iPad 2 Retired

[foofighterjim]

As the subject says Apple have retired the iPad 2:

 

Apple finally retires iPad 2, replaces with Retina display model | The Verge

 

Particularly relevant for those schools who had brought the 2nd generation iPad because it was cheaper. Presumably this means no iOS 8 but no details on if future updates to iOS 7 will be available beyond what is already announced.

[Pottsey]

Not really surprised it makes a lot of sense to retire the Ipad2. Surprised it lasted this long.

[adhutton]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

[abillybob]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

 

Yes this is true. It's the same here!! I did tell the DH not to buy iPad 2's as they would be obsolete soon but did he listen? No. Now we have 90 of the things which in another year will slowly stop working *sigh*

[foofighterjim]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

 

This has been the case with the older versions of the iPhone and original iPad. Its not that the device wont work its just that app developers will always try to utilise new features or push performance which may mean dropping support for older iOS versions / hardware. You may find that certain apps will continue to work on an older version but you may not be able to utilise new features, it is all dependant on developers and their will / ability to support older devices.

[Pottsey]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

They already too old for the newest apps with no OpenGL ES 3.1 or OpenCL 1.2 support. It’s only a matter of time before those become widespread. Along with next to no GPGPU compute power with a very outdated GPU and the only device running at low resolution. Developers had to go out there way to make sure new apps worked on the Ipad2. Some will still support Ipad2 for a while but I would expect app support to drop off sharply over the next years.

 

The Ipad 3 had already been retired a while back it was only a matter of time before the Ipad2 followed. The market is moving towards new standards like GPGPU compute and OpenGL ES 3+. In the coming years ray tracing will become a big thing which is incompatible with current Ipads. If its not this upcoming version then I believe the gen after in 2015/2016 will move towards ray tracing.

[Norphy]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

 

Sorry but did you really think that they'd be supporting them indefinitely?

[ICTDirect_Dave]

You'll be fine with the 2 for the next year or so. After that you'll have to keep them running on ios7. Having said that I'm still running my iPad2 on ios6!

 

It's time it was retired though, the tablet market has moved on, and the iPad4 for the same price really is a great deal!

[foofighterjim]

Lets not overlook that loads of the apps only exist because of a lack of HTML5 uptake, formatting issues or because the websites themselves weren't touch friendly.

 

This is slowly changing so apps as we know them will change too.

[seawolf]

So, am I correct in thinking that at some point we wont be able to use the iPad 2 any more as the IOS on them will be too old for the newer apps?

 

We have loads of iPad 2s in our school!!!!

 

Andrew

 

Well, we still use some 1st gen iPads and there are very few apps we are unable to use even though they are limited to iOS5. Plus the iPad Mini (original) is running pretty much the same hardware as the iPad 2 and is still being sold.

 

I think you'll be fine for a while...