Q: IPad 2 Crashing after IOS 9.0.2 Update, Useless

NO, there are not tens of millions of iPad 2s working with iOS 9 perfectly. We actually have no idea how many, and anyone claiming otherwise is just being a fanboy. Lets face it- most people are barely aware of what's on the greater Internet outside Facebook and links people send them. How many even know these forums exist, and would bother posting a problem if they did?

Have you noticed the slow down in iPad sales? I attribute much of it to these software issues. Regular folks get an iPad, happily upgrade when their device tells them to, performance goes in the toilet, and as far as they know it's just busted or worn out so they're too disappointed to buy a new one.

Amongst family, friends and coworkers I know of 15 iPad 2s- ALL have been completely nerfed by iOS 9. Anecdotal? Yes, but I'm going with my 15 for 15 known sample (and endless hundreds of cases I've personally seen online) over fantasy speculation.

I've poked and prodded as much as I can, and all I can figure at this point is that code incompatible with A5 processor in the iPad 2 is getting incorrectly installed, or there simply is no install version of things specifically for the A5. The Javasvript engine is home to a lot of the problems- turn off JS and Safari is still awful, but it hardly crashes anymore. Of course half the web no longer works because web designers now need eight pages of Javascript to do a link or show an image because the A and IMG tags are so passé. Yeah, not a fan of web designers.

If anyone truly has an iPad 2 that works fine with iOS 9, there must be some sort of processor revision difference or maybe a firmware change during the iPad 2 lifecycle, because these issues are real and persistent. And yes, Apple is at fault for claiming iOS 9 suppoted the iPad 2, because clearly it does not.

THis is from someone who has been an Apple fan since the first Apple II computers. Their hardware is still great, but there is something completely off the rails in their software development. Many well known Apple advocates in the industry are expressing the same concerns. This is not some small core of complainers with faulty devices. 

My iPad 2 has been upgraded/updated all along and mine has been peforming flawlessly.

I am using mine right now to type this post.

My Wife's iPad 3 is runnng great on the latest iOS 9.3.1 update.

I can tell you similar success stories of 6-7 family and friends whose iOS 9 upgrades/updates on their older iPad models went fine.

The reason I know this is because I was the one who upgraded/updated their devices for them.

Also, being involved in these forums for a long time, users having issues with their older iPad models, even iPad 2 models, seem to have more issues and problems because they chose the much less reliable, over the air, WiFi mehod of upgrading/updating their iDevices instead of using iTunes on a computer to upgrade/update their devices.

The most reliable and best method of upgrading/updating iDevices is to do it by connecting up iDevices to iTunes on a computer and backing up and completing the iOS upgrade/update through iTunes.

This method ensures the chance of a successful, glitch free upgrade/update as iTunes will download the complete iOS upgrade/updatevpackage and not simply download a smaller version over WiFi based upon the model of iDevice.

The iTunes method ensure your iDevice gets every piece of the iOS upgrade/update.

Also, some iPad users try and upgrade/update their iDevices/iPads when there is very little free storage space left (less than 3 GBs of free data storage space)!

Bad idea!

iDevices are computers and like all computes, they need suffcient free data storage space to operate properly.

I always recommend  that iPad users leave, at least, 4 GBs or more of free data storage space to ensure proper iOS operation and functionality.

As yoy can see, everyone uses and treats their iDevices differently and there can be a lot of different variables that can affect various iPad models and affect various operations and functionality.

There was a major debacle/serious issues and bugs with the latest iOS 9.3 update that I decided to have those I know avoid updating until I was sufficiently convinced that the latest iOS 9.3.1 would finally solve most of the bugs and glaring issues.

I do not "jump" to immediately installng any OS upgrades/updates.

There are professional people/users who get paid to test new OS upgrades/updates before the masses jump and upgrade/update.

Those that do this are the ones who end up getting their devices foisted upon if there are problems with an OS.

I would rather wait awhile to update/upgrade in case of major issues such as iOS 9.3 had.

Neither of our situations is valid, either.

Not every user of older iDevices/ iPads experience issues with iOS upgrades/updates.

It is, usually, a very small pecentage of users who experience issues with a new iOS.

Those that aren't experiencing issues with their older iPad models, do not post in community user technical support forums

Say 5 pecent or less of the entire older iPad using user base report issues with their devices after an iOS upgrade/update.

While the actual number of users affected maybe, relatively, large, it is still a, relatively, small minority of affected users.

When iOS 9.3 was initially released, there may have been upwards of a few thousand users, maybe a little more,  that posted into these forums with the initial issues iOS 9.3 had.

I Have some new information on this.

I Recently bought an Air 2 and immediately noticed no crashes and of course very fast etc etc, a nice machine.

My wife took over the ipad2 and uses every day without one crash. No changes were made to the apps or configuration.

THe conclusion is that whether you get crashes on an ipad2 or not is very much down to use. I always use multiple tabs and in and out of apps, my wife does not.

RAM seems to be major difference, apart from processors, which would make a difference and I guess this reminds me of OS9 which had similar probs due to memory management.

512k on the iPad 2 and 2 G on the Air 2.

Then we are either living in different universes or, like I said, there are two different versions of the iPad 2 and/or A5 processor.

Or perhaps we have very different definitions of "working flawlessly."

i have an iPad Mini 2 I won at work that also works fine. That's not the issue here, nor the iPad 3 you mention, or any other older devices you know about that are not iPad 2. The issues appear to be specific to devices with the A5 processor.

People keep posting try this or try that, and we've done all that. Multiple times. It doesn't work.

Well,

Here"s a video clearly showing how well an iPad 2 runs with the last iOS 9 update, iOS 9.2.1.

They are comparing it to an iPad 3 running the same iOS version.

My own iPad 2 runs a little snappier than the one in this video, but the one is this video appears to runs iOS 9 pretty well, IMHO.

I found this link and kept it for all of the naysayers that claim Apple is trying to "obsolete'" my iPad 2,

Nothing is further from the truth.

http://youtu.be/J5LwMePMCIQ

http://youtu.be/bF3ORjPYCxE

I never said Apple is trying to obsolete anything. I even said the issue might be subtle hardware differences/revisions within the iPad 2 version.

I design satcom hardware, and I see that all the time. Some logic analyzer from Tektronix comes back from calibration and no longer works with our test software. Turns out the cal folks flashed a firmware update, and a register definition changed.

Nice video. I'm very happy for them. Mine's still broken. And neither video covers the usage areas where the most problems arise.

Some older iPad users have had more success taking their older, malfunctioning iPads into an Apple Store and having the Genius Technicians try and figure out the issue/s and try to solve it.

If you have an Apple Store that is within a reasonable distance to travel, why don't you take it there for them to look at.

AND, if they give you the spiel about your iPad 2 being too old, ask for the next level of management at the store.

The iPad 2 IS STILL SUPPORTED for the latest iOS, it is up to Apple and its employees to try and actually fix issues with their own, still supported, products!

If still no joy ask for top manager, get actual names of the managers and of all the employees that were involved with NOT solving your issues, the location and number of the store and call Apple direct at 1-800-MYAPPLE and explain to them how you were treated at that Apple Store Location,  IF that store gives you the runaround and nothing but excuses and tells you you need to purchase a new iPad.

That is not good customer service and NOT how you treat an Apple customer who has major issues with a still supported mobile device.

Good Luck!

Before you take it to Apple, have you tried my list of suggested things to try to fix your iPad 2 woes?

I will post this again, as I continually update this list of suggesting procedures to try.

A disclaimer.

I make no guarantees, expressed or implied, that any of my own procedures will return EVERY older iPad to a usable, running condition.

Try all of the following:

Try resetting All Settings found in the Settings App under General and in the right column under Reset.

Try resetting histories and deleting/resetting caches in all of the web browsers you use.

If you use Safari, these functions maybe in the Settings App under Safari.

Other web browsers have their settings inside of the running app, itself.

If your iPad has been activated for iCloud, in the Settings App under iCloud, to the right, under iCloud Drive, tap iCloud Drive and make sure Safari is turned off for saving Safari data to iCloud Drive.

Also, under iCloud in the Settings App, in iCloud Drive, disable the saving feature for any other apps that you DO NOT want data being saved automatically to iCloud Drive.

OR turn off/disable iCloud and iCloud drive entirely if you do not use any iCloud functionality.

If using Safari is still causing issues,

Try changing/using another, different third party web browser.

I don't use iOS Safari too much any longer because I found it causing me some headaches on certain websites I, regularly, visit.

I commonly use another third party web browser, Perfect Web Browser (there are others that may suit your web browsing style better, so look at all of them first to see which third party browser may work better for you) and I never experience a lot of the issues that Safari was causing.

In Settings app, under the Safari settings panel, tap the panel and in the right hand window, turn off/disable Safari Suggestions.

In Settings App, under the General settings panel, tap the panel, in the right hand column, tap Spotlight, then turn off/disable Siri Suggestions.

In the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight search, try disabling the search under apps that really do not need a search, like some games, remotes, apps that really do not need to be searched, etc., to reduce the list for Spotlight to search.

Try turning on Reduced Motion.

This is found in the Settings App in the General tab the left panel.

In the right panel look under Accessibility, the look for Reduce Motion and turn this feature "On".

You should see an appreciable performance increase on all iPad 2, 3 and 4 models.

In the Settings App under the General Tab, in the right column, look for Background App Refresh and turn this setting to "off".

Make sure you do not have a lot of apps running in the background in the iOS App Switcher.

Dbl click the Home button to check this.

If you have a lot of apps still active, tap and hold a finger on one of the apps and slide your finger up to quit the app.

If you can reach another app with another finger, you can quit more than one app simultaneously.

If you have the iOS Mail app set to automatically fetch mail at one of the default fetch time intervals, in the Settings App, under the Mail, Contacts, Calendar settings panel, tap this panel, in the righthand window, turn off/disable Push Mail and set fetching mail for either every hour or set for manual fetch only for all of your mail accounts.

If you are willing to do this (I, personally, wouldn't recommend this), some users have reported that turning off Find My Phone/iPad, in Settings App under iCloud, has improved iOS performance, although I don't how this feature could be causing such a performance slowdown, unless its a bug in iOS  that is only affecting some iPad users.

Try another hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

Good Luck!

Here's my own custom backup/restore procedure, if you want to give this a try, before taking off to an Apple Store.

THIS PROCEDURE DOES NOT RETURN YOUR iPAD TO ITS PREVIOUS iOS VERSION.

Also, as a disclaimer.

I make no guarantees, expressed or implied, that any of my own procedures will return EVERY older iPad to a usable, running condition.

First, connect your iPad to USB and sync and backup your iPad to iTunes (make sure,FIRST,  your iTunes is up to the most latest version).

Then disconnect/eject your iPad from the computer.

From just the iPad, in the Settings App under the General setting, look in the right column for Reset option, then erase and reset your iPad to completely erase your iPad and then, again, from the iPad, set it up as a new iPad setup to factory "out of the box" operation.

Then reconnect your iPad to the computer and make sure to cancel the syncing, by tapping the small X to the left in the top  center iTunes display box.

iTunes should detect your iPad. If iTunes begins to try and sync, again, cancel the sync.

Select Restore from Backup instead and pick your last backup to restore back to your iPad.

Once the restore is complete, finish setting up the iPad and let it sync back to iTunes you can either cancel the sync, again or let it backup, again.

Then disconnect the iPad.

Do one hard reset of your iPad by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons.

Once your iPad is back to the Home screen,

In the Settings App under the General tab, to the right under Spotlight sesrch, try disabling the search under apps that really do not need a search, like some games, remotes, apps that really do not need to be searched, etc., to reduce the list for Spotlight to search.

In Settings app, under the Safari settings panel, tap the panel and in the right hand window, turn off/disable Safari Suggestions.

Try turning on Reduced Motion.

This is found in the Settings App in the General tab the left panel.

In the right panel look under Accessibility, the look for Reduce Motion and turn this feature "On".

You should see an appreciable performance increase on all iPad 2, 3 and 4 models.

If you have the iOS Mail app set to automatically fetch mail at one of the default fetch time intervals, in the Settings App, under the Mail, Contacts, Calendar settings panel, tap this panel, in the righthand window, turn off/disable Push Mail and set fetching mail for either every hour or set for manual fetch only for all of your mail accounts.

In the Settings App under the General Tab, in the right column, look for Background App Refresh and turn this setting to "off".

If you purchased any music from iTunes, you will need to redownload that content back to your iPad for playing directly from your iPad and not from Apple Music servers.

Also, if your iPad contained a lot of images in the Photos app, these will take time to regenerate the original AND thumbnail images themselves inside of the Photos app when you first launch it.

Good Luck!

Yup, everything tried many times. I know one of my coworkers brough her iPad into the store, but the consensus was "It's old." That wouldn't be a problem if there was a path back to older versions. Honestly I'd love to go back as far as iOS 6. That's really what bothers people the most- Apple approves the model for the upgrade, and then closes the path back. I can see how some would interpret that as planned obsolescence. I think they just got sloppy or lost the engineering change notes with something that's in some subset of iPad 2 models. Or, like even some of the pro Apple tech media have said, the software team is struggling with this mandatory annual upgrade cycle.

Don't get me wrong- not all anti Apple now. This is one major disappointment after getting 8 to 10 years out of about a dozen previous Apple devices. I've tried Android stuff and, yeah, life's too short for that noise.   The Surface Pro is nice, but they're quite expensive. I'm actually considering the new smaller iPad Pro. Lesson learned, though. No more than one OS number upgrade. My iPhone 5 is perfectly happy with iOS 8 and it's staying there.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.

I hear you about Apple.

Lately, they are not verifying their own work before releasing it out to the user base.

I think this is one of these reasons Apple no longer has users pay for iOS and OS X upgrades, any longer.

If Apple users were still paying for iOS and OS X upgrades with all of these ongping issues, I think even more users would be angry and even more frustrated!

There again, if Apple went back to paid upgrades maybe they would be more dillegent and conscientious of making sure that an iOS or OS X gets introduced with many less issues than we seem to get now with free upgrades/updates.

Apple has not been the same company, any longer, since Mr.Jobs died.

Mr. Jobs would not have put out Apple smart Watch or working on smart cars.

Apple Watch...jeez.

If the watch did eveything without still needing an iPhone/iDevice, then that would be different and a game changer.

But, as of now, you still need to be carrying your iPhone/iDevice with you!

Currently, the Apple Watch ends up being just another piece of technology you have to have with you.

When the AppleWatch can operate completely self contained without an iPhone, that's when the smart watch will be interesting and desirable.

Apple without Mr. Jobs still hasn't figured out the new TV paradigm he had in mind, either!

No one at Apple seems to have been able to recreate Mr. Jobs thinking about the changing of television in the living room.

I am convinced that AppleTV was NOT Mr. Jobs final product answer  to that market.

And Apple has, basically, given up on it and AppleTV boxes are what's left of an idea, as the result, for a product!

Apple is not the same company, any longer.

Mr. Cook is great at keeping the company running and proftiable, but he just does not have the product vision that Mr. Jobs had.

I think it's the same with Sir Ive. A great designer, but maybe not that great with envisioning new directions and product ideas for Apple.

Apple just isn't the same company that can come up the new and exciting ideas and new directions with new products any longer!

I am convinced of that!

Same looking iPads and iPhones that only get thinner and get stuffed with more features.

The Mac lineup kinda looks the same, also.

Just getting thinner and thinner.

Apple keeps equating the thinness and compactness factors, of design for a product line, as innovation!

Products that keep getting thinner and thinner get less durable, IMO, anyways.

Anyhoo...

Sorry I couldn't help you with your iPad 2 issues

I hope you will be able to get a resolution soon!

Good Luck!

MichelPM ..... WOW you converted to a believer. I am proud of you. If I was ever rude to you I apologize, but frustration breeds anger, which makes one rude.

Yes, Jobs would be embarrassed by today's Apple. And there is much more to the story. Working with developers who have spent decades creating and supporting software for the Mac - they too are now being pressured by Apple to sell only through them. Some systems are shipped with a Security and Privacy setting that allows downloads from Apple only. Not all, but some. For a developer this leave a bad taste and questions in the users mind that are intended.

Proud of you for speaking out. Surprised you still have a post here after the threats I received from the moderators when I complained about lack of solutions to the iOS 9 problems thousands of us are having.

Had same probs with ipad 2 after latest ios, only thing that worked for me was a clean install from itunes and set up as a new ipad, the mistake i kept makig was doing a clean install then restoring from back up or over the air was no good either.... Hope this helps someone out!

Thanks for the effort, but I'm afraid the clean install failed again. In fact the iPad is slower to load in browsers (regardless of the site) and less responsive to touch screen ... click a link and often get one three lines away instead if it works at all. This is with the newest update that they indicated corrected that problem. Not. So, stuck in the same place with an iPad that doesn't even make a great doorstop.  Any other thoughts are appreciated - Apple doesn't seem able to help or to fix the problems.  Just to clarify the problem  - it is primarily, but not exclusively with web browsers Safari and Chrome. Load times are incredibly long, touch screen doesn't work most of the time, browser crashes (both). Confusing since sites like Netflix streaming works relatively well. So does Tidal.

Michel:

Just a final follow up ..... I did a clean install of the latest version 9. Did not bring any of my old apps or anything else back --- a totally clean install. Same problems persist in my 32Gb iPad 2. Crashes whenever I am using Safari or Chrome. Touch screen works part of the time. Oddly enough my Tidal account streams without a problem, as does my Netflix. But any other activity causes problems. The latest update promised some fixes to these problems, but there is nothing fixed about my iPad. The problem is quite clearly with the OS, not with my iPad and after a clean install that should be confirmed for Apple. Contact again with the local Apple store offered nothing new but the suggestion to buy a new iPad again. FTC next.