[ipad] iPad 2 finally put to bed, 4th Gen iPad is back...

[Quackers]

No iPad 2 available on the store.. iPad - Buy iPad Air and iPad with Retina display - Apple Store (UK)

 

Not to bad though we get a better spec iPad for the same price now. Would have been nice to keep the iPad 2 going but lowered its price even cheaper. I still use my iPad 2 everyday and its not slow and I'm not upgrading any time soon.

[localzuk]

The iPad 2 is far too slow now, with iOS 7 on it. In my experience, it doesn't have enough RAM either. Multi-tab browsers struggle to have more than 1 tab loaded at once!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

Good call on this front I reckon. Just waiting to get official educational pricing through now.

 

Though for the moment I'm assuming everything is the same as it was for the 2.

[abillybob]

So educational institutions can no longer buy iPad 2's? Or is this just on a consumer basis?

[ICTDirect_Dave]

They're being discontinued across the board. We've been selling off what remains in the UK at a discount all month.

 

But for the same price you're getting a far better model

[abillybob]

True but does this not mean that Apple will soon stop supporting them, so for example new iOS updates will eventually stop and then that's normally followed by incompatibility of apps?

[SovietRussia]

Thank god, finally people will be forced to buy the newer. Never got my head around people buying 2's, then 4's were out.

 

(I'm currently sitting next to 8 iPad Airs ;P)

[seawolf]

True but does this not mean that Apple will soon stop supporting them, so for example new iOS updates will eventually stop and then that's normally followed by incompatibility of apps?

 

Yes and no. We still have a trolley of iPad 1's in regular daily use in the library. They can't be upgraded past iOS 5, but this hasn't been limiting until recently with a few iOS7-only apps coming out. We also can't use iMovie and other apps that require a camera.

 

Still, they are certainly useful and can run just about all of the apps, eBooks, etc. that our Primary students need and 90% of what the secondary teachers want to use. I expect that iOS 8 will still run on the iPad 2 as Apple are only discontinuing them On my way!, after that it might be the end of iOS upgrades.

[chazzy2501]

hehe can't wait for the apps to complain that the OS isn't up to date and teachers get miffy that the 200+ ipads are now fancy ebook readers

[FN-GM]

The iPad 2 is far too slow now, with iOS 7 on it. In my experience, it doesn't have enough RAM either. Multi-tab browsers struggle to have more than 1 tab loaded at once!

 

My iPad 2 seems fine to be honest. Not as slow as the iPhone 4.

[mavhc]

And without security updates all those ipad 2s will be easy to hack.

 

That means the 30 pin connector is dead too now I suppose.

[Bompalompalomp]

I tried to warn them that they looked like they were going to be discontinued soon. Advised against them and everything, but look who just finished deploying iPad 2s today...

[FN-GM]

And without security updates all those ipad 2s will be easy to hack.

 

That means the 30 pin connector is dead too now I suppose.

 

30 connector is on iPad 4 as well. Plus iPad 2 still gets updates.

[Quackers]

30 connector is on iPad 4 as well. Plus iPad 2 still gets updates.

 

iPad 4 is lightning connector, iPad 3 had the 30 pin connector.

[FN-GM]

iPad 4 is lightning connector, iPad 3 had the 30 pin connector.

 

Didn't know that Thanks

[Arthur]

Apple resurrects the iPad 4 at $399, retires the iPad 2 at long last « Ars Technica

 

The iPad 2 first became the $399 entry-level iPad in January of 2012 when the third-generation iPad was introduced, and it stayed there through the introduction of the fourth-generation iPad that October and the iPad Air in October of 2013. It was Apple's last remaining iPad that still used the old 30-pin connector, and its retirement leaves the $299 iPad mini as the last non-Retina device in the entire iOS lineup.

 

The iPad 4 is a substantial upgrade over its predecessor, looking essentially the same but adding a Retina display, a Lightning port, just a little more weight and thickness, and an Apple A6X processor with about twice the CPU performance and four times the GPU performance of the A5 in the iPad 2.

 

For most consumers, we'd still recommend stepping up to the iPad Air. A 16GB iPad Air costs only 20 percent more than a 16GB iPad 4, but can offer as much as 200 percent more performance depending on what you're using it for. It also has a streamlined profile and is substantially lighter (one pound, instead of the iPad 4's 1.44 pounds). If you wouldn't mind the Retina iPad mini's smaller screen, you can have your cake and eat it too—that tablet costs the same amount but is both newer and faster than the iPad 4.