iPadOS 27 Drops Support for a Wave of iPads

[MacRumors]

iPadOS 27 cuts support for more iPad models than last year's iPadOS 26 did, with older iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad, and iPad mini models all losing compatibility.

iPadOS 26 supported iPad Air models from the 3rd generation onward. iPadOS 27 raises the floor to A14, M1, or later, cutting the 3rd generation iPad Air model from the compatibility list entirely.

The iPad Pro also sees cuts. iPadOS 26 retained support for iPad Pro 12.9-inch from the 3rd generation onward and iPad Pro 11-inch from the 1st generation onward. iPadOS 27 raises those floors to the 4th generation 12.9-inch and the 2nd generation 11-inch, dropping two older Pro models that were still supported just a year ago.

For the standard iPad lineup, iPadOS 26 drew the line at the 8th generation, having already dropped the 7th generation last year. iPadOS 27 cuts the 8th generation as well, leaving only the 9th generation, 10th generation, and the current A16 model as compatible.

The iPad mini sees its oldest supported model bumped from the 5th generation to the 6th generation, with the A17 Pro-equipped mini 7 also included. The 5th generation mini, which ran iPadOS 26, will not receive the update.

By contrast, iPadOS 26 was a relatively conservative cull; it dropped only the 7th generation iPad from the iPadOS 18 compatibility list. iPadOS 27 represents a considerably more aggressive pruning across the entire iPad lineup.

Article Link: iPadOS 27 Drops Support for a Wave of iPads

 

[winxmac]

iPadOS 27 [20] - A13 Bionic and newer (iPad 9 and newer)
iOS 27 [20] - A14 Bionic and newer (iPhone 12 and newer)

I was right regarding base iPad support.

 

[godorowski]

Well.. iPad is side device. Folks dont change them so often so Apple will speed them up lol

 

[Steve121178]

Dropping the M1 iPad Air when the M2 brought only very modest improvements seems unnecessary. If they apply that logic, why are M1 Macs still supported for macOS27? Weird.

 

[MRSugarD]

So M1 Air is out but the M1 iPad Pro is still in? Insanity!

 

[MagicBoy]

So let me get this right? M1 MacBook Air from 2020 is supported. M1 iPad Air that's barely 4 years old isn't.

Booooooo !!!

Edit : It is supported, just badly named. Phew!

 

[Moukee]

The M1 iPad Air is getting dropped while the M1 iPad Pro is still supported? Surely this is a mistake? It even launched later than the iPad Pro.

EDIT: Yeah, it is a mistake indeed (by MacRumors) - the iPad Air with M1 was called the 5th generation iPad Air, and "4th generation and later" is still supported, so M1 iPad Air should be just fine.

 

[SilmarilFinder]

So M1 Air is out but the M1 iPad Pro is still in? Insanity!

Gotta sell some iPads

 

[kingdali]

This is insane how can they drop M1 iPad Air Support. This must be a mistake no????

 

[Dylan33x]

Gave devices like Mini 5, 8th gen, and Air 3 26 when they shouldn’t have been supported in the first place, and left them with subpar performance in the process. Then drop them with the clean up update. Similar case as iPhone 11 but it actually gets 27 to improve it.

I’m not one to scream “planned obsolescence” with everything Apple does like some on here. But if you don’t see this pattern by now I don’t know what to tell you. It’s been happening with iPads for some time now.

 

[BMox81]

Can we just take a moment of silence and pour one out for the iPad Pro 2018 model. What a historic run that device had.

 

[Heindijs]

How odd. You'd think that since they still support the iPhone 11, they would keep supporting any iPad that ran 26 as well??

 

[GMShadow]

This article is incorrect. iPad Air 4th gen is from 2020 with A14 and is still supported, as is the iPad Air 5th gen with M1. Apple didn't change the nomenclature to the chip class until M2.

 

[mentaluproar]

so my ipad air was fine, then last years releases ruined it, and now they wont fix anything with the years releases.

Welp, I'm done with ipad now.

 

[Kidseeghost]

…

 

[jonblatho]

iPadOS 27 raises the floor to M2 or later, cutting the 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation iPad Air models from the compatibility list entirely.

This is wrong.

 

[winxmac]

The 2019 iPhone models are the longest supported ever.

At least for now, the minimum supported iPhone and iPad [base model] have the same SoC, both with A13 Bionic.

 

[M4irmidnight]

Dropping the M1 iPad Air when the M2 brought only very modest improvements seems unnecessary. If they apply that logic, why are M1 Macs still supported for macOS27? Weird.

Feels strange that my iPad 9th gen gets it (obviously no ai) but an M1 chip device doesn’t .

 

[LightProtector]

How are you telling me that the iPad 9th gen is supported but not the M1 Air? I had the iPad 9th gen and it was slow as s**t.

 

[RealE]

EDIT: Seems like the initial report was mistaken. A14 Bionic and M1 iPad Air are compatible with iPadOS27.

How is it that iOS 27 can run on the iPhone 11 (A13 Bionic chip from 2019) but iPadOS 27 cannot run on the iPad Air 4th generation (A14 Bionic from 2020) or the iPad Air 5th generation (M1, 2022)?

 

[Kidseeghost]

So my iPad Air 4 lost support? It collects dust anyway.

 

[emberdex]

iPad Air 4th and 5th gen are on the list of supported devices when downloading iPadOS on Apple's Developer portal. The developer beta has also showed up on my 5th gen Air

 

[DarthBradicus]

Umm… Apple’s page for iPadOS says “iPad Air 11-inch (4th generation and later)”

Where was the information found that it was only M2 and later?

 

[CooCool]

Can't believe they dropped support for both my 5th gen iPad Air and Watch Series 7. Yet the iPhone 11 is still getting the update.

 

[BeatCrazy]

What is it with the 'advanced' Siri AI features only support iPad Pro M4 with >12GB of memory?

I understood the 256/512GB versions have 8GB, and 1TB/2TB have 16GB, so a 12GB minimum seems strange.

Even with 'only' 8GB of memory, M4 iPad Pro is insanely fast and I can't believe it's not going to support the most advanced features.