels]

You should upgrade to iOS 12 while you still can. Don’t worry too much about battery life of a device that is likely more than 2 years old. As for the app support, it will last for one additional year or two before official compatibility becomes a problem.

Do you mean it will last one additional year or 2 with 12?

Also the device was purchased in 2015. As you can imagine the life has already taken a hit . I don’t want to further that

 

[EugW]

iPadOS 13 is superior to iOS 12 in terms of features, and runs at about the same speed overall (although some things are actually faster in iPadOS 13).

The only reasons that can justify not upgrading to iPadOS 13 are bugginess (as with any new iOS/iPadOS version) and initial app compatibility (as is also with any new iOS/iPadOS version).

But if you absolutely don't want to install iPadOS 13, then I would advise 12.4.1 at least. You will probably have until sometime in October to do this, but the sooner the better.

And yes, ALWAYS make a backup or two.

Our iPhone SE, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone XR are all already on iOS 13. My iPad Pro 10.5" is also already on iPadOS 13.1 beta 4. I have also tried one of our iPad Air 2 on iPadOS 13.0 beta and it was quite responsive, but I reverted back to 12 because it was buggier back then and it wasn't my iPad anyway. (It's my kids'.) However, when iPadOS launches next week, both our Air 2s will be getting iPadOS.

 

[MacPeasant123]

I don't have the iPad Air 2, and instead I have the original iPad Air. My experience with that is upgrading from iOS 11 to iOS 12 was great. My iPad feels more responsive, so Apple really worked on making iOS 12 a good maintenance release to fix problems. I didn't noticed any decrease in battery life.

So based on that, I'd suggest to upgrade to iOS 12 before it's too late.

 

[1BadManVan]

i would seriously move to ios 13. Running 13.1 on my ipad 6th gen and it runs amazing, even scores a bit higher averages in benchmarks over ios 12 and ios 12 was a big jump from 11

 

[EugW]

What you should do:

1. Save your most important files in the iPad Air 2 somewhere.
2. Do a full iTunes backup, and archive the backup. Label it iOS 11.
3. Install iOS 12.4.1.
4. Backup again, and archive that backup too. Label it iOS 12.4.1.
5. Install iPadOS 13.1 beta 4 and use it for a few days to see if you like it.
6. If iPadOS 13.1 beta 4 suits your needs, then great, back that up and archive it. Label it iPadOS 13.1 b4. Continue to use iPadOS 13 and be happy. However, if you decide iPadOS 13.1 is not for you, then you can revert back to iOS 12.4.1.
7. Delete your archived backups of the OS versions you don't need once you've made a final decision.

 

[Jeff321]

My iPad Air 2 has been on iOS 12 since it was released and it has been excellent.

I will definitely be going to iPadOS 13 when released also. Don’t see any reason not to really.

 

[Fishels]

iPadOS 13 is superior to iOS 12 in terms of features, and runs at about the same speed overall (although some things are actually faster in iPadOS 13).

The only reasons that can justify not upgrading to iPadOS 13 are bugginess (as with any new iOS/iPadOS version) and initial app compatibility (as is also with any new iOS/iPadOS version).

But if you absolutely don't want to install iPadOS 13, then I would advise 12.4.1 at least. You will probably have until sometime in October to do this, but the sooner the better.

And yes, ALWAYS make a backup or two.

Our iPhone SE, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone XR are all already on iOS 13. My iPad Pro 10.5" is also already on iPadOS 13.1 beta 4. I have also tried one of our iPad Air 2 on iPadOS 13.0 beta and it was quite responsive, but I reverted back to 12 because it was buggier back then and it wasn't my iPad anyway. (It's my kids'.) However, when iPadOS launches next week, both our Air 2s will be getting iPadOS.

Thank you! I just went on 12 today in fact. So no turning back lol.

I made a backup(on a new computer) of the iOS 11 before I did this. Everything seems fine so far.

I guess like you said I should make a backup of the iOS 12 as well..

Personally I think I’ll watch and wait on the 13. I appreciate it but by the time I decide I’ll probably be on a new iPad haha.


Also just a random question. I had iTunes installed on my new computer and the most of the files moved over. No older backups were moved over. But when I hit backup that is supposed to backup everything including pictures right? I know that sounds like a dumb question but the Apple rep acted like they didn’t know when I called earlier today. It’s been quite some time since I did a backup of anything and I honestly can’t remember what it saves. I don’t have to select anything special do I?

edit: oh and my new computer is still a fossil Windows 7 for context.

Thanks to everyone here for the replies

 

[EugW]

Thank you! I just went on 12 today in fact. So no turning back lol.

I made a backup(on a new computer) of the iOS 11 before I did this. Everything seems fine so far.

I guess like you said I should make a backup of the iOS 12 as well..

Personally I think I’ll watch and wait on the 13. I appreciate it but by the time I decide I’ll probably be on a new iPad haha.


Also just a random question. I had iTunes installed on my new computer and the most of the files moved over. No older backups were moved over. But when I hit backup that is supposed to backup everything including pictures right? I know that sounds like a dumb question but the Apple rep acted like they didn’t know when I called earlier today. It’s been quite some time since I did a backup of anything and I honestly can’t remember what it saves. I don’t have to select anything special do I?

edit: oh and my new computer is still a fossil Windows 7 for context.

Thanks to everyone here for the replies

The pictures are supposed to be backed up but I'm paranoid and copy the important pictures elsewhere too.

 

[EugW]

Installed iPadOS 13.1 on one iPad Air 2 and kept one on 12.4.1. Installs were very limited installs on both, and almost identical, and then I tested them side by side for a short time.

1. UI scrolling and swiping and other UI actions felt about the same speed. Animations remained good on 13.1, without an increase in lagginess, although neither were anywhere near as smooth as my iPad Pro 10.5 with 120 Hz ProMotion.

2. Default icon size on 13.1 was smaller, and of course 13.1 has Today View.

3. Most app loading that I tried was relatively similar. Some claim 13.1 is often faster, but either way it's not something that's usually in-your-face obvious. Suffice it to say is that 13.1 felt very responsive.

4. Default page size layout was different on some sites, presumably because 13.1 is requesting the desktop site. On CBC.ca/news there was one more column displayed and thus more information was on-screen, but which also meant that default font sizing was smaller.

iOS 12.4.1:

iPadOS 13.1:

However, I preferred my 10.5" Pro with iPadOS 13.1 because the screen is bigger, so the 10.5" Pro seems better suited for the more densely packed page.

Overall, I'd say again that if you have an iPad Air 2, don't be afraid to update to 13.1 because of performance worries. If you liked the performance of the iPad Air 2 on iOS 12, you'll probably like it on iPadOS 13.1 as well. More important is how the current 13.1 bugs and app incompatibilities will affect your usage. For me, my work VPN software doesn't work on 13.1 for example. OTOH, my banking apps got updated recently to support 13.x.