My iPad Air has all updates and is sitting at iOS 12.4.6. Procreate requires 13.2 or later. Am I allowed to update my iPad to that iOs?
Just not familiar with whether Apple doesn't allow you to keep updating older devices.
Thanks for your help!
That is correct.
Your 1st gen iPad Air will be forever stuck to some newest version of iOS 12.x.x.
The hardware in this nearly 7-year old, 2013 iPad Air 1st generation is too old and too underpowered to handle both iPadOS and a lot of the new and powerful features that the developers of Procreate have added to their app over the years.
Your nearly 7-year old iPad has a slower CPU and only 1 GB of internal RAM.
Most more recent iPads have, at least 2 GBs of RAM and many of the most current lineup of iPad have, at least 3 GBs of internal RAM, now and nearly 2-1/2 times the CPU power.
Sorry. It is what it is at this very late date, now here in the year 2020.
If you need an iPad that can run the latest and greatest versions of iOS, as well as, the most current apps available, then, you need to purchase a new iPad from Apple or a discounted, refurbished iPad from Apple’s Refurbished & Clearance section of Apple’s Website or a new or refurbished iPad from an Apple authorised, third party retail or online reseller OR other trusted sources for new or used Apple products.
Besides, another huge drawback is your nearly 7-year old iPad Air does NOT support any version of the Apple Pencil, either.
You know.
There are other great drawing apps for iPad that are just as good or better then Procreate.
Procreate is NOT THE ONLY BE ALL/DO ALL sketching/drawing/painting app for iPad/iOS/iPadOS!
And I believe I can give/supply you with a link to a third party compatible, smart, Bluetooth stylus AND a list of great, compatible sketching/drawing painting apps that are compatible with this third party stylus.
If you are not all stuck up on just having Procreate, I can provide you with an alternative, compatible smart, Bluettoth stylus and a comprehesive list of great and compatible sketching/drawing/painting style apps.
If interested.
Procreate ain't the only art app available for iOS!
That is correct.
Your 1st gen iPad Air will be forever stuck to some newest version of iOS 12.x.x.
The hardware in this nearly 7-year old, 2013 iPad Air 1st generation is too old and too underpowered to handle both iPadOS and a lot of the new and powerful features that the developers of Procreate have added to their app over the years.
Your nearly 7-year old iPad has a slower CPU and only 1 GB of internal RAM.
Most more recent iPads have, at least 2 GBs of RAM and many of the most current lineup of iPad have, at least 3 GBs of internal RAM, now and nearly 2-1/2 times the CPU power.
Sorry. It is what it is at this very late date, now here in the year 2020.
If you need an iPad that can run the latest and greatest versions of iOS, as well as, the most current apps available, then, you need to purchase a new iPad from Apple or a discounted, refurbished iPad from Apple’s Refurbished & Clearance section of Apple’s Website or a new or refurbished iPad from an Apple authorised, third party retail or online reseller OR other trusted sources for new or used Apple products.
Besides, another huge drawback is your nearly 7-year old iPad Air does NOT support any version of the Apple Pencil, either.
You know.
There are other great drawing apps for iPad that are just as good or better then Procreate.
Procreate is NOT THE ONLY BE ALL/DO ALL sketching/drawing/painting app for iPad/iOS/iPadOS!
And I believe I can give/supply you with a link to a third party compatible, smart, Bluetooth stylus AND a list of great, compatible sketching/drawing painting apps that are compatible with this third party stylus.
If you are not all stuck up on just having Procreate, I can provide you with an alternative, compatible smart, Bluettoth stylus and a comprehesive list of great and compatible sketching/drawing/painting style apps.
If interested.
Procreate ain't the only art app available for iOS!
You don’t indicate the specific model iPad, but yes, if you are attempting to update it and getting an indication it is up to date with 12.4.6, that is likely as far as you can go. Your device doesn’t have the hardware to support more recent versions.
It is up to the app vendor as to what versions of iOS a specific app will continue to work on.
Wow, thanks for the amazing reply. Thanks for the offer to point me to a compatible app and stylus! I am very interested to hear more. To be honest, I have done very little research on this. The Wacom Intuos sparked my eye, but would rather not buy another device. Procreate was the first one that came up in a search.
I would really like to pick up oil painting but have no space at home. So am hoping to at least develop ideas digitally until I have space to paint them. One of the other apps I looked at didn't have any ability to do layers, which I probably need.
I would definitely appreciate the list you mention. As you know, stuck at home and looking for interesting things to do :) Thanks again for the nice reply.
First the needed compatible stylus
THE ONLY third party, smart Bluetooth stylus that I can, honestly, recommend that actually works well with any iPad is the Adonit Pixel smart, Bluetooth stylus.
https://www.adonit.net/jot/pixel/
( was available directly from Adonit just a little while ago, but currently NOT available from Adonit )
It is available here from Amazon.
This smart, Bluetooth stylus works across a wide range of iDevices.
The Bluetooth connection is stable and its Bluetooth pressure sensing technology is very smooth, natural feeling and has consistent line drawing ability.
Plus it's a quality made, aluminum stylus with two programmable buttons.
I have been using this stylus for well over two years now and it is really good on my iPad Pro.
This stylus works wonderfully for me.
The Adonit Pixel works with iPads all the way back to the 2012, 1st gen iPad Mini and iPad 4th generation!
Has ON/OFF/app shortcut buttons.
Has a nice fine, textured pen tip AND a nice rubber grip.
Magnetically charges, has an auto 15 minute shutdown feature ( to preserve battery life ), charges in a hour, or so.
Has both a small USB charger that that plugs into any USB charging block OR you can purchase an optional charging dock.
I find it only lasts for anywhere between 9-12 hours, but Adonit claims up to 16 hours of continuous use on a single charge cycle.
Made of very high quality aluminum materials.
The Adonit Pixel ONLY works with over a dozen of the major/popular drawing/sketching/painting apps (the Pixel works with, but currently no longer “officially” supported with Procreate, but it still works and works pretty well in Procreate ), and over a half dozen of the popular note taking apps, a half dozen writing apps and about a half dozen PDF style/compatible apps.
You WILL have to perform some pairing and setup parameters in each of the Adonit Pixel compatible apps.
You just DO NOT simply turn on Bluetooth on an iDevice and turn on the Adonit stylus and start writing.
The Adonit Pixel stylus is NOT an Apple Pencil in this regard/respect.
You have to initially Bluetooth pair the Adonit Pixel, setup the hand/palm position and in many apps, set up the stylus screen pressure sensitivity for each and every compatible app!
Once you have, initially, done all of this, all Adonit Pixel compatible apps will remember these settings for future use!
Compatible Adonit Pixel iOS sketching/drawing/painting apps still compatible with iOS 12 and earlier.
ALL apps support stylus screen pressure sensing for light to dark/thin to thick lines/marks and palm/side of hand rejection, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
Also, ALL apps listed support drawing layers.
Artstudio Pro ( just as great as Procreate on the iPad. Totally use this app and highly recommend it! )
Adobe Photoshop Sketch ( A great app with a lot of free brushes without having to pay monthly to subscribe )
ArtRage
Colored Pencil ( limited layer support, but a nice app, nevertheless )
Medibang Paint
AutoDesk Sketchbook Pro
Tayasui Sketches/Pro
You may want/wish to combine two of these apps together like a full sketching/drawing/painting app with just a just more of a sketch style app.
This is what I have done.
As an option, to improve consistent palm/hand/side of hand rejection on the iPad’s screen,
you can purchase and use special, non-body electrical conducting, lycra-based material drawing glove that works by isolating your hand/palm and allow you to lay your hand/palm on the screen as you draw in these non-compatible Adonit stylus apps.
Also, makes your hand glide more smoothly across the iPad's screen and leaves no oily palm or side of hand prints.
Something like this found on Amazon.
Many more makers of these types of gloves found on Amazon and in different hand sizes and colors, as well!
Best of Luck to You!
Your iPad Air cannot be updated to iPadOS13. The last supported updated for iPad Air was iOS12.4.5/6.
IPad Air IoS not supported by Procreate? Can't tell
