Ipad really slow after update to iOS 9

I updated my iPad mini (1) to iOS 9 yesterday, and now it is really slow. It takes forever to open or close apps, the swipe to close is a real pain, I have to swipe several times before I can close an app, and sometimes they just won't go away. I am getting very frustrated with this and wish I had not gone and updated it. Has anyone else had this issue?

iPad mini Wi-Fi, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 17, 2015 5:29 AM

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176 replies

Oct 4, 2015 2:00 AM in response to Photogirl2000

I do not know why my reply disappeared, this might be a repetition...


I applied hard reset to my ipad mini (1) a few times, and deleted all applications, leaving more than 20 GB of free space.


Safari - key app for me- is not working properly.


iPad is not under warranty.


iPad is not important, possibility of a product -which you love to use and carry with you all the time- being end of lifed in your hands ( practically with an update) is important.


I just installed another browser to make it at least half usable again.


I respect Apple for their beautiful products, but I will not trust blindly to apply any update released from now on.


Btw. Apple was the only company I trusted this much until this issue

Oct 4, 2015 1:42 PM in response to jenniferfromolathe

Shutting off the moving wallpaper certainly made the home screens a lot snappier. I've also turned to off all spotlight search options, and multi finger gestures (which didn't really help that much on iPad mini 1 anyway as the only 'multitasking' upgrade was the app switcher revamp). I also turned off any location services that were not essential. I now fairly regularly delete all safari history and cookies. The key board now works a lot more responsively, even as I type this. I am definitely no techno geek, but I think it's about keeping the meagre RAM as clear as possible. I wouldn't call the iPad 1 slick by any stretch of the imagination, but I think I have it back to about usable....

Oct 5, 2015 9:12 PM in response to Photogirl2000

I had the same issue with my Ipad 3rd generation too. Updated my iOS to 9.02 and my iPad which is super speed became very very laggy and extremely slow. I could barely do anything on the ipad since it was not very responsive. I tried everything below, but none of it helped:


  1. Hard Reset (Sleep and home button)
  2. Reduce Motion
  3. Reduce Transparency
  4. Turned off Siri Suggestions
  5. Turned off background refresh
  6. Closed all my unused apps
  7. Did a fresh install of iOS 9 through iTunes


None of that worked, but then I read that resetting my settings (General>Reset>Reset All Settings) and it worked!!!!! My ipad is blazing fast again.


I hope that works for everyone.

Oct 12, 2015 8:44 AM in response to Photogirl2000

DIsappointed with Apple, especially for ipad users its all about the money as far as I can see. My original ipad is next to useless it is not supported an longer as it cannot be updated nor are there many if any apps that can be used on it, all. Can do is email photos to it to store images. I purchased a mini ipad one 16gb 2.5 years ago and it has been running fine up until I decided to upgrade the ios to 9 over the weekend, i was running 7 before but since the upgrade it is laggy and sluggish, i wish i had not upgraded the ios but i felt i needed to because sadly in time this ipad will also become defunct because soon apps will no longer be supported on ios7 or 8. Apple just want us to buy new every two to three years which is a costly excercise bearing in mind the expense of their products. I do have a mini ipad two running ios9 which is better and 128gb memory so i hope this will survive a lot longer, but i feel App,e shoukd consider older ipads cant cope very well with new ios upgrades!!!

Oct 14, 2015 4:46 AM in response to porpoise007

Thank you for this, I know now not to trust that iOS 9 will work on my iPad mini 1 despite Apple saying it will. It works fine on iOS 7 and there it will remain.


Sounds to me like Apple is losing some credibility with this 'update'. Why bother to make such a fine product that will last for years when the operating system is the limiting factor through planned obsolescence. Give us the ability to download ANY version of iOS we want, not just the current one.

Oct 14, 2015 6:02 AM in response to hikerinmaine

I Made the mistake of upgrading to iOS 9 from 7 I have now ironed out most of the lagging issues by resetting and deleting some apps, photos etc and my iPad 2 is ok for now, but what you don't know until you upgrade is that some of the functions that work on the latest iPads ie picture in picture, split screen multitasking do not work on earlier iPads even with ios9 because the processor can't cope. I appreciate progress etc but come on Apple my very first original iPad cannot upgrade from ios5 rendering it practically useless now and it's only around 5 years old, there are hardly any apps available for ios5. My iPad mini will survive for now but with all these iOS upgrades and apps that gave to keep up will no doubt render this iPad defunct within two years. Apple just want our money!!!!!!

Oct 14, 2015 9:46 AM in response to porpoise007

Apple never stated that all of the new features would work with every iPad model.

Just like previous versions released of iOS, some of the latest new and cool functionality of newer iOS updates do not work with older iDevices.

Here is what Apple states about what functionality in iOS 9 works with what iDevice.



Picture in Picture and Slide Over are available on iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, and iPad mini 2 or later.

Split View is available on iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 4.

Siri is available on iPhone 4s or later, iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, iPad (4th generation), iPad mini or later, and iPod touch (5th generation or later) and requires Internet access. Siri may not be available in all languages or in all areas, and features may vary by area. Cellular data charges may apply.

Facedown detection is supported on iPhone 5s or later.

Software update sizes calculated by updating iPhone 6 from iOS 7.1 to iOS 8.0 and from iOS 8.4 to iOS 9.

Two-factor authentication will initially be available to a limited number of users. Learn more.

Some features may not be available for all countries or all areas. Click here to see complete list.

iCloud requires an iCloud-enabled device. Some features require iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan. Some features require a Wi-Fi connection.

Some features are not available in all countries. Access to some services is limited to 10 devices.

Oct 16, 2015 1:18 AM in response to MichelPM

THats my argument, with each yearly upgrade an early iPad won't cope for long before becoming pretty useless because app designers have to keep up with the iOS and eventually in the App Store the apps require a certain iOS or they won't work, such as my first original iPad which cannot upgrade now it's on ios5 and there are hardly any apps that will download. In this day and age I am sure processors are fast enough to cope with upgrades for years to come but obviously not in apples interest because they want the consumer to upgrade every 2-3 years, Apple products are good but expensive.

Oct 16, 2015 10:31 AM in response to porpoise007

I agree with you 100%. I had to get a new iPhone a couple years ago because my iPhone 4 performed terribly after upgrading it to iOS 6/7 (I forget which it was). I fear that iOS 9 will force me to make yet another upgrade. I've tried every suggestion for my iPad mini (1) but nothing works. I've done resets, deleted apps, adjusted background refresh, etc. Safari is unusable-- there is almost 1-3 second lag when typing a URL; websites take forever to load; when it does finally load, navigating the page is almost impossible.


I used my iPad mini every day until this update came out and it's seriously frustrating. I'm going to try onlytonynguyen1's suggestion to reset all settings when I get home later today, but at the moment:I'm 2 for 2 when it comes to Apple devices performing poorly after updating the iOS.

Oct 16, 2015 11:08 AM in response to porpoise007

Despite those who are having issues with their iPad 2s, Apple still supports it on every iOS version since iOS 5.

My Wife's and Mom's iPad 2 are running fine on iOS 9, but they mainly use their iPad 2s for photos, saving recipes, web surfing, email, social media and the occasional solo play games or card style games.

They are not really taxing their iPad 2 models as much as I use mine, daily.

But they have not reported any issues to date on iOS 9.

My iPad 3 is going to be 4 years old and is still running as it should on iOS 9.

I don't feel like Apple is forcing me to upgrade to a newer iDevice, however I have been waiting for larger iPads for many years since the first iPad, so I am strongly considering a purchase of a new iPad Pro model when they arrive, but not because I think my iPad 3 has reached the end of its useful life.

I want additional screen real estate to draw and paint on.

I do not use my iPads for hard core mobile gaming as some users, though. I have one or two driving games and mostly pinball style games on my iPad and that is all the type of gaming I do.

I use my iPad mostly for creative artwork and photography uses and some graphics and word processing.

I tend to use my iPad more or less like a regular laptop computer or MacBook.


I just recently uograded my very old iPod Touch 2nd gen to the new 6th gen because my 2nd gen iPod Touch is almost 8 years old and I bought an 8 Gb versions that became totally inadequate for storage of photos and music about 2-3 years after I purchased. That and Apple ended its iOS at 4.3.

I used it for many years after, but got tired of having to always unload old music/reload new music and having to remove old photos to make room for new ones.

Plus, the 2nd gen iPod Touches had no cameras on them.

So, I purchased the 6th gen iPod Touch 64 GB storage model as this model's specs really comes close to that of the new iPhone 6 models at half the price.

I expect to have and keep using my new iPod Touch for, at least, the same amount of time I used my old one.


As far as the original iPad is concerned, I purchased one of these for myself and my Mom in 2010.

I had felt at the time that this iPad would last longer than 2 years, but when you purchase brand new technology such as this was in 2010, you know you are going to be the early tester and early adopter of brand new technology and I realised this and sort of knew I was going to purchase a newer iPad model sooner than later and, in fact, that did happen. I was a little upset, but knew the outcome going in.

I always felt that the original iPad was really an early technology, early adopter model.

The positive is that I purchased a much better and powerful iPad that has kept up with all of the upgrades and updates, to date.

It has a decent back camera and has the front facing camera for using to FaceTime my family and friends as well as for Skype-ing friends and family who don't use Apple products.

My iPad 3 has been working well and I feel was well worth the purchase and purchase price.

The iPad Pro, for me, is going to be a much bigger jolt in the wallet for an iPad than I am used to paying, so, that is why I am going to have to contemplate whether it will have the same or longer longevity of my current iPaf.

My Mom retired her original iPad earlier on than I did because she wanted the iPad with the later cameras so she could Skype and FaceTime with family in different States.

My Wife got my original iPad and used it for one more year until she got so frustrated with its poor performance online and using it for FaceBook and with no more iOS upgrades to help with some of its issues.

So, I got her a couple of years, ago, a 64 GB storage iPad 2 that was an Apple reseller Demo model that hardly saw any use and got this at a really good, discounted price and the seller warrantied it for one year.

I looked and ran like a brand spankin' new iPad!

It came with a non-Apple charger that I didn't trust, so we went to our nearest Apple Store and purchased the proper charger.

It has worked very well for her, but since it only had 512 MBs of RAM, she always complains that she can't keep a lot of apps running in the background and she has to makes sure not to have a lot of web tabs open in her web browser.

Other than that her iPad 2 has been running and performing very well for her.

Oct 16, 2015 11:13 AM in response to jacrodriguez

Have you tried any of these fixes


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


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


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.


Try a 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!

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Ipad really slow after update to iOS 9

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