Why does the mini have Siri, but the iPad 2 does not?
Because iPad 2 came out before 4s and Siri came out along with 4s.
Siri was at the time an exclusive feature for the 4s.
I'm sure iPad 2 can run Siri fine, but this is Apple stripping features to get more money.
Exactly. That is why I can see the Mini getting iOS 8 while the iPad 2 does not.
3GS was no longer on sale when 5 came out, but still received iOS 6.
(And you could tell iOS 6 will be its last, it struggled as heck. If iPad 2 iOS 7 owners think their tablet is "struggling" they have seen nothing)
That was because it was sold up to the time the iPhone 5 came out and was on the iOS 6 supported devices list before the iPhone 5 was announced. If Apple wanted to drop the 3Gs from iOS 6 support, it would have had to remove it from sale before iOS 6 was announced like they did with the iPod Touch 4 and iOS 7. If you think the 3Gs struggled with iOS 6, you must have never seen an iPhone 3G with iOS 4. Made the 3Gs with iOS 6 look like a fast new device.
Explain iPad 3 then. Axed before iOS 7 was announced, yet still got it.
If ANY A5 device supports 8, iPad 2 would join the supported list. So would the rest of the A5 family.
Could I say iOS 8 would be iPad 2's last? Yes. But it's far too early for iPad 2 to be axed from upgrades when it was literally on sale months ago.
At the time of iOS 7's release, the iPad 3 only had two versions of iOS. No iOS device has ever been left behind with only two versions of iOS being released for it. Nearly every other iOS device was in a similar scenario as the iPad 3 at the time of iOS 7's release, but with their respective third or fourth versions of iOS. If any A5 device would be omitted from iOS 8, it would be the iPad 2. It is the oldest, is no longer being sold, and is currently on its fourth version of iOS. No device has yet gone beyond four versions of iOS.
And there is something wrong of making it the first to break that barrier?
There is a reason why iPad 2 was on sale for SO long. Because while it was cheaper to produce for Apple, it is a BEAST of a tablet for its age. And it still is. It's only MONTHS older than 4s. And I guarantee you 4s will get 8.
So unless Apple wants to smell money from their own farts for the 1st time regarding iOS upgrades, there is no way iPad 2 is missing out on 8.
We can flip that argument to be about the iPod Touch 4. Is there something wrong about it being the first iPod Touch to get four versions of iOS? There was a reason why the iPod Touch 4 was on sale for such a long time. Because is was cheap to produce and it was better than contemporary competitors. And still may be. Its younger than the iPhone 4 by a few months and that is getting iOS 7. So unless Apple wants to make its end users unhappy, they'll give iOS 7 to the iPod Touch 4.
That same argument can be applied to the iPad 1 with iOS 6, the iPod Touch 3 with iOS 6, and the iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1 with iOS 4. Not a new argument at all.
Saying the iPad 2 is still a "beast" of a tablet is of poor subjective judgement. It has not only been outclassed by other iPads twice now, its Android and Windows competitors are making large leaps that vastly overcome the iPad 2's abilities.
But why would the 1st gen mini get update but not the iPad 2?
I only see the iPhone 4 not getting iOS8
Except the Touch 4 has a single core A4 processor and 256MB of RAM (compared to iPhone 4's 512MB). Cannot run iOS 7 as it requires 512MB.
iPad 1 was not designed to be futureproof. Same with iPod Touch 1. And by the way these are the first versions of the devices you are comparing to.
iPad 2 is futureproof. That's why it lasts so long.
Doesn't matter if "other" iPads and Android tablets have better components than iPad 2. If iPad 2 meets the requirements for iOS 8, then it WILL get it.
And it's most likely WILL meet that requirement, since all A5 devices have the same chip and RAM size.
There are other iOS 7 devices that are single core and have only 256MB of ram, see Apple TV 2 and 3.
The iPad 1 has same internals as the iPod Touch 4. No reason why it shouldn't have gotten iOS 6. Just like the iPod Touch 1 and iPhone 2G have the same exact CPU/GPU/RAM down to the bootrom as the iPhone 3G, but didn't get iOS 4.
The iPad 2 was not futureproof, nothing is. It was more futureresistant than the iPad 1, but not futureproof. Its resistance to the future got it a fourth version of iOS, instead of the iPad 1's three versions.
You know very well that Apple doesn't play by the "if the device meets the requirements for it, it gets it" rule. Examples: Siri, iOS 4 on iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1, iOS 6 on iPad 1 and iPod Touch 3, blur animations in iOS 7 on iPhone 4, taking photo when recording video on iPhone 4S, AirDrop, turn by turn navigation, flyover...
...what? Have you owned an Apple TV? In WHAT way are they similar in terms of UI, apps and features?
The huge difference between iPad 1/iTouch 4 and iPad 2/A5 brothers is the processors. One is single core, the other is dual core.
iPad 1 would have struggled big time on iOS 6 because of the processing power it needs. Touch 4 on iOS 6, it was a big mistake from Apple. The crashes it had were amazingly bad.
Okay "future-resistant". And it's still future-resistant enough to get its 5th (and probably final) version.
Again these are features. As I said earlier, they will strip the new features that the iPad 2 wouldn't get, but it will get the upgrade.
I do own an Apple TV 2 and 3. The Apple TV 2 has started to get very sluggish with iOS 7 and the Apple TV 3 is starting to show its age as well, mostly when navigating the menus and iTunes Store. They are similar in that they (they being iPads and Apple TVs) both run iOS and are bound by the same limitations. It's possible that Apple will be dropping support for the Apple TV 2 and releasing an SDK for the Apple TV 3 with iOS 8.
While the iPad 2 has a dual core, that extra power over the iPad 1 and iPod Touch 4 got it iOS 7, it will not be helping it get iOS 8. It's dual core CPU isn't so much the limitation of its futureresistance, more so that its age and no longer being sold it. How would the iPad 1 struggle big time with iOS 6 when it has a more powerful CPU than both the iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4? The only difference between it and the iPod Touch 4 is a slightly higher resolution screen. The iPod Touch had to get iOS 6 because it was still being sold. Something that cannot be used as an excuse to get iOS 8 for the iPad 2.
You appear to be selectively targeting examples of Apple not playing by the "if the device meets the requirements for it, it gets it" rule. As a refresher, you missed iOS 4 on the iPhone 2G and iPod Touch 1 and iOS 6 on the iPad 1 and iPod Touch 3. All of those devices met the requirements for their respective versions of iOS, yet none of them got it.
The iPod Touch 4G was on sale up to a week before iOS 7 was announced. No revolt from its recent purchasers when it wasn't in the list of supported devices.
iPad 3 will definitely get the update. iPhone 4 definitely won't. Not sure about iPad 2 but chances are it won't.
What I said does not nullify the iPad 3 from getting iOS 8. It, the iPad 3, will follow the pattern of the iPod Touch 3 and iPad 1 with iOS 5. Those devices were no longer sold, but only got two iOS versions thus requiring they get a third. The iPad 2 set a cycle of four versions, of which the iPad 3 has only gotten three. The iPad 2 and 3 have different abilities. The iPad 2 has a more limited GPU and is under greater memory constraints, but they both have the same computational powers. The iPad 1's A4 is clocked at 1Ghz resulting around 456 Geekbench score. The iPhone 4's and iPod Touch 4's is only 800Mhz with a score of only 386. Computationally, the iPad 1 is the most powerful A4 device. Apple had to give the iPod Touch iOS 6 because it only had two versions of iOS. It still being on sale is irrelevant to the equation. Apple needed to fulfill the third version of iOS. Apple could have released an A5 powered iPod Touch 5 that was in the same package as the iPod Touch 4 in 2011 along with the iPhone 4S, as they have done with the iPod Touch 2 and 3, then discontinued the iPod Touch 4. Even discontinued in October of 2011, it still would have gotten iOS 6. Apple's adoption numbers only include devices that regularly access the App Store. The older iOS 4-6 devices that sit in drawers or not being used aren't counted. If Apple was somehow able to include them, iOS 7's adoption rate would be much less. They can abandon the iPad 2. Just think about all those people that got an iPod Touch 4 in May of 2013 with a few years of Apple Care. Only to be left behind by iOS 7. Apple Care doesn't do anything for software updates, only hardware repairs. Of which Apple will continue to repair and service any iOS device up to 5 years since it was removed from public sale. So all those people out there who just bought an iPad 2 with Apple Care will still be able to get their device serviced for another 5 years. They knew there was something better out there in the form of the iPad 3 and 4, just like those that bought the iPod Touch 4 knew that it was rather outdated.
There is no reason for the 2 to be dropped if the 3 is kept, or any A5 device for that matter. If the Mini can run it, the 2 can as well. The iPod touch 4 didn't get iOS 7 due to ram causing terrible terrible terrible performance, which would have done more damage than running iOS 7 on it. Not processor, but ram. Same reason for the iPad 1. Ram. 256 MB of ram did not cut it for the iPod touch 4 as it was pushing a retina display, and it didn't cut it for the iPad 1 as it was pushing more pixels than the 3GS. Combined with the fact that the iPod touch 4 was far less popular than the iPad 2, meaning less people to get annoyed by it.
If Apple dropped support for any A5 due to technological limitations, logically it would be the 4S, iPod touch 5 and iPad 3. Why? They all push retina displays, and are slower than the Mini 1 and the iPad 2.
The only reason for Apple to drop support would be to force upgrades. However considering how recently the iPad 2 has been selling in relatively large numbers + a massive installed base, I can't see them doing this.
Doesn't make any sense to include the 4S and not the 4 or the iPad 3 and not the 2. They should all get the iOS 8 update especially since the iPad 2 was being sold until not too long ago. They'll probably get a skimmed version of the OS.