Q: My ipad 2 ran great on with IOS 7. Now with IOS 8 it is slow and choppy and full of error messages. Is this Apples way of forcing my IPad2 into obsolesence?

I'm getting repeated reports back that people are having success with wiping it clean, and that makes perfect sense because an iPad put into factory default condition should work exactly as it does with all the other majority of users who are not having problems. Look at what this guy did ...

keithfrommariettaOct 12, 2014 3:25 PM Re: IPAD2 very slow after IOS 8 upgrade
Re: IPAD2 very slow after IOS 8 upgradein response to pacoKAS

SOLVED:  IOS 8 Issues on iPad 2:

I just returned home from a visit to the Genius Bar. Like you and many others, when I upgraded my iPad 2 to IOS 8, it became practically unusable. It was VERY slow, lagged whenever trying to to do anything. Lots of screen freezes and apps spontaneously crashing. I was convinced that the processor on the iPad 2 just couldn't handle the new IOS and I went in to see about restoring to IOS 7.

Thankfully, I was hooked up with a very sharp guy at the bar. The problem is not with the OS, it is with it being an *upgraded* OS. He used the analogy of when you had an older Windows computer and how over time (and over upgrades), they just tended to get slower and slower because of all of the garbage that was carried forward in the upgrades. At those times (and if you've ever had a Windows computer, you get this), the only thing that would speed it up would be to wipe the machine and do a fresh install of the current OS and then reload your apps, and the viola, everything would be fast again. Well, it turns out that IOS can suffer the same problems.

THE FIX:  FIRST, be sure you have a current iCloud backup of your device.  Connect your iPad to a computer that has a clean fresh copy of IOS 8 on iTunes (this is best done with a computer other than the one that you sync your device to because you DO NOT want to restore it from a back up just yet). Ideally, if you do this at an Apple store you'll be assured of the right version there and someone to answer any questions you might have along the way. You then hold the power and home button down to hard-reset the device and continue to hold them down until it reboots into recovery mode. You then follow the instructions on the computer to reinstall the OS on the device (which wipes everything from it and then reinstalls a clean copy of it). Once this is done (which only takes about 15 minutes), your device will reboot and ask you to set it up. Answer the questions about language, location, etc. and continue until it asks you to log into your iTunes account. Once you do that, it will ask if you want to either 1) Set it up as a new device, 2) Restore from iCloud, or 3) Restore from iTunes. Choose (2), restore from iCloud. This will ensure that it brings down "clean" copies of all of your apps and preferences rather than the potentially corrupted ones that might reside in your iTunes backup. That's it! It will take a few hours depending on how much data and apps you have, but I am happy to report that my iPad 2 is now running IOS 8 and it's running as fast as it ever did when it was brand new!

To sum it up, this process 1) Wipes your device and the garbage causing your problems, 2) Loads a clean and bug-free version of IOS 8 to your device, and 3) restores your apps and data so that it looks just like it did before the wipe, with the exception that it works now!  :-)

Note also that by following this process you don't have to go through the painful and laborious process of reloading all of your apps, data and/or settings. iCloud takes care of all of that for you.

If you read the earlier posts on this thread you will note that I have stated pretty much all of this before!

Yeah ... and I've stated the same thing on many different threads, too, for a number of days -- but sometimes people have to hear it from several different people to be reassured ... :-) ...

That's good for people to do, too. Thanks!

OK - thanks. There do indeed seem to have been many others asking the same questions and not glancing through the thread.

We've been finding that setting it to the factory default state is helping a lot of people, just like you've heard from others ...

Back up and Restore your iOS Device with iCloud or iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

iTunes: About iOS Backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946

Use iTunes to Restore your iOS Device to Factory Settings

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414

And here is one such problem solved ...

keithfrommariettaOct 12, 2014 3:25 PM Re: IPAD2 very slow after IOS 8 upgrade
Re: IPAD2 very slow after IOS 8 upgradein response to pacoKAS

SOLVED:  IOS 8 Issues on iPad 2:

I just returned home from a visit to the Genius Bar. Like you and many others, when I upgraded my iPad 2 to IOS 8, it became practically unusable. It was VERY slow, lagged whenever trying to to do anything. Lots of screen freezes and apps spontaneously crashing. I was convinced that the processor on the iPad 2 just couldn't handle the new IOS and I went in to see about restoring to IOS 7.

Thankfully, I was hooked up with a very sharp guy at the bar. The problem is not with the OS, it is with it being an *upgraded* OS. He used the analogy of when you had an older Windows computer and how over time (and over upgrades), they just tended to get slower and slower because of all of the garbage that was carried forward in the upgrades. At those times (and if you've ever had a Windows computer, you get this), the only thing that would speed it up would be to wipe the machine and do a fresh install of the current OS and then reload your apps, and the viola, everything would be fast again. Well, it turns out that IOS can suffer the same problems.

THE FIX:  FIRST, be sure you have a current iCloud backup of your device.  Connect your iPad to a computer that has a clean fresh copy of IOS 8 on iTunes (this is best done with a computer other than the one that you sync your device to because you DO NOT want to restore it from a back up just yet). Ideally, if you do this at an Apple store you'll be assured of the right version there and someone to answer any questions you might have along the way. You then hold the power and home button down to hard-reset the device and continue to hold them down until it reboots into recovery mode. You then follow the instructions on the computer to reinstall the OS on the device (which wipes everything from it and then reinstalls a clean copy of it). Once this is done (which only takes about 15 minutes), your device will reboot and ask you to set it up. Answer the questions about language, location, etc. and continue until it asks you to log into your iTunes account. Once you do that, it will ask if you want to either 1) Set it up as a new device, 2) Restore from iCloud, or 3) Restore from iTunes. Choose (2), restore from iCloud. This will ensure that it brings down "clean" copies of all of your apps and preferences rather than the potentially corrupted ones that might reside in your iTunes backup. That's it! It will take a few hours depending on how much data and apps you have, but I am happy to report that my iPad 2 is now running IOS 8 and it's running as fast as it ever did when it was brand new!

To sum it up, this process 1) Wipes your device and the garbage causing your problems, 2) Loads a clean and bug-free version of IOS 8 to your device, and 3) restores your apps and data so that it looks just like it did before the wipe, with the exception that it works now!  :-)

Note also that by following this process you don't have to go through the painful and laborious process of reloading all of your apps, data and/or settings. iCloud takes care of all of that for you.

Ok, I did do a reset, and it solved all problems, but not without a lot of grief.  Here is what happened.  I backed up, as I often do, to my iTunes on my computer.  Since most threads said you can backup to your computer or iCloud, I thought this would be fine.  Now I STRONGLY urge people to do both, whcih, apprently you can do.  I say this because often, at least in the past, when you activate something on iCloud it obliterates or takes the place of your hard drive data, but it seems you can do both with impunity.  (It would be REALLY nice if Apple could tell us these things).  My problem was that the iTunes backup(s)--I had several by the end--were either "corrupted" or "incompatible" with the device.  I suspect they were corrupted which is why the iPad2 wasn't working well anyway.  I think had I worn belt and suspenders, I might have saved a lot of grief. I tried reloading by just reseting the iPad.  When that did not work, I took the iPad2 back to factory settings and reinstalled iOS8.02.  Still no dice.  My best solution, which I thought was clever, was to install a backup from iPhone (5s), which has most of the same stuff, if a bit more, than my iPad.  It worked, an the IPad works, but still lots of resetting up the iPad with preferences, email accounts, folders, etc. Some photos are not on the iPad, though, if I wanted I could reload off my computer.  The other thing I would say is that backing up the IPad to the cloud does not take up much storage.  So my suggestion is to do it.  I have no idea whether it would have restored completely or not from the cloud.  I notice my macbook says "automatically backup MOST OF THE IMPORTANT data."  In order to back up to the cloud you have to flip the switch under settings>iCloud>backup.  I urge the people more knowledgable to comment and correct on what I have shared

Here are some Apple Support pages on the backups ...

Back up and Restore your iOS Device with iCloud or iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

iTunes: About iOS Backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946

ICloud: iCloud Storage Backup and Review

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12519

Thanks for posting that.. question: How do I get a 'clean' copy of iOS 8 at home w/o going to the genius bar?  Use iTunes as a different user on my MBP?  I only have this computer available.

Here's an Apple Support document on that ...

Use iTunes to Restore your iOS Device to Factory Settings

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414

Just to say that I have the same problem and it's more than just frustrating. I like Apple's products but Apple is undoubtedly a pain in the butt when it comes to both meeting key user requirements and/or solving Apple software bugs / problems. Seems to me Apple should have not made iOS 8 available for earlier iPad, IPhone models if they can't meet the spec.

I do not think this is about iPad2 not beeing able to handle iOS8. I guess there are millions of iPad2 users who have upgraded to iOS8, and are not experiencing any problems. Some of us has had problems as you can see in this thread. So lets try to solve these problems instead of discussing what Apple should have done or should not have done.

I think the reason that some iPad2 do not run on iOS8 as they used to, is software related. Probably there is some corrupted App or something that is causing the problems.

Many users have solved their problems by setting the iPad up as a new unit and start all over again. Have you tried that? Start by setting the iPad up as a new unit, and try it out without installing any Apps. If it is OK now, then install the Apps you want to have. My iPad2 was terrible after updating to iOS8. It became a little bit better when I restored it to a backup, and it is now as it was before after I set it up as a new unit.

@ Star Traveler; Mate I've done this and IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!!

The problem is with the iOS.

Do you work for Apple? As it seems that 'seamless' is all of a sudden very cumbersome for Apple clients!

Very unhappy with Apple indeed.

I would recommend doing a reset to factory default with the iTunes program and don't put your backup back on until you check it out, with this new revision, iOS 8.1, which has some bug fixes, besides new features which are included.

And, report how it's going with the new revision ...

Re: Report on the NEW iOS 8.1 Revision Today

Back up and Restore your iOS Device with iCloud or iTunes

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1766

iTunes: About iOS Backups

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4946

Use iTunes to Restore your iOS Device to Factory Settings

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1414