I have iPad 4, iOS 10.3.3, is there anyway I can upgrade to newer version?

I have an iPad 4, is there anyway I can update to a newer version? I can't use wechat due to the incompatibility.

iPad (4th gen) Wi-Fi + Cellular

Posted on Jan 10, 2021 11:46 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 10, 2021 11:48 AM

Nope.

Upgrading/updating that iPad any farther will never, ever be possible.

If your iPad model has been stuck on iOS 10 for all of these past years, then you own an over 8-year old, 2012 iPad 4th generation.

That iPad model cannot ever upgrade beyond iOS 10.3.3/10.3.4.

Your over 8-year old, iPad 4th gen model is too old, now.

Apple ended support for 8-10 year old iPads, at least, over 3 years, ago.

The internal hardware in that iPad is too old, too underpowred and completely incompatible with all later versions of iOS/iPadOS.

Virtually, all third party iOS app developers ended/stopped/abandoned supporting these old iPads over two years, ago.

There are virtually, NO MORE older iOS 9 or 10 compatible apps available from the Apple iOS App Store, any longer.

There are NO MORE popular, useful apps or games for these old iPads, any longer!

Especially games as game makers push for upgrade compatibility for best interactive user and cross device gameplay.

AND, that over 4-year old default iOS Safari Web browser is too old, not secure and not safe to use to access the Internet, any longer.

There are virtually NO MORE third party Web browsers left for 8-10 year old iPads!

Available and more popular third party Web browser choices are pretty much GONE, now.

If you must use these old iPad models, here is what is left for still updated Web browsers.

Pickins’ are slim, now!


ALook Web browser

Dolphin Web browser

Maxthon Web browser

TOR private browser

TOR + VPN private browser

Turbo VPN private browser



Simply put, your 4th gen iPad is too old and obsolete now.


Sorry, but this is the reality for ALL 8-10-year old AND OLDER iOS devices now. Especially going into 2021!


There is one last thing you can try/attempt, if you need an older version of an app.

If you own much newer iOS device that can run either iOS 12 and.or iOS/iPadOS 13 and later, you can install the most recent app/s onto that more recent iOS device.

Then go back to your older iPad, open the iOS App Store, go to the Purchases section of the store app, search for the app/s you wish to try and download to that older iPad and see if an older version of the app is allowed to be downloaded/installed to that older iPad.

These newer iOS/iPadOS devices must use your same Apple ID user account and password.


Failing that OR IF NO joy, then there is nothing more to be done.

If you need/want an iPad with an up to date iPadOS with access to current, updated apps, then you really need to seriously consider a new iPad model OR a much, MUCH “newer” and less expensive, used iPad models, from better known, trusted Apple product/device retailers/resellers, capable of running the latest iPadOS versions.

There are plenty of newer, older iPad models that can run the latest, current versions of iPadOS.



Sorry & Best of Luck to You!

3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 10, 2021 11:48 AM in response to luciafromteaneck

Nope.

Upgrading/updating that iPad any farther will never, ever be possible.

If your iPad model has been stuck on iOS 10 for all of these past years, then you own an over 8-year old, 2012 iPad 4th generation.

That iPad model cannot ever upgrade beyond iOS 10.3.3/10.3.4.

Your over 8-year old, iPad 4th gen model is too old, now.

Apple ended support for 8-10 year old iPads, at least, over 3 years, ago.

The internal hardware in that iPad is too old, too underpowred and completely incompatible with all later versions of iOS/iPadOS.

Virtually, all third party iOS app developers ended/stopped/abandoned supporting these old iPads over two years, ago.

There are virtually, NO MORE older iOS 9 or 10 compatible apps available from the Apple iOS App Store, any longer.

There are NO MORE popular, useful apps or games for these old iPads, any longer!

Especially games as game makers push for upgrade compatibility for best interactive user and cross device gameplay.

AND, that over 4-year old default iOS Safari Web browser is too old, not secure and not safe to use to access the Internet, any longer.

There are virtually NO MORE third party Web browsers left for 8-10 year old iPads!

Available and more popular third party Web browser choices are pretty much GONE, now.

If you must use these old iPad models, here is what is left for still updated Web browsers.

Pickins’ are slim, now!


ALook Web browser

Dolphin Web browser

Maxthon Web browser

TOR private browser

TOR + VPN private browser

Turbo VPN private browser



Simply put, your 4th gen iPad is too old and obsolete now.


Sorry, but this is the reality for ALL 8-10-year old AND OLDER iOS devices now. Especially going into 2021!


There is one last thing you can try/attempt, if you need an older version of an app.

If you own much newer iOS device that can run either iOS 12 and.or iOS/iPadOS 13 and later, you can install the most recent app/s onto that more recent iOS device.

Then go back to your older iPad, open the iOS App Store, go to the Purchases section of the store app, search for the app/s you wish to try and download to that older iPad and see if an older version of the app is allowed to be downloaded/installed to that older iPad.

These newer iOS/iPadOS devices must use your same Apple ID user account and password.


Failing that OR IF NO joy, then there is nothing more to be done.

If you need/want an iPad with an up to date iPadOS with access to current, updated apps, then you really need to seriously consider a new iPad model OR a much, MUCH “newer” and less expensive, used iPad models, from better known, trusted Apple product/device retailers/resellers, capable of running the latest iPadOS versions.

There are plenty of newer, older iPad models that can run the latest, current versions of iPadOS.



Sorry & Best of Luck to You!

Jan 10, 2021 5:48 PM in response to luciafromteaneck

You need to understand that both computing hardware and software are always being constantly advanced.

If Apple and app developers kept updating the software in these old devices, the older hardware inside these old devices would not be powerful enough to run newer software and result in these devices slowing to the point of not being useful to anyone, any longer, anyways.

As an example, at the time of iOS 9, Apple, at that time, let over 4-year old and relatively underpowered hardware, at that time, 2011 iPad 2 models run iOS 9.

The iPad 2 was the only model to have less than 1.0 GB of RAM ( 512 MBs NOT GBs to be exact ) and had a less than stellar clocked-down CPU which also didn’t help with slow performance, either.

That was a huge mistake by Apple.

About half of the iPad 2 models sold around the world had massive slowdowns in their performance throughout the whole iOS 9 update cycle.


Many iPad 2 users became very angry and posted here in these support communities in droves for well over a year!


Apple learned from this mistake.

Both Apple and third party developers now only upgrade/update their software based on wheher the hardware will be powerful enough to handle it.


The 4th gen iPad is from Sep 2012 and got about 4 years of support from Apple ( 2016 ) and about another two years of support from third party app developers which ended by 2018.

That was a total of 6 years of support.


Newer iPads get about 5-6 years of support from Apple ( the 2013, 1st gen iPad Air got 6 years of support from Apple ) and third party app developers typically will keep supporting their apps for about another 2 years, or so.

So, that is a total of 8-years of device support.

No other device maker supports their devices as long as Apple.


It is that your 2012 4th gen has finally reached its end of life.

Personal mobile electronic computing device technologies move at a faster pace than typical laptop or desktop computing technologies.

It is the way it is.


I have a nearly 8-year old, very cheap, Google Android smart phone that had its support ended in about the first 3 years of ownership and now, 8-years later, my mobile phone service is going to stop supporting this 8-year old smart phone, in its entirety, by the end of Jan 2021.


So, I need to purchase another brand new smart phone.

This time, I am purchasing the new 2020 Apple iPhone SE.

Again, technology marches on.


If my wife's smaller and older 2016 iPhone SE does not gets iOS 15, in 2021, that will end up being 5 years of device support from Apple with continued third party iOS app support for another two more years for a total of 7 years of device support.


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I have iPad 4, iOS 10.3.3, is there anyway I can upgrade to newer version?

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