Q: Upgrade iPad iOS 5.1.1 to iOS 6

your analogies are not accurate tonefox... especially the one about 405 line tv!!!  Pretty much everything you mentioned! Yes you cannot use 405 line tv's thats because the broadcast system that used to put out such a signal is obsolete. How does that compare to an iPad which is a stand alone system?

There is NO technical reason for iOS 6 to not run on an iPad 1... other than Apple making a concious decision to not support it so that they can force you to buy a newer one. THAT is the real and ONLY story to believe. You see in engineering, when you are designing an upgrade you start with what HW you have now and then build from there. You dont build something new and then say "hey you need new hardware".

Below are quick links to the hardware specs of each Apple device.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad#Model_comparison

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_iOS_devices#iPad

I'd say that the Single Core A4 processor with 256mb RAM is the problem, and almost certainly the reason that Apple have not done a build of iOS 6 for the iPad 1. No doubt they have tested it and found the hardware was not up to the job.

The iPad 2 has twice the processing power and twice the RAM of the iPad 1 and consequently is still supported in iOS 7.

Suggesting that Apple should target the iPad 1 with all future iOS versions means that they can never produce an OS that needs more resources or can take advantage of the more powerful hardware in newer iPads.

Silicon-Surfer wrote:

 

Suggesting that Apple should target the iPad 1 with all future iOS versions means that they can never produce an OS that needs more resources or can take advantage of the more powerful hardware in newer iPads.

Au contrair, it is 100% possible to be backwards compatible to that hw. It is even 100% possible to release an iOS ___ fill in the blank with a version number that is backwards compatible to the "older" HW while still having support for the "newer" HW. this is all possible in engineering. Whether its technically possible or not is not the issue here. Mainly because it was a business decision not to support it - driven by the fact that most apple fanboys jump at the excuse that they need the latest toy from Apple.

Silicon-Surfer wrote:

 

I'd say that the Single Core A4 processor with 256mb RAM is the problem, and almost certainly the reason that Apple have not done a build of iOS 6 for the iPad 1. No doubt they have tested it and found the hardware was not up to the job.

 

you got it backwards. you dont design an upgrade and then "test it" to see / hope that it would work on your older platform! you design your upgrade with these parameters in mind! A 1Ghz processor with 256 MB of RAM is certainly enough to run Windows or Linux on a full blown PC, are you really believing that this is not enough for a tablet? That would only be a true statement IF the OS was designed (on purpose) to demand more resources. Which leads us to it was a decision based on $$$ since it would drive the fanboys to buy new hardware.

From an engineering / design principles perspective - I am NOT impressed by Apple.

The only problem I have so far is that I can't annotate books in the iBooks app.  For what little I use it for -- mainly reading e-mail, books, newspapers, it works just fine.

But not being able to highlight iBooks is very limiting and disappointing.  Apple could probably solve this with an update to iBooks 1, but I doubt that it will.

Sorry, but I am one of those users that received one as a gift but could never find where I could use the IPAD over my Android 100%, as there was either a Flash issue or some other feature that would force me back to microsoft bype devide.  So in essence, it has been an expensive Kindle/Nook.  It is with this in mind that I will not allow my kids to change to an IPhone as I know how frequently the changes are released and am NOT going to purchase the new iPhone everytime there is a full moon.  This is also the reason I WILL NOT buy a new Ipad. 

I realize that it is difficult for development to include all levels of functionality associated with the related hardware.  However, I do think it would be worth Apple's interest to perhaps have 2 iOS versions...1 for older machines with basic functionality and 1 for new technology.  I think the users with the older versions would accept that they will have limited functionality.  Again I feel that this would be a better option for Apple, otherwise they will see a number of users just drop Apple entirely.  If Apple continues to keep the older technology in use you can still hold out hope that Apple will reach a level where reluctant users are more likely to embace Apple and buy the new technology. 

Don't assume that I am anti-Apple, as I go back to the original Apple II.  While I love much that Apple has to offer, I often find that I hit a brick wall in usage and have to revert to Microsoft.  All the friends and business users of Applie I know reluctently admit they still have a MS machine as backup.

Please Apple take notices of this User Discussion Thread, and let us know if you care or if we just need to move on.

Thank You

Ana  

Apple doesn't read these discussions. We're all just users like you. You can provide feedback to them at this link: http://www.apple.com/feedback

I'm one of those iPad users that doesn't understand the Android user. I figure if I run across a flash website while using my iPad, the owner of the website doesn't think much of their website to make it accessible to all.  Just because Apple does things different doesn't mean one always has to revert to another operating system.  Usually Apple has an app to fill your needs. 

The problem I see most is that people coming from another operating system try and do things the way they've always done them. Apple is a "Think Different" company and their products show that.  Sure, Apple products aren't for everyone. The iPad seem to be for the average, everyday computer user. I believe that's who Apple had in mind when they created the iPad.

If you want to install a version of an app that doesn't run on 5.1, get it on itunes (I used my mac).  Then it really does count as purchased, even if it is free.  When you download purchased apps to your ipad, they offer you an older version that works on ipad 1.  VERY COOL.

I was frustrated at not being able to get the DISH app on my ipad1, and this worked.

I totally agree with the fact that many are suffering from the feeling that a relatively new device is starting to look quite old and obsolete because Apple decided to let the 1st generation iPad die out slowly.

It is NOT a case of 'the hardware doesn't support it' but 'we don't want it to support it'.

However, all our points and discussions won't change anything about it, unless someone hacks the OS to be installed on older machines.

I read many people are frustrated with the regular crashes, especially with Safari (or Chrome, which uses the Safari engine) and the AppStore. I found this excellent article on iOS5 problems, mainly related to insufficient memory. The simple trick is to 'kill' all apps that are running in the background. On my iPad 1 there were over 40 apps still running!

https://sites.google.com/site/appleclubfhs/support/advice-and-articles/finding-a pps-for-older-devices

This solved my iPad crashes almost completely !!!!

    @ tonefox: you make an excellent point here. Maybe we have to ask ourselves if all of this progress really means progress ....

I don't know if this will help you, however, I was trying to upgrade my iPad first gen because I'm giving it to someone.  I have a new iPad, so I of course downloaded all of my apps on the new one.  When I reset my first gen iPad, and logged into the App Store, I went down to my purchases and was able to pull up all of my "new" purchases.  When I clicked to download them back to the old iPad, it said that it couldn't download the NEW version, but it could download the last compatible version.  That's how I was able to put Netflix and the Facebook app on the older iPad for the person I'm giving it to.  Just what I felt was an easy solution, for anyone who needs one and still wants to use their older iPads or give them/sell them to someone who can't afford a brand new one!

You do realize that those Apps you so kindly downloaded to the iPad you are giving away will forever be tied to your Apple ID right?  You are preventing the new user from actually having Apps that belong to them, and can update if required.  Also the new user wil be able to buy apps with your account using your money. I guess that's o.k for you.

And yes the Compatible version option has already been posted several times in this thread.  

iOS 6.1.6 and 7.0.6 correct security vulnerability CVE-2014-1266.

What about iOS5 users ? Are they already safe ?

For memory : 15 million first-generation iPads sold...

I totally agree Apple should make an update for the first gen iPad

If not they need to recall all these products back for exchange

To a newer iPad version that will be nice not my fault if

If Apple refuse to update my software now all my information sprade

All over the web included my SSN and my bank account and who knows

Maybe my Credit Card info so who responsible for my personal

Information not to get hacked by hackers than my life is

Ruined thanks a lot

Would you be so kind as to confirm for us, how you determined that all versions of iOS Are affected by this recently announced security issue?

It was announce on local abc news tv this morning that all apple products was affected

That's way apple released the me iOS 7.0.6