iPad Weird iPad purchase idea, I’d like your thoughts and input, please

[FeliApple]

Okay, so, I have two iPads. I have a 9.7-inch iPad Pro running iOS 12 and an iPad Air 5 running iPadOS 15.

I am somebody who doesn’t update iOS because updates destroy iOS devices, in terms of both performance and battery life when compared to their original versions (the 9.7-inch iPad Pro was forced by Apple from iOS 9 into iOS 12).

Where I am, Apple products are very expensive. Currently, I am, temporarily, somewhere where they are normally priced. I can’t buy devices on a whim and I need to make a decision very soon.

On to my quandary. My iPad Air 5 is perfect on iPadOS 15, but my 9.7-inch iPad Pro is uncomfortably incompatible on iOS 12. This means I’m scared that my iPad Air will start suffering, soon. Safari might not work too well, apps may start requiring a newer iOS version which I won’t have, apps which I do have may lose compatibility and stop working, etc.

I don’t necessarily want to buy a new iPad, as I don’t need one, because my iPad Air 5 is still perfect on iPadOS 15… but I don’t know how much longer I have. I might have a long time. I might not. Like I said, I can’t buy an Apple device whenever I want.

So, considering I can’t buy Apple products whenever I want, I’m considering buying the new iPad 11th Gen, and for this device only, eschewing my long-term device strategy of keeping it on its original iOS version forever. I’m considering buying it to be a sacrificial lamb. I’ll update it all the time and I’ll keep it up to date, as my current (and new!) iPhone 16 Plus will stay on iOS 18.


Is the iPad 11 a good idea for this purpose? Updating the iPad Air is not an option, as I was very unhappy with my 9.7-inch iPad Pro when it was my only iPad and Apple forced it to iOS 12. This is more something like: “I KNOW iOS updates will degrade the iPad but I’m buying it with this intention from day one, so I’ll expect nothing”. It’s a sacrificial lamb for compatibility. If you see it that way, I’m pretty much buying about 6 years of support without killing my main devices (iPhone 16 Plus and iPad Air 5). Frankly, I don’t want my only active iPad to be garbage.

How’s support for regular iPads in terms of quality when fully updated? I see the 5th-gen iPad was dropped on iPadOS 16. How does it work there? How’s the 6th-gen on iPadOS 17? I see the 5th-gen got 6 major updates, the 6th-gen got 6 too. So presumably I’m buying compatibility up until iPadOS 24. How long do I have, if I update a base iPad, for it to have a good battery life and performance? Three years? I’m not sure I care too much if it collapses, to be honest, considering that staying up to date is the whole point of this. I’ll just charge it more often if it comes to that.

Thoughts on any of this? I’m hoping that since I’m one of the very few here who updates nothing, you people will know a LOT more than me on this. I understand it’s a weird situation, but do understand that I use my iPad too much to just update my Air 5 and have it be awful (for my standards, anyway).

 

[rui no onna]

How’s support for regular iPads in terms of quality when fully updated? I see the 5th-gen iPad was dropped on iPadOS 16. How does it work there? How’s the 6th-gen on iPadOS 17? I see the 5th-gen got 6 major updates, the 6th-gen got 6 too. So presumably I’m buying compatibility up until iPadOS 24. How long do I have, if I update a base iPad, for it to have a good battery life and performance? Three years? I’m not sure I care too much if it collapses, to be honest, considering that staying up to date is the whole point of this. I’ll just charge it more often if it comes to that.

The 5th gen to 6th gen are both pretty bad but do note, those only had 2GB RAM. The 2nd gen iPad Pro with A10X/4GB works just fine on iPadOS 17. There's also been massive chipset improvements going from A9 and A10 to A12. A12/3GB works okay on 18, it just reloads a lot.

The iPad 11 should be fine. It's got A16/6GB so it's bound to be better than the iPad mini 6 which only has A15/4GB. Plus it's not getting AI anyway so less overhead than 8GB RAM iPads.

I've used the mini 6 since 2021 and it still works fine. Just the reloads have gotten annoying. Even battery is pretty good as long as it's on airplane mode.

There's just too much background stuff going on when I use my main iCloud account so standby battery drain is pretty bad. Same thing happens with my mini 7 so it's not the mini 6's fault.

 

[FeliApple]

The 5th gen to 6th gen are both pretty bad but do note, those only had 2GB RAM. The 2nd gen iPad Pro with A10X/4GB works just fine on iPadOS 17. There's also been massive chipset improvements going from A9 and A10 to A12. A12/3GB works okay on 18, it just reloads a lot.

The iPad 11 should be fine. It's got A16/6GB so it's bound to be better than the iPad mini 6 which only has A15/4GB. Plus it's not getting AI anyway so less overhead than 8GB RAM iPads.

I've used the mini 6 since 2021 and it still works fine. Just the reloads have gotten annoying. Even battery is pretty good as long as it's on airplane mode.

There's just too much background stuff going on when I use my main iCloud account so standby battery drain is pretty bad. Same thing happens with my mini 7 so it's not the mini 6's fault.

Yeah, as I understand it, the issue isn’t necessarily performance. As we discussed at one point, safari tabs reloading isn’t something I necessarily notice, I don’t have too many tabs in constant use anyway. As far as I understand, performance is otherwise… okay? There are no constant crashes, perhaps a little keyboard lag and some intermittent lagging, but it shouldn’t be THAT awful, right? Perhaps something like the 6s on iOS 13 that I have? It’s abhorrent by my standards, but it’s not the iPhone 5c on iOS 10. If it’s somewhat better than the 6s (considering it’s a lot newer and has more RAM), I think I’ll be fine.

I’m a little more worried about screen-on battery life. I’ve seen some posts, videos and reviews of the 10.5-inch iPad Pro on iPadOS 16 and it was laughably abhorrent. Dying after two hours. Perhaps that’s what I’m more worried about. Because this iPad, despite my (iOS) lifelong dedication to not updating, is pointless if I just keep it on iPadOS 18. My idea is that as soon as the Air 5 starts suffering, I can rely on this one. So I can update by the end of the iOS lifecycle, perhaps?

If battery life more or less holds, I think I can tolerate a slight performance decrease.

It feels like a completely superfluous and useless purchase, but this is more thinking about future me than current me, honestly. Like I said, the Air 5 is fine now. But iPadOS 19 will come out mere months from now. And I’ll be four versions behind. I’m not sure I have that much time left.

 

[rui no onna]

My brother alternates between an iPad 6th gen and iPad Pro 11. He still gets like 6-8 hours onscreen time on the 6th gen.

 

[FeliApple]

My brother alternates between an iPad 6th gen and iPad Pro 11. He still gets like 6-8 hours onscreen time on the 6th gen.

Depends on usage, but I get about 13-14 hours on an iPad 6th-gen on iOS 12 with light use.

I’ve seen awful criticism of early standard models when fully updated.

Perhaps I have a while until then, but I’m not sure of the key aspect:

How much more compatibility do I have?

Would the Air 5 on iPadOS 15 hold with good compatibility until I get the chance to upgrade again or is it too risky? (I doubt it’ll hold, honestly).

Am I better off with my original idea, just get the 11th-gen and push it, perhaps it can hold decently well?

I mean, it’s been three years from the Air 5, almost four major versions. I know it doesn’t have that much time left, so perhaps it is indeed a good time for a bit of an early “upgrade”, at least in terms of the iOS version.

You have a lot of experience with many iPads, both updated and with original iOS versions. What would you do?

 

[rui no onna]

Ever since I got my M1 iPads, I just kept them updated always. I haven't really paid attention to onscreen battery life as I have easy access to chargers and just switch iPads when needed. Still, I believe the most I've had to charge is once a day.

My parents have the iPad 7th gen (A10/3GB). They haven't complained about it yet.

I assume an iPad (A16) will work just fine with the various iOS updates throughout its useful life. Honestly, I think you're overthinking and over analyzing stuff.

 

[FeliApple]

Ever since I got my M1 iPads, I just kept them updated always. I haven't really paid attention to onscreen battery life as I have easy access to chargers and just switch iPads when needed. Still, I believe the most I've had to charge is once a day.

My parents have the iPad 7th gen (A10/3GB). They haven't complained about it yet.

I assume an iPad (A16) will work just fine with the various iOS updates throughout its useful life. Honestly, I think you're overthinking and over analyzing stuff.

Yeah, perhaps the difference is in usage patterns: you switch between many iPads and I will basically have two in active use if I buy.

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is pretty much out of the picture by now. iOS 12 is too old, even for me.

I’ve never purchased an iOS device that wasn’t intended to be an upgrade, a main device. That’s why it feels a little superfluous and that’s why I’m overanalyzing it, I think.

Consciously, I know the absolute truth even if it hurts a little: the iPad Air 5 on iPadOS 15, as new as it feels, is getting old in terms of the iOS version.

Here’s the issue: I have three solutions.

-To hold the Air 5 as-is, hoping that the future brings an opportunity to upgrade before it’s “catastrophically” unusable. This is pushing it, as I’ll soon be four versions behind and I know five or six is where things get complicated. And obviously, the future isn’t guaranteed. This is what I did in the past: I had the chance to upgrade my iPhone Xʀ on iOS 12 when iOS 15 (almost 16) was current. I knew I was pushing it, I ignored it. And I could upgrade to the 16 Plus on time… but barely. I cut it too close.

-To update the Air 5 and the issue will be solved for the foreseeable future, which is a non-starter for me: I can’t have my only iPad work poorly. I’ve tried that (or was forced to). It didn’t work. My iPad use was almost angry because of it. I might as well just trade it in if I do that.

Or, what I am close to doing:

-To buy something at a decent price to break the only iOS golden rule I have and forcibly maintain compatibility at the expense of quality, but this is different: it won’t be my only usable iPad; and I will be buying it for the express purpose of updating it. Perhaps this is feeble: the base iPad is less resilient, but sorry, I’m not paying the difference for an Air to use as a sacrificial lamb. Buying an older device is pointless, as I need support.

I’m not seeing another alternative, and the only one that is perhaps doable is doing nothing… but I use my iPad too much to leave it up to chance.

I hate this updates policy, but I like iOS devices, so I have to adjust. Perhaps this is the way…

Thank you very much for your input, I truly appreciate it!

 

[rui no onna]

-To buy something at a decent price to break the only iOS golden rule I have and forcibly maintain compatibility at the expense of quality, but this is different: it won’t be my only usable iPad; and I will be buying it for the express purpose of updating it. Perhaps this is feeble: the base iPad is less resilient, but sorry, I’m not paying the difference for an Air to use as a sacrificial lamb. Buying an older device is pointless, as I need support.

I mean, I've done this. iPad 5th and 6th gen to run iOS betas trying to decide whether or not I'd upgrade my iPad Pro 9.7. Mind, based on the guinea pigs, I skipped iOS 11 entirely on the Pro 9.7 and delayed upgrading to iOS 13.

Even now, I'm using the M1 iPad Air to run iOS betas so I can test before upgrading my M1 iPad Pros.

 

[FeliApple]

I mean, I've done this. iPad 5th and 6th gen to run iOS betas trying to decide whether or not I'd upgrade my iPad Pro 9.7. Mind, based on the guinea pigs, I skipped iOS 11 entirely on the Pro 9.7 and delayed upgrading to iOS 13.

Even now, I'm using the M1 iPad Air to run iOS betas so I can test before upgrading my M1 iPad Pros.

Perfect, one more question: you mentioned that you are using an iPad Mini 6 and battery life is good.

The Mini 6 has an A15 (same category as the A16 on the iPad 11), and it debuted on iPadOS 15.

Are you running iPadOS 18 on it? Have you updated it?

 

[rui no onna]

Perfect, one more question: you mentioned that you are using an iPad Mini 6 and battery life is good.

The Mini 6 has an A15 (same category as the A16 on the iPad 11), and it debuted on iPadOS 15.

Are you running iPadOS 18 on it? Have you updated it?

Yup, fully updated.

Standby battery life is awful but it lasts a long time in airplane mode so I reckon that’s more of a software issue than a battery issue. Find My, Siri and HomeKit appear to be the biggest offenders as far as standby battery drain goes.

Note, I don’t expect 12-16 hours on-screen time. I’m fairly content with ~1 hour per 10%. Cellular, wifi and bluetooth all enabled, 0-25% brightness depending on ambient light.

I also have an iPad mini 7 now. I use the mini 7 at the office then when I get home, I plug in the 7 and swap to the (fully charged) iPad mini 6 that I use until I go to bed. I use a smart plug to make sure the iPads are fully charged (well, ~90%) when I wake up or get home from work.

 

[macfacts]

Apple is so paranoid about people jailbreaking, so they prevent people from downgrading the OS, so they created this problem of devices slowing down.

 

[FeliApple]

Okay, I got it. This is great. I frankly do not care about the two features I lost: quad speakers (cool but I never used them and both headphones and Bluetooth speakers are better), and the laminated display (noticeable side-by-side but after comparing my forcibly updated 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 against an original version, never updated 6th-gen iPad (also on iOS 12) I would’ve kept the about four-hour better battery life (14 hours vs 10 with light use) and flawless performance unlike mine rather than the speakers and the laminated display. Great price, too, and 128GB.

I think I made the right call. We’ll see what I decide when it comes to updates considering they’re irreversible and I’m used to staying on original iOS versions, but that’s a problem for future me.

Funnily enough, this marks the first instance since… 2016! that I’m running the same original iOS version on my iPhone and iPad, since iOS 9 on the iPhone 6s and the aforementioned iPad (both forced out due to the A9 on iOS 9 activation bug in 2020 and 2019, respectively). My iPhone (16 Plus) will not be updated, this iPad might be.

But I’m a user who is a content consumption user. I’ve been one since day one on iPads. Web browsing, tv shows, reading, YouTube, sports. That’s as far as I go. I don’t need more.

Battery life seems insane. (Very) preliminarily (Battery health still reports 0 cycles), even better for light use than my Air 5 on iPadOS 15, which stands at north of 20 hours. A quick preliminary test of a few percentage points shows it at around 30 hours of SOT, which is about 3 times what my 9.7-inch iPad Pro got on iOS 12 with the same light use. Even if it ends up being 22 or so (it’s highly likely it cannot reach 30), it’s still a gigantic difference when compared to the older iPad.

A relatively low-priced iPad with a full screen and great battery life which restores compatibility vs my 9.7-inch is pretty much perfect.

I’m going to be frank. I was convinced I wouldn’t even think about it and just update, but after the battery life I’m seeing I’ll think about it. I’ll see how both my iOS 18 devices respond to compatibility with time and decide from there.

I disliked the forced update to iOS 12 and 13 too much. We’ll see.

 

[*~Kim~*]

In some ways, the M1 Air is still a better iPad than the iPad 11 - 2GB extra RAM, better multi core and metal scores. The M1 outscores the A16 massively in those, but the A16’s single core advantage over the M1 in single core is tiny: https://appleinsider.com/inside/ipad/vs/2025-ipad-11-vs-m1-ipad-air-newer-isnt-always-better

Given that, the M1 might hold up better than the iPad 11 while being upgraded - and it’s likely to be dropped 1 OS version before the iPad 11 (Airs have more updates made available to them, but the iPad 11 is 3 years newer and as we saw with the iPad 7 A10 - which got OS18 while the more powerful A10X 2nd Gen Pros did not - Apple will cut devices arbitrarily, increasing the odds that the M1 doesn’t go to a version that completely kills it while the iPad 11 probably will.
The battery would be the question, as the Air 5 wasn’t the greatest on the battery front from new.

My question would be are you likely to want to upgrade to the OLED version when that comes to the Air, either via another trip in a few years time or paying inflated prices in your country? If so, I would leave it and upgrade the Air (I tend to take an OS upgrade just before it is no longer available as the new one is due, therefore striking a balance between keeping best performance and not losing app support for as long as possible.) The Air 8 should be out before you have a serious problem.

If not, then I could see why you would be tempted, as the iPad 11 is a good deal for what it is from launch where the iPad 10 was overpriced. I could also see why you would want to keep the Air running well out of the two given it has the laminated display and better accessory support. Streaming apps would probably be amongst the last to go - and by buying the iPad 11 you would also get the landscape camera to use for tasks where that is useful.

 

[FeliApple]

In some ways, the M1 Air is still a better iPad than the iPad 11 - 2GB extra RAM, better multi core and metal scores. The M1 outscores the A16 massively in those, but the A16’s single core advantage over the M1 in single core is tiny: https://appleinsider.com/inside/ipad/vs/2025-ipad-11-vs-m1-ipad-air-newer-isnt-always-better

Given that, the M1 might hold up better than the iPad 11 while being upgraded - and it’s likely to be dropped 1 OS version before the iPad 11 (Airs have more updates made available to them, but the iPad 11 is 3 years newer and as we saw with the iPad 7 A10 - which got OS18 while the more powerful A10X 2nd Gen Pros did not - Apple will cut devices arbitrarily, increasing the odds that the M1 doesn’t go to a version that completely kills it while the iPad 11 probably will.
The battery would be the question, as the Air 5 wasn’t the greatest on the battery front from new.

Yeah, I imagined that the Air 5 might be a little more resilient, but the Air 5 being on its original iOS version kind of put me off from even considering an update. It’s three major versions.

As far as battery life goes, I’m a light user and the battery life of the Air 5 is phenomenal for me.

My question would be are you likely to want to upgrade to the OLED version when that comes to the Air, either via another trip in a few years time or paying inflated prices in your country? If so, I would leave it and upgrade the Air (I tend to take an OS upgrade just before it is no longer available as the new one is due, therefore striking a balance between keeping best performance and not losing app support for as long as possible.) The Air 8 should be out before you have a serious problem.

To be honest I don’t care about specs while what I have does what I want and has good performance and battery life. No features have ever tempted me. I’ll upgrade when my device’s iOS version is too old for me.

If not, then I could see why you would be tempted, as the iPad 11 is a good deal for what it is from launch where the iPad 10 was overpriced. I could also see why you would want to keep the Air running well out of the two given it has the laminated display and better accessory support. Streaming apps would probably be amongst the last to go - and by buying the iPad 11 you would also get the landscape camera to use for tasks where that is useful.

I thought about keeping the Air behind because its original iOS version is the most outdated, even if specs are worse. My goal has pretty much always been to have iOS devices that are as close to their original iOS versions as possible regardless of chipset or specs.

I understand that line between device and software quality blurs when comparing a better spec but older iPad like the Air 5 vs the 11th-gen… but does it?

Funnily enough I’ve been in this exact same situation before! The A9X vs the A10 Fusion, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro vs the 6th-gen base iPad. The Pro ran iOS 9 (its original iOS version) with about 14 hours of light SOT. The 6th-gen iPad runs iOS 12 today with… the same 14 hours. After the Pro was forced by Apple to iOS 12 battery life dropped to about 10 hours, or a 28% reduction. The Pro should’ve been able to match battery life, but similarly, it didn’t. Sure, battery capacity was larger on the 6th-gen, unlike now, but still. I don’t trust Apple when it comes to this.

That said, now that I have it I’m second-guessing this whole approach. I might not even update anything at all. I’ll see how compatibility goes first.

Battery life doesn’t seem to be too different with both iPads on their original iOS versions anyway. Even if I were to update the 11th-gen, I’m not sure how far I’d push anyway. It’s tough for me, a long-standing user who never updates anything to just update the 11th-gen and destroy it almost willingly. I don’t know whether I’ll do it but I am infinitely more hesitant than I was before buying.

Maybe the Air 5 does hold better, but I’m not sure I have it in me to update that one. Like I said, I resented Apple too much after the 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 disaster.

 

[*~Kim~*]

The M1’s original OS was technically 14 (2021 iPad Pro) although the Air 5’s was 15 as it didn’t come out until the following March, with an OS update arriving with the new iPhones in September. Given that you have no firm plans to upgrade, I would leave the Air 5 where it is. 1 major OS upgrade from the out of the box version doesn’t seem to result in any noticeable difference beyond a handful of new wallpapers and features being available, but like you said it is three major versions at this point.

The A16’s original version was technically 16, as it started life in the iPhone 14 Pro line. 19 will launch in September and remain available until early September 2026, so that gives you close a year and a half to think over what to do before you lost the option to only move the iPad 11 forward by one version at a time.