It’s surprising how many years iPads have been in active use. And even more surprising: many users are often still completely satisfied with their old iPad 5 or iPad Mini! Of course, it is always difficult to part with a familiar Apple tablet, but in my opinion there are several reasons to upgrade to a new device.
But are the recently announced new iPads too expensive for you? That’s a good point, but the launch of a new generation of iPad is always an opportunity for discount promotions and discontinued models.
If you’re not interested in an overpriced iPad Pro, how about an affordable iPad 9 (review) instead of your old iPad? A lot has happened here in recent years and there are many good offers currently.
Low battery performance
It’s a shame, but an iPad with a low battery loses a lot of its charm. And every battery starts to show signs of fatigue at some point – and it’s not just its lifespan that is limited: the reliability of the old battery also suffers. Often you cannot leave the device on for long periods of time because the old battery drains too quickly.
For a newer iPad such as the iPad 8 or iPad 9, we recommend a battery replacement from Apple – it only costs £99 for this model. However, with an even older iPad, these fees are already the residual value and simply aren’t worth it anymore.
You can check your battery power with the Coconut Battery tool. It makes sense to replace the battery even if its capacity is less than 80%.
A battery should always have a capacity of at least 80 percent.
A battery should always have a capacity of at least 80 percent.
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A battery should always have a capacity of at least 80 percent.
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IDG
The new models are thinner and lighter
Are you still using an old standard iPad like iPad 7 or iPad 9 with a touch button? You will then benefit from the new design of the latest iPads. By upgrading to a higher quality iPad 10 (see review), you will finally get a device with almost the same dimensions, but a larger screen and a more modern case.
Best prices today: iPad 10
The iPad Air in particular is superior to the standard iPad. Thanks to a flatter screen, it is not only thinner, but also a little lighter. Or you can upgrade directly to an iPad Mini, which every home user should consider.
The current models have a larger screen than the first iPad Mini and are very flat and pleasantly light (293 grams). In my opinion, the iPad Mini is the ideal form factor especially for home users. However, a new model will probably be released soon, so you will have to wait a little longer.
New iPads are faster
Current iPads are several times faster than previous models. While desktop processor performance has increased relatively slowly in recent years, iPad performance has increased rapidly. From today’s perspective, many old iPads are pretty crappy.
But how does this compare? The measured values from the Geekbench app are useful here, as they allow you to compare the CPU performance of an iPad with each other. The higher the score, the better the performance. (Performance is measured in single and multiprocessor mode, so there are two values)
An iPad 5 with an A9 processor only scores 629 points in the single processor test with Geekbench, and the performance of 953 points in multiprocessor mode is also very low. An iPad Air 5 from 2022 with an M1 chip already scores 2246/8073 points.
Best prices today: iPad Air 5
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Even the cheapest iPad 9 (1705/3751) currently runs tasks like creating a website or editing a photo about three times faster thanks to the new processor.
Even if you think “my iPad is fast enough”, this is often a habitual effect – because you have no comparison. The best processors also enable completely different types of usage and applications, including video editing and image processing.
You will already experience better performance when browsing the web because pages load much faster. Unlike the iPhone, the iPad attempts to open the desktop version of websites, which consumes significantly more resources.
The performance of iPads has increased considerably, notably thanks to M chips.
The performance of iPads has increased considerably, notably thanks to M chips.
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The performance of iPads has increased considerably, notably thanks to M chips.
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New models offer a better camera for Zoom and Teams
With some old iPads, I sometimes wonder what Apple was thinking with the cameras? The front camera on older models – from the iPad 5 to the iPad 8 – only supports a measly 1.2 megapixels, and the low-light rear camera (without flash!) only has a modest 8 megapixel resolution. This ensures poor image quality.
Even during video conferences, your interlocutor will have to make do with a blurry video image of you. Apple has improved a lot here recently, even in the more affordable iPad 9 and iPad 10 models; like all current iPads, the front camera supports the so-called tracking mode.
The ultra-wide angle camera uses this mode to keep you in the center of the video image at all times. Alternatively, you can use a wide-angle mode and show more of your surroundings during a video conference.
RAM and storage space
However, there are many other reasons why the performance differs so greatly: Apple only installed 2 GB of RAM until the iPad 6. However, this is not enough for iOS 17.
An iPad 10 has 4GB of RAM, while the iPad Air 5 has 8GB of RAM – so you’re also equipped for future iOS updates.
Last but not least, it’s the meager storage capacity that slows down many older iPads. An iPad with 32 GB of storage space is still lacking in space and the memory chips installed back then are pretty lame from today’s point of view. An iPad today should have at least 64 GB of storage space – and preferably more.
Wi-Fi and USB-C performance
An older iPad’s Wi-Fi performance isn’t a real weakness; even an older iPad 5 supports Wi-Fi 802.11 AC, also known as Wi-Fi 5. Wi-Fi 6 in current models is faster at 1,200 Mbps than Wi-Fi 5 at 866 Mbps – however, some home users don’t yet have a router that supports Wi-Fi 6 or even Wi-Fi 7.
Perhaps more important is the USB-C interface on the new models. With the exception of the iPad 9, all current iPads now feature the more versatile USB-C interface. This makes using accessories and storage media much easier than with Lightning.
This damn 7th year: more updates and spare parts
Apple’s long support through updates and replacement parts is actually a strength of the iPads, but even Apple will end that support one day. We therefore no longer recommend iPads older than eight years old, such as an older iPad Air and an iPad Mini 3. These devices are no longer officially supported and can no longer be repaired in the Apple Store.
iPads older than seven years are also problematic. These models were introduced in 2017 and 2018 and no longer receive the latest operating system.
Unfortunately, it is not the sale date that counts as the deadline, but the product launch date. This is annoying for buyers of a model that has been available for a very long time. You may not have purchased or received your iPad Mini 4 from 2017 to 2020.
The first generation iPad 5, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 4 and iPad Pro are affected. Here you have the problem that only iPad OS 15 (iPad Air 2 and Mini 4) or iPad OS 16 are supported (iPad Pro 9.7, 12.9 and iPad 5).
The real problem: Apple still provides security updates to these models, but more and more new apps will no longer be usable.
iPad Pro 9.7
iPad Pro 9.7
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iPad Pro 9.7
StackCommerce
StackCommerce
Conclusion
An iPad almost becomes a member of the family, but one day it will make sense to replace it. After all, new web apps, apps, and iPad OS have significantly increased hardware requirements.
In my opinion, a low battery is probably the most important reason to switch.
If you’ve decided to buy a new board, here are the best iPads of the moment.
This article was originally published in our sister publication Macwelt and has been translated and adapted from German.
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