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Why is my iPad 1 being made obsolete

I keep getting messages on my iPad 1 that I need to update certain apps if I want to continue using them.


Then when I go to update them I'm told I need to update my Ios to version 6 or higher! Not possible with the iPad 1 which is only allowed to run Ios 5 at best. I understand that it lacks processor power to run the new Ios, but certain apps still allow me to run old versions of their apps, compatible with old versions of the Ios. However bigger brand apps such as 4OD and (soon to join) Linkedin will not allow access to older versions of their apps.


Now the current solution it seems is to fork out £430 (for the Ipad 2 which is probably destined for a similar fate) or £500 for the new iPad air, just so I can continue to use these free apps. A large part of the Ipad app community. This seems completely excessive when it's not me making the decision that my iPads getting on.


Will this also happen to apps that I have paid for? Why isn't Apple looking into an upgrade program to keep people using the iPad? Right now the Nexus is looking a lot more tempting with it's accessible price tag. I don't want to fork out another £500 for a tablet that wont last past the five year mark, purely because of the developers forcing us to upgrade.


The battery life is still perfect on my iPad and it still runs the apps I’m allowed to have. It's in perfect working order. But I fear that in less that a years time it will only be useful as a door wedge. Will Apple look after their customers? The ones who invested in the first model of this revolutionary tablet?


Don’t mean to sound whiny, but It’s the first time I’ve been forced to upgrade because of software. Usually it’s hardware, but this hardware is still fine and I know it. But the developers are telling us otherwise.

Mail-OTHER, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Feb 4, 2014 2:50 AM

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Posted on Feb 4, 2014 4:36 AM

One big thing stopping the upgrade process that you describe, the iPad isn't made modular. It's not like a laptop where you can open up the case and pop in new ram or a new battery, it's largely one big chip inside attached to a big battery. It's hard to upgrade something that's manufactureed as a single piece.


I have an ipad 2 and will likely be in the same boat as you in a few months to next year (my money is on my device not being eligible for iOS8)


Software moves faster than hardware, which is just no fun I know.

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Feb 4, 2014 4:36 AM in response to jack.k.n.

One big thing stopping the upgrade process that you describe, the iPad isn't made modular. It's not like a laptop where you can open up the case and pop in new ram or a new battery, it's largely one big chip inside attached to a big battery. It's hard to upgrade something that's manufactureed as a single piece.


I have an ipad 2 and will likely be in the same boat as you in a few months to next year (my money is on my device not being eligible for iOS8)


Software moves faster than hardware, which is just no fun I know.

Feb 4, 2014 4:58 AM in response to Skydiver119

I'm not concerned with upgrading the iPad model itself, as I said it still runs all my currently usable apps just fine! But the devs seem to think these updates wont be compatible.


I see this more as the provider failing the customer. My device works fine, but I'm not allowed to use certain parts of it anymore. I was thinking of upgrading to an iPad 2 or iPad air, but now it feels like I'm being forced to and it makes me uneasy.


When I buy Apple products I see it as an investment. The money I spend should reflect the quality and longevity of the product (like the upgradable Mac Pros). I could own the iPad Air for the next 5 years (£100 a year) or invest in a Nexus, which may last for a similar or even smaller amount of time but the cost is much more reasonable.


I just hope that Apple provide a trade in service or something rather than push away a fair few customers.

Feb 4, 2014 5:35 AM in response to raymond73

I don't think you reply is intended to be provocative to OP but to me it does come across as if it is. You could have replied in a gentler, kinder way but unfortunately you chose not to.


I think OP's ultimate point is 'not all progress is necessarily a good thing' which has my sympathy.


Although not a very good analogy I think most of us would agree that (in hindsight) the development/progression of nuclear weapons or even weapons of modern warfare in general is not the 'best' thing for us and the planet we live on.


Still we can't un-invent a thing once it's been invented. As time marches on it remains to be seen if the progress we see now is ultimately beneficial in the long run?


As always only time will tell and YMMV according to your budget.


My 2p.

Feb 4, 2014 5:39 AM in response to Antonio Rocco

Yeah I think Raymond's analogy is a little ott. A more accurate analogy is having a floppy disk reader that has a firmware patch that decides you can only use new shiny floppy disks with a whole extra 1mb of space on it. The old 30mb floppy disks are now unreadable. I'm not against progress at all. In fact I crave it. But there is simply nothing wrong with my iPad yet I'm told that I have to be rid of it and invest heavily on whatever is newer.


The iPad 1 and iPad Air provide the same apps and the same architecture. I would be totally fine if I could use archive versions of the apps I'm currently using. But instead I am told I cannot use them at all anymore, simply because something newer exists.


Just thought of another analogy: I just bought Day of the tentacle (amazing game) for my dusty old G mac 4. Suddenly a new version of Day of the tentacle comes out with marginally improved graphics (which would be awesome), Ok so it doesn't work on my G mac, I can live with this. But if that update suddenly made my older version stop working, then I think that my purchase has become slightly void, it doesn't matter how many years I've owned it or what it its. I purchased it for a reason and now bit by bit some one is removing accesibility just because it's too old.


You know I even heard the new Wii U has a built in magnet that corrupts any N 64 cartridges that you have in your house. Because who would even want to use those things anymore?


I just don't see reason in this happening except for forcing me to fork out another £500 on something that will turn around and do the same in a shorter period of time. It's not a great way to treat long term customers of a specific brand and product.

Feb 4, 2014 5:56 AM in response to jack.k.n.

The other truth is that Apple fully controls the Apple App Store and will not allow any apps created by developers for a growing number of earlier iOS devices to be approved. Most developers would eventually abandon these early devices after a lack of demand made them too expensive to support, but Apple forces this to happen much sooner.

Apple now makes it impossible to create, list or update a classic app compatible with, say, the original iPhone and have it in the Apple App Store.

Feb 4, 2014 6:48 AM in response to jack.k.n.

Same problem, but, some apps can be bypassed. Recently one of the periodicals I take made their old app non-workable and new app not available to my old Ipad. However, even though this is a paid periodical and requires password, etc, I was able to continue using it by going to non-mobile site and creating icon, etc. Unfortunately, I know this won't work for those for which app is more completely integrated into product. However, for some web sites, I prefer using non-mobile version anyway.

Feb 4, 2014 8:42 AM in response to jack.k.n.

I just spent hours writing to and speaking to Apple support about this same problem. We love our two iPads and they seem to be as new as when we bought thm 3 years ago but Apple doesn't seem to care about all of us who trusted them on the original iPads enough to continue supporting them with apps that work. I wrote them again to ask for a returnable discount solution because we surely can't shuck out money every 3 years on such an expensive item. I saw a Samsung tablet of a friend a few days ago which seems to be a better solution finacially and technically... maybe that will be the way I go when my iPad becomes completelt obsolete. I hope everyone else is raising **** with Apple like the people I see in these posts!

Feb 4, 2014 10:01 AM in response to stedman1

I would agree with you on that Android devises rarely have an up to date OS, but that isn't the main part of the issue. I don't mind being on iOS 5, I mind that there is now dwindling support for iOS 5.


Also this chart is for smartphones not tablets. And it is mostly speculative, using previous data collected in 2013 to back it's future suggestions (we know how that ended up with the new Mac Pro). And only represents the phone's os, not their app compatibility.


Which raises an interesting point. I have a Galaxy S2 it's OS version is 4.1.2 which is clearly behind. Yet I still have full access to all the current apps, there is not anything limiting my access except for the phones processing power. I can still download whatever apps I choose to enjoy and if the hardware isn't up to it then fair play, I should own a better phone. I feel the same way about iPads and so on. But the iPad 1 is still powerful enough to run the majority of these apps which are now being restricted to iOS 6 and above.


It's a distinct lack of support to Apple users who pay the fair amount of money they do to get a better product than what Android provides. I own an Android phone because the contract doesn't break the bank. And so I could afford to own an iPad, which I thought would be worth what I paid for. I still think it could be, but that's slowly being taken away. One app at a time.

Feb 4, 2014 10:26 AM in response to jack.k.n.

The unfortunate fact is that the iPad 1st gen's hardware is just not good enugh anymore, as a previous iPad 1 owner I understand the frustration but unfortunatly other than obtaining older versions of apps (as stedman1 suggested) there's nothing you can do. Technology moves fast and don't forget the iPad 1 is almost 5 years old now!

Feb 4, 2014 10:48 AM in response to rhys121

rhys121 wrote:


Technology moves fast and don't forget the iPad 1 is almost 7-8 years old now!

7-8? Really? The First gen iPad was released in 2010. Its going to be 4 years old in April.


With that said, tech moves on. Its phisically impossible to run a newer iOS on the first gen iPad. However Apple has nothing to do with what iOS version the App developers choose to support or require. As is evident by the sheer amouint of Apps in the store still supporting iOS 5. The developer could choose to do so. If they decide their App requires the newer Os there really isn't much that Apple can do. Apple simply provides newer better OS's to offer new features to their paying customers. After 4 years of service, and likely still another one of o.k functionaity, I don't think there's much more one can expect from a mobile device. 5 years of service is what you expect, and I'm sure the iPad is still going to deliver close to that.


Also just to put things in perspective, the original iPad got 2 major OS updates in its life span. And even after 2 major updates it did not get, it still functional and can get Apps. I think that's pretty good for a mobile device.

Why is my iPad 1 being made obsolete

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