Hey guys. First time ipad owner here. Bought a brand new iPad Air 32gb wifi space grey yesterday. I must say this is one of the most amazing electronic devices I have ever owned. I LOVE this thing. I can't put it down. It goes great with my iPhone 6 plus! Quick question though, it came loaded with iOS 7.1, I was curious as to how the Air runs iOS 8 and if I should go ahead and update or not? Also , I wanted to get the iPad Air 2 but couldn't really afford it and figured the original Air would be fine for my first ipad, how long do you guys think the Air will last me before it's outdated and I need to upgrade?? Thanks for any input guys!!
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iPad Should I update my Air to iOS 8??
- Thread starter Drew.89
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I can't say from experience, but I have an iPhone 5s that has pretty much the same internals as the Air and it runs very well. There is a speed difference between my 5s and Air 2, but they're both very fast.
Your iPad Air will be just fine on iOS 8.1. I have both the iPad Air and the iPad Air 2 and both are great. Your iPad Air won't be outdated for at least 2-3 years.
Usually you're good for 1 iOS update without having much issues. It's why my Mini is still running iOS7!
Please let us know how you get on if you go with 8.
My Air became unusable when I updated to the first version of 8 when it was
first released. Apple replaced it and the new one came with 7 installed like
yours and it worked perfectly again. Still using it and have not dared update
to 8.1.
Bought a new Air 2 a few days ago and that came with 8.1. It works a treat
and I am very pleased with it. Can't say I can see any difference between the
two iPads for the general stuff I use an iPad for. I just like buying new Apple
stuff whether I need it or not!
A relative wants my Air so I will probably give it to her with 7 installed and
leave the update decision to her.
My Air became unusable when I updated to the first version of 8 when it was
first released. Apple replaced it and the new one came with 7 installed like
yours and it worked perfectly again. Still using it and have not dared update
to 8.1.
Bought a new Air 2 a few days ago and that came with 8.1. It works a treat
and I am very pleased with it. Can't say I can see any difference between the
two iPads for the general stuff I use an iPad for. I just like buying new Apple
stuff whether I need it or not!
A relative wants my Air so I will probably give it to her with 7 installed and
leave the update decision to her.
Yes it is. Super smooth and trouble free. That's been the overwhelming majority of the Air owners experiences around here.
I have a 128GB Air with Cellular and a 16GB Air that's WiFi only.
The latter is on iOS 8.1, the former is still on 7.1.2. The difference in performance between the two OSes is slight but still noticeable. This is standard operating procedure for an iOS device one year after it is introduced. Update if you want compatibility with the latest apps and with iCloud Drive/Yosemite, don't if you wish to preserve performance.
The latter is on iOS 8.1, the former is still on 7.1.2. The difference in performance between the two OSes is slight but still noticeable. This is standard operating procedure for an iOS device one year after it is introduced. Update if you want compatibility with the latest apps and with iCloud Drive/Yosemite, don't if you wish to preserve performance.
I waited until 8.1 but I am really liking iOS 8 on my iPad air. This was my first major iOS upgrade (only started using iOS with the iPad air) and I am completely satisfied.
Now I just have to find the courage and time to upgrade my Mac to Yosemite!
Now I just have to find the courage and time to upgrade my Mac to Yosemite!
Similar story, iOS 8 ruined my Air. Slow WiFi and noticeable UI lag which, to be fair was fixed with iOS 8.1.1 which I tried prior to getting my iPad replaced at the Genius Bar yesterday. However what wasn't fixed was the awful Safari performance.
To anyone on iOS 8.1 on iPad Air, open Safari and go to MacRumors (you might even be there now on your Air reading this). Tap on the address bar and watch as the address is highlighted grey and slides to the left to show the full address. The animation is horribly sluggish, whereas on iOS 7.1.2 it's super smooth. The only way to get it back to that level of smoothness on iOS 8.1 is to enable Reduce Transparencies. But that's the thing, on iOS 7 and 8 the menu bar and tabs on Safari are transparent, it's the keyboard in Safari which isn't transparent on iOS 7 versus iOS 8.
It's a minor thing, but that horrible sluggish animation makes using Safari a less enjoyable experience. I won't be updating my iPad Air to iOS 8 again. They can ram it up their arse.
Edit: Just noticed that there is transparency in iOS 7.1.2 on the keyboard and background of the favourites page that comes down when you tap on the address bar. Apple changed the full background changing to show favourites to a wee box that drops down while the keyboard pops up from the bottom of the screen. Lazy from Apple on iOS 8.1, get it optimised.
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The moral of the story is just stick with the OS that shipped with the iPad. My iPad 3 is still running iOS 5 which it shipped with. My Air is still running iOS 7, no interest in iOS 8. I did make the mistake of updating my iPad 2 from iOS 6 to 7.
Apple must be paying attention to it's iOS 8 stats because for the first time I was sent an email informing me that I should move up to iOS 8. They can stick it for all I care.
The animations aren't perfect on the Air with 8.1, but bluntly they weren't great on the Air with 7.x, either: there was noticeable lag under all the same circumstances.
The animations are smooth as can be on iOS 7.1.2, so much so that I took my iPad Air into the Apple store and blamed WiFi issues on iOS 8.1 to get a replacement. Under the same circumstances, on iPad Air 1, everything is smoother and more fluid on iOS 7.1.2 versus iOS 8. I sat here borderline OCD over it before settling on trying for a replacement, it was actually bugging me that much.
Dropped frames leap out at me, I consider it a curse! Now I have an Air on 7.1.2 I'm over the moon. 8.1.1 does help with the animations on iOS 8, but Safari is still sluggish ... especially when you tap the address bar and it slides left to reveal the full address of the current site you're on. On 7.1.2 it's super smooth. The big transparent box with the favourites in it on iOS 8 that drops down when you tap the address bar seems to be slowing that part of Safari down on iOS 8 on iPad Air 1.
However, there's no way this is down to just that. The iPad Air has loads of transparent sections on iOS 7.1.2, so it's not like iOS 8 is adding anything more taxing that it couldn't handle before. It's just laziness by Apple ... or they just don't care.
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My older son has an Air that's still on 7.1.2. We'll do an A:B later this week.
There's no reason not to upgrade your Air to iOS 8. I have an iPad 4 and I upgraded it and it works great. No difference in speed or any lag at all. No glitches or shut downs etc either.
Why wouldn't you upgrade to 8? It's only a year old device. I'll skip 9 next year though most likely.
