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spudlyo | on: New iPad Air, powered by M4
I'm about to head to the gym with my 12.9-inch 2017 vintage iPad Pro, which is still going strong. I prop it up on the elliptical trainer every other day or so for entertaining me while I grind out an hour of cardio. I use it for reading, watching YouTube, listening to music, audiobooks, etc. It's been my regular gym buddy for years, and is showing no signs of needing to be replaced.

It's stuck on iPadOS 17.7.10, which is fine. I can only imagine that these new generation iPads will easily go for the next 10 years.

pkulak | parent | next
Same! Reading through that announcement about MOAR power and AI and all I can think is, "This can't possibly play YouTube videos at me on my spin bike any better than my iPad from 8 years ago..."
binsquare | root | parent | next
I had this thought until I actually replaced my iPad with the m1 chip.

It was actually better at youtube by being more efficient, I could watch videos for a full day before needing to charge.

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this-is-why | root | parent
In the 1990s we referred to this dilemma as needing a “killer app” to drive an upgrade. Fortunately everything needed more mips, but unless you’re a niche gamer, consumers hit the wall in maybe 2010. Which is why every oem is pushing Ai. Sell moar !! Fill the landfills !!!
kkylin | parent | next
I had an even older iPad I was happily using for similar use cases. Until one day a family member bricked it and I needed to factory reset. No big deal, I thought -- nothing important on it. Turns out it needed to phone home to do the factory reset, and since the server it wanted to talk to was no longer up (or perhaps the address changed?) I couldn't factory reset the iPad.

If someone has a work-around I'd love to hear it. Until then, or until Apple changes this design, I think I'm done with iPads. I don't want to pay that much to "own" something that Apple can simply make obsolete by reconfiguring or turning off a server somewhere.

Edit: fix typo

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nicbou | parent | next
My iPad Mini from 2020 is also surprisingly good today. It's one of those devices that just quietly do their job forever. They are a dying breed.
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maCDzP | parent | next
I bought magnetic self adhesive tape and mounted in on my fridge. Now it’s the family calendar. So nice.
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seanmcdirmid | parent | next
I have the 2g iPad pro (I think I bought it in 2020 before the pandemic?). I keep looking for an excuse to replace it but it just works so well there isn't much to get from a new one.
wodenokoto | parent | next
My iPad 2011 is still going strong, except that my Airpods Pro won't talk with them anymore.

So should I buy a second pair of work-out earphones or a new tablet? A new tablet would give me back access to app store and many apps, which are no longer compatible with this old slab, but at least Amazon Prime Video and most importantly, VLC still works.

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asdff | parent | next
Lightning cable unfortunately has a shelf life. My current SE2 barely seats the cable appropriately in the connector and if you look at it wrong it stops charging.
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tstenner | parent | next
That's what I use a 2014 Sony tablet for. The battery last surprisingly long, but heavy websites are an exercise (well, the other form of exercise) in frustration
inerte | parent | next
I bought and iPad Mini Nov 20th, 2013, and it still works. Slow, but it does. Enough for my daughter to watch YT Kids here and there.
t-3 | parent | next
How is the battery doing? I find sudden rechargeable battery/controller failures in the 5-10 year range to be my most common cause of upgrade or repair.
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spudlyo | root | parent
It usually lasts 3-4 sessions. I power it off between uses to preserve battery.
PyWoody | parent | next
Same here. Sucks that Netflix is no longer supported but YouTube works great.
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qingcharles | parent | next
Have a 7th gen iPad from 2019 I use as my daily driver. Has iOS 18 and works great. Was $80 on eBay a year or so ago.
game_the0ry | parent | next
Just curious, why don't you just use your iphone? Why the ipad? Why do you prefer it over an iphone?
spudlyo | root | parent | next
The big screen fits perfectly over the elliptical’s display, the readability of ebooks (my most common use) is superior.
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baby | parent | next
Yeah same here, stuck on the 2018 one coz its still great.
enraged_camel | parent | next
When cleaning out my deceased father's electronics closet, I found a 1st gen iPhone. Fortunately its charging cable was nearby. I charged it and, miraculously, it turned on, and was in fact fully usable (minus calling, due to no SIM card). Note that the device is almost 20 years old at this point.

In contrast, none of the various Android devices he collected over the years turned on. One came close, then errored out right after booting.

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jimbokun | parent | next
There is no greater punishment for a corporation’s shareholders and employees than making a product so good and so reliable it doesn’t need to be replaced for a very long time.
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Almondsetat | parent | next
They can only go as far if Apple doesn't deprecate them, unfortunately
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davio | parent | next
I have an iPad 4 that is now a single purpose scorekeeper for darts
user34283 | parent
I have an iPad 9th generation here, from 2021, and it appears to be at the end of its life.

I expected it to last a little longer, despite the cheap price of around $350 in 2022.

After the Liquid Glass update it became so sluggish that I had to turn off animations in the Accessibility settings. And it still is not enjoyable.

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