Original iPad Mini - something wrong with it?

[Aneres11]

Hello!

My mum has an iPad Mini original model and I was using it last night as my MacBook is back at work.

To say that it was painful would be an understatement. Trying to browse a web site is virtually impossible. This isn't an over exaggeration either by the way...
I loaded up a website and clicked onto an article only for the web page to half load and then say it had reloaded due to a problem that had occurred. So I thought ok, whatever. Then it happened again. Then again. And then again and then I got a full page error saying 'a problem repeatedly occurred'. Don't say.

This has happened on 3 different websites. Added to that the iPad is sluggish and so painfully slow it is virtually unusable.

Is there a problem with the iPad or a quick fix I can throw in to help it out? She has no media on her iPad, no music hardly and photos or apps so I'm struggling to understand the issue source. Unless it's just that its fairly old and struggling with the strains of today's websites - which are hardly taking sites FYI !

Any help be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Bromio]

What iOS version does she use? If it's the last one, I don't think Safari has any problems with today's websites.

 

[Aneres11]

What iOS version does she use? If it's the last one, I don't think Safari has any problems with today's websites.

I'm not sure to be honest. I'll check later when I'm there again. I do think it needs a software update though...

 

[quackers82]

I have an original iPad mini and sometimes it can be very painful to use on some sites. iOS 8.4. Mainly just slow, page reloads, and sometimes crashing safari. I should just use my air really but I like the mini for some reason even though it's way slower.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

I just restored mine (8.4), and set it up new instead of from a backup as it was super sluggish, and acting generally funky. I removed pretty much all the iCloud features (other than find my iPad), and removed most of the media I had stored locally. Now it just has my essential apps, and, aside from that, I use it primarily for browsing.

It made a vast improvement in performance. You may not have to go to the extreme that I did, but I figured I'd start at zero and work my way back up from there (with items I actually "need") on the iPad. I do find I use my MacBook Pro and iPhone 6 complimentary to one another more than the mini, however. Maybe I would use the iPad more if it were a brand new iteration functioning well, but I don't have it in the budget right now.

Hope this helps.

 

[0003462]

Unfortunately, the Safari page crashes happen often enough that I'd say they are common. They only started with iOS 8 for me. They still happen under iOS 9.

The slow performance may be because it needs a cleanup. My parents' iPad 2 was sped up with an Erase all content and settings.

However, these A5s just aren't fast on the latest OS versions. The best performance will only come from the usual disabling tactics: transparency, motion, multitasking gestures, any unused iCloud features, any unused Safari features (search engine suggestions), any unused Spotlight suggestions.

 

[Aneres11]

Thanks for all the replies. Installed the latest software update last night (which failed twice by the way) and then tested again. Absolutely no change.

I just don't get it. She hardly uses her iPad. It's virtually like a brand new iPad that has been used for the occasional web browsing every now and again. No bookmarks, no photos, no music, no apps, nothing. It's basically empty.

It clearly is just an age thing. It's so unusable.
Ah well, maybe I need to upgrade her to a newer one for Christmas!

 

[Bromio]

Thanks for all the replies. Installed the latest software update last night (which failed twice by the way) and then tested again. Absolutely no change.

I just don't get it. She hardly uses her iPad. It's virtually like a brand new iPad that has been used for the occasional web browsing every now and again. No bookmarks, no photos, no music, no apps, nothing. It's basically empty.

It clearly is just an age thing. It's so unusable.
Ah well, maybe I need to upgrade her to a newer one for Christmas!

Brand new... but with the latest software update that is slowing down it. That can be the reason.

 

[zachlegomaniac]

Thanks for all the replies. Installed the latest software update last night (which failed twice by the way) and then tested again. Absolutely no change.

I just don't get it. She hardly uses her iPad. It's virtually like a brand new iPad that has been used for the occasional web browsing every now and again. No bookmarks, no photos, no music, no apps, nothing. It's basically empty.

It clearly is just an age thing. It's so unusable.
Ah well, maybe I need to upgrade her to a newer one for Christmas!

I'm a little bummed with my similar situation to yours. I got mine new not too long before the mini 2 was released with the "if you need it get it now" mentality. Without looking at the receipt I want to say I've had it for two years. I feel like it wasn't money very well spent on my part (even though its performance has improved since taking the steps in my earlier post). I'm reluctant to sink the premium price into another iPad based on this (if I get a tablet again).

 

[Bromio]

I'm a little bummed with my similar situation to yours. I got mine new not too long before the mini 2 was released with the "if you need it get it now" mentality. Without looking at the receipt I want to say I've had it for two years. I feel like it wasn't money very well spent on my part (even though its performance has improved since taking the steps in my earlier post). I'm reluctant to sink the premium price into another iPad based on this (if I get a tablet again).

Many people say that iOS 9 improves old devices performance. In case that's true, I'd wait before buying another tablet.

 

[0003462]

iOS 9 does feel better on mine than iOS 8. It also fixes niggling little bugs I've experienced since iOS 7.

Have you tried clearing Safari's history and cache, and deleting iMessages if she has many stored on there?

I got my iPad mini the day after the 2nd gen was announced (22 months) and, although I see it can be slow, I definitely wouldn't call it unusable. When iOS 9 comes out, do a complete Erase and Install if all of the data is/can be backed up.

The trouble with slowness also is that it can be subjective. Someone used to an iPad Air 2 might call my mini unusable.

 

[hanser]

Thanks for all the replies. Installed the latest software update last night (which failed twice by the way) and then tested again. Absolutely no change.

I just don't get it. She hardly uses her iPad. It's virtually like a brand new iPad that has been used for the occasional web browsing every now and again. No bookmarks, no photos, no music, no apps, nothing. It's basically empty.

It clearly is just an age thing. It's so unusable.
Ah well, maybe I need to upgrade her to a newer one for Christmas!

Since there are no data on it, I would just try to set it up as new. I have a mini 1, and it behaves much better than this.

 

[ramblapacifica]

i have the original iPad mini, too. i have found that if i want the best performance either on the web or for mail, i need to double tap the home button and then swipe up all the applications that are running. (just tapping the home button once does not close an application on either iPhone or iPad). if you are not doing that you might be surprised how many things you have running in the background. that should optimize your performance up to a point - ultimately the chip in the original iPad mini is not fast enough for the version 8 iOS software. i'll be one of the first in line for the iPad mini 4 when it comes out, methinks.

 

[Gav2k]

Ios9 does make a big difference on the original mini. You could try it for yourself