iPad Way to test out iOS 8.1 performance on iPad 3?

[strangeguy]

Hi everyone,

I was not sure if this belonged in the iPad or iOS section - if I picked the wrong one I am sorry.

I just ordered an iPad mini 2 for myself and will pass on my iPad 3 with iOS 7.1.2 on it to my girlfriend. Since I read that performance under iOS 8(.1) is not that great on iPad 3 I was wondering if there was a way to test out the performance myself. My initial plan was to reset the iPad to factory settings and do a backup on my computer together with the shsh blobs, test out iOS 8.1 and just restore from the backup if I was not content with the performance. However, from what I understand, it is no longer possible to restore an iPad to a prior iOS version once Apple stops signing it. Is that correct or is there still a way to do it?

If it is not possible to downgrade after updating - would it be best to just do a factory reset on the iPad to let my girlfriend start fresh with iOS 7.1.2? As long as I just reset the settings from the iPad itself, it should just behave as if it just came out of the box with a fresh iOS 7.1.2 install on it and not force me to upgrade to iOS 8.1. Am I thinking about this the right way or not?

I would be very grateful for any advice from you,
all the best from Austria,
Chris

 

[mangomind]

Hi everyone,

I was not sure if this belonged in the iPad or iOS section - if I picked the wrong one I am sorry.

I just ordered an iPad mini 2 for myself and will pass on my iPad 3 with iOS 7.1.2 on it to my girlfriend. Since I read that performance under iOS 8(.1) is not that great on iPad 3 I was wondering if there was a way to test out the performance myself. My initial plan was to reset the iPad to factory settings and do a backup on my computer together with the shsh blobs, test out iOS 8.1 and just restore from the backup if I was not content with the performance. However, from what I understand, it is no longer possible to restore an iPad to a prior iOS version once Apple stops signing it. Is that correct or is there still a way to do it?

If it is not possible to downgrade after updating - would it be best to just do a factory reset on the iPad to let my girlfriend start fresh with iOS 7.1.2? As long as I just reset the settings from the iPad itself, it should just behave as if it just came out of the box with a fresh iOS 7.1.2 install on it and not force me to upgrade to iOS 8.1. Am I thinking about this the right way or not?

I would be very grateful for any advice from you,
all the best from Austria,
Chris

^ this is correct, and by far the best option.

Apple does not allow downgrading iOS with SHSH blobs, that only worked years ago with Apple's old devices.

iOS 8.1 is still slower than 7.1.2. Maybe that will change with additional updates. You should compare performance with a friend's or a shop's updated iPad mini, iPad 2, or iPad 3.