Bought a cheap original 1st gen Ipad with ios 5, should I upgrade it?

[holden j caufield]

Fiance wanted to learn about ipads as that's what they'll be teaching the kids. I bought a cheap 1st gen ipad on CL one with ios 5 it runs some games but some require ios 6 7 or 8. Can or should I upgrade it. I've heard a lot of devices become slow after the upgrade.

 

[Eug]

Sorry to say it but that was kind of a pointless purchase, unless you got it for $50 or less.

Yes, they get slow after an upgrade, and with iOS 5, it is already slooooooww. Hence, it gets no updates after 5.1.1. You cannot run iOS 6 or later on it.

 

[holden j caufield]

ok thanks

 

[Ichinisan]

Bare minimum iPad to run latest OS would be iPad 2 or iPad mini (both have A5 processor and 512MB RAM).

I'm not sure if both devices will get iOS 9. The iPad 2 is long in the tooth by now (released March 2011), so I wouldn't be surprised if Apple stops supporting it. But iPad mini was just released after the iPhone 5 in late 2012, and the iPhone 5 will definitely get iOS9. It would be strange to release iOS9 for iPad mini and ignore iPad 2 with nearly identical hardware. Not unprecedented though. The original iPhone and iPhone 3G had the same CPU and RAM, but the original iPhone never got iOS4.

 

[Eug]

The iPad 2 running iOS 6 is good. Running iOS 7 is not bad either. Running iOS 8.0 was slow, but iOS 8.1.x to 8.2 was OK but it lags more now in iOS 8.3. Turning off ALL the eye candy helps a lot though.

Basically, I'd say iOS 7 was the sweet spot on the iPad 2 but it can be used with iOS 8 if your needs are light.

That is to say, if you want an actual pleasant to use iPad, I'd recommend at least an iPad 4.

 

[JohnAlmighty]

It is a bad idea to upgrade it.

 

[Oyeve]

I recently gave my mother my old ipad 1 a few days ago. She was all excited until she tried to install her apps that she used on her touch and realized they would not install on ios 5.x. Shes bummed but I told her upfront that it would pretty much be useless.

 

[Eug]

It is a bad idea to upgrade it.

He can't anyway. At least not past iOS 5.1.1, since that's the last version that runs on it.

However, if it was only $50 he'd be able to run it for a few weeks and then resell it... for $50 again, so no money lost.

I recently gave my mother my old ipad 1 a few days ago. She was all excited until she tried to install her apps that she used on her touch and realized they would not install on ios 5.x. Shes bummed but I told her upfront that it would pretty much be useless.

Yup. It might make for a good big screen iPod for a Bluetooth stereo though. That's what I use my iPhone 3G for.

Treat your mom right and buy her an iPad Air 2. Cuz it's awesome.

 

[scannall]

There are a few apps/programs that will turn your iPad into a second monitor too. Kinda handy.

 

[aaksheytalwar]

USD 50 is over priced for iPad 1. Maybe for iPad 2 or iPad mini wifi 16gb, out of warranty, USD 50-75 might make sense though.

 

[Eug]

I wouldn't pay US$50 for an iPad 1 either or $100+ for an iPad mini, but people will most definitely pay that. You'll get even more for an iPad 2.

I'd sell my iPad 2 if I didn't have to deal with Kijiji or Craigslist hassles.

Plus, strangely enough my IP camera software is more stable with one of my IP cameras on the iPad 2 than it is on the iPad Air 2. I suspect the developer doesn't have an iPad Air 2 to test with.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Not enough RAM on that iPad 1 (among other things) to do much of anything these days. Get an iPad 2 as training wheels into the iPad world. That one runs the latest OS.