iPadOS 27 Drops Support for a Wave of iPads

[jforsander]

Yeah this article is incorrect but I see how MacRumors got confused because Apple has changed how they refer to iPad generations. Previously Apple used generation numbers but now they name iPads based on the chip it has.

A12Z and newer (2020) iPad Pros are supported. And A14 and newer iPad Airs are supported (including M1 and newer). So the
ipad Pro 11 and 12.9 inch from 2018 with the A12X have indeed been dropped from support.

 

[GMShadow]

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?

They saw 'iPad Air (M2 and later)' and didn't look below at the separate listing for 'iPad Air (4th generation and later)'

 

[Kidseeghost]

Gotta sell some iPads

They probably don’t sell well thats why.

 

[noeXzTi_]

They should at least release the performance fixes for those iPads that updated to iPadOS 26 when they shouldn't have been updated; leaving them on 26 is just straight up BS

 

[Nikita Razinkov]

from apples developer restore page

 

[Richy85]

I thought my 2018 iPad Pro 1TB (6GB RAM) was going to be updated for another year...it's a sad day

 

[SactoGuy18]

I find it intriguing that iPadOS 27 will not support the original M1 iPad Air. That is unless it needs to computing power of the M2 chip to run Siri AI.

 

[exodiusprime]

While I’m glad my M1 iPad Pro is still supported, it does feel odd that other M1 iPads didn’t make the cut 🧐

 

[Kidseeghost]

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.

They should have gave all OS 26 devices the new OS 27. Its awful now for devices who are stucked on OS26.

 

[Gherkin]

Is there a good iPadOS 27 preview somewhere? Is it pretty much just UI tweaks and AI stuff?

 

[Mackan]

Isn't it great when a company has such extreme control over hardware and software so they can determine exactly what month and year your device should start to be left behind, simply because its pre-planned 8 GB of RAM obsolence has kicked in, or any other arbitrary reason.

 

[Anonymous123]

This article would work so much better if it just included a table showing iPads that support iPadOS 26 and iPads that support iPadOS 27.

 

[Etc_]

This article would work so much better if it just included a table showing iPads that support iPadOS 26 and iPads that support iPadOS 27.

 

[BeatCrazy]

from apples developer restore page

That is more models than what the consumer page shows, i.e. the iPad Pro 11" with A12X (aka first-gen iPad Pro 11")

 

[Icelus]

Too bad. Had hoped to see whether iPadOS 27 would run better on the iPad mini 5 (A12) compared to iPadOS 26.

 

[MagicBoy]

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.

View attachment 2636067

Yeah, looks like naming confusion. My M1 self identifies as :

 

[jaytv111]

So to clear up: iPadOS 26 supported these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPadOS_26#Supported_devices

iPadOS 27 is here: https://www.apple.com/os/ipados/

Means Pro 3rd gen, Air 3rd gen, Mini 5, and iPad 8 were supported by 26 but not 27.

 

[klasma]

Good thing my mini 5 and 2018 Pro are still on 18.

 

[Skyfallkavu]

Very confused about this. This iPad: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111974

in Apple's own terminology is a 1st Gen Pro, with an A12X in it. Why is there a build for it on the developer portal? Is it misnamed? It even references A12X in the filename.

 

[Wasp14]

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?

Same confusion happened last year as well. They should've just called it the M1 air instead of iPad Air 5th generation. It wouldn't make any sense to not continue supporting it, the thing has a desktop level chip.

 

[bodonnell202]

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.

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

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 !!!

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

They aren't dropping support for the M1 iPad Air - they are support iPad Air 4th gen and newer and the M1 air is the 5th gen.

 

[Taq'aix]

Enjoying my 14 Pro, iPad Pro (M4) and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for another year of smooth sailing ⛵️✌️

 

[turbineseaplane]

I am sure glad I kept my mini 5 on iPadOS 18

To think those are gonna get stuck with 26 as their forever OS

Awful

 

[Yourbigpalal83]

OH NO...HARDWARE THAT DOESNT HAVE ENOUGH RAM WONT RUN AI PROPERLY.... Gee i wonder why RAM SHORTAGES ACROSS THE GLOBE were happening... Common people. You had to have known this. If the device doesnt have enough RAM in its hardware, its obviously isnt going to work. You cant expect the budget ipad from 2 years ago with only 6GB of ram to run AI programs that clearly need ATLEAST 8GB of hardware to run.

None of this is new at all. This has been the natural progression of technology ever since the first computer. Budget devices usually are budget devices because they sacrifice something somewhere along the line like screen quality, lower ram, less powerful processors, various features, etc.

 

[curnalpanic]

Happy to hear it was just a mistake.

The iPad generations were super confusing, because they had wildly different numbers for different screen sizes. So the 12.9 inch was a gen 5 while the 11 was a gen 3. "So you mean bigger is better?" "Why can't I have a gen 5 at 11 inches?"

That’s probably why they differentiate them by the chip name instead nowadays.