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saxman211

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 12, 2010
258
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I just got an iPad mini 2 that's running iOS 7. How does OS 9.3.1 run on it? Is is slower? Buggy? How's battery life? Should I update? Or stay with iOS 7?? Also is iOS 7 - 9.3.1 a hard update?
 
Stay with iOS 7 imo.

It's not a huge deal (plus I like some of iOS 9s features like PiP/Quick Reply) but if I could go back to iOS 7 on my Mini 2 I would.
 
Why would you go back??

It's not major. An iPad mini 2 runs OK on iOS 9... just that iOS 7 felt smoother for me and seemed to have less stutters / app reloads.

It's like if you had a car that ran perfect, but you took it into a mechanic and afterwards it always had this sort of small shifting issue that wasn't there before and bugged you because you know it didn't used to have that issue. While you can still drive the car just fine, it's annoying that you can't go back to its original performance.
 
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It's not major. An iPad mini 2 runs OK on iOS 9... just that iOS 7 felt smoother for me and seemed to have less stutters / app reloads.

It's like if you had a car that ran perfect, but you took it into a mechanic and afterwards it always had this sort of small shifting issue that wasn't there before and bugged you because you know it didn't used to have that issue. While you can still drive the car just fine, it's annoying that you can't go back to its original performance.

Thank you.. I appreciate it. I guess I'm sticking with iOS 7
 
I just gave my iPad mini to my dad after getting the 12.9 pro.

I would update as I always like the latest software. The only thing that bugged me a tiny bit was a frame rate drop when opening folders and such.
 
Personally, I hate that Apple's Accountants are controlling the Apple Product Catalog. Far too many products that should be retired are still being sold as "new" and something like the Mini 2 is one of the worst problems because it really struggles with 9.3.1.

I'm not saying Mini2 is bad. It's "good enough" for people with no expectations, but it is not a proper representation of the iPad experience.
 
Personally, I hate that Apple's Accountants are controlling the Apple Product Catalog. Far too many products that should be retired are still being sold as "new" and something like the Mini 2 is one of the worst problems because it really struggles with 9.3.1.

I'm not saying Mini2 is bad. It's "good enough" for people with no expectations, but it is not a proper representation of the iPad experience.

It doesn't look like it "struggles" in the video I posted above. I occasionally use an Air 1 (same internals as a Mini 2) at work, and I'd say it runs iOS 9.3 alright. My personal iPad is a Mini 4 and I've used an Air 2, so it's not like I don't have anything to compare it to.
 
It's not major. An iPad mini 2 runs OK on iOS 9... just that iOS 7 felt smoother for me and seemed to have less stutters / app reloads.

It's like if you had a car that ran perfect, but you took it into a mechanic and afterwards it always had this sort of small shifting issue that wasn't there before and bugged you because you know it didn't used to have that issue. While you can still drive the car just fine, it's annoying that you can't go back to its original performance.

This. Very well put. I have an iPad mini 2 and I am very sensitive and annoyed by stutter. iOS 9.3 is okay. It's smoother than 8.4.1 I think but just slightly slower all around. One place where it is absolutely NOT smoother is the app switcher. It's really smooth and quick if there are less than 4 cards on the screen (no blurred card in switcher, to the left on the screen) but if there is a blurred card it is stuttery and slower to respond. Going into any app that is not the blurred one will stutter to a degree, probably 30FPS or so, not too pleasant. Also, opening folders for the first time in awhile lags really bad. After that, it's smooth. Sometimes the device pauses weirdly before opening apps but generally it's quick enough, similar to 8.4.1. Another issue that is a bit worse than 8.4.1 is "app to homescreen stutter". When leaving an app after using it for awhile, going back to the homescreen will stutter or the animation will be mostly skipped. This happened on 8.4.1, just not as much. I do not recall this happening in 7.x.x.

There are a couple places 9.3.1 is smoother than 7 or 8 though, and that's control center. Control Center on the lock screen or over an open folder no longer stutters. Also, if you are using the keyboard in portrait, control center does not stutter at all where it always would before. Landscape keyboard causes a stuttery control center though. One thing that you will get with iOS 8 and 9 is an annoying keyboard stuttery animation when tapping the URL bar in safari. I don't think this occurs in iOS 7.

This video specifically reviews the performance of iOS 9.3 on an iPad Mini 2
This guy must not use his iPad mini 2 that much more must be not-so-sensitive to stutter. My iPad mini 2 stutters a lot when going back to the homescreen and while using the App Switcher. Quick Reply is stuttery too.
 
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I can honestly say that my mini 2 works well with iOS 9. I have only witnessed very occasional stutter. Even then it is hardly noticeable. Not sure about some other's complaints, but no problems here.
 
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