iOS 10: should it load on older iPads, or is this another example of planned obsolescence?

Depends on your exact model of iPad. Some iPads are now almost 7 years old.

There are in fact some older models of iPads that cannot update to iOS 10.

Why does everything have to be a conspiracy. Why cannot it not be simply that hardware in some cases simply and logically cannot continue to correctly and satisfactorily run newer operating systems which are more resource intensive and demanding than before?

How long do you suggest Apple needs to support a specific model of iPad? and why? Or is it just an arbitrary requirement.

Also generally updating, compounds any issues already present. Its best to troubleshoot issues before updating so any issues that may crop up after updating can be solely attributed to the update rather than be potential carry overs.

If your iPad is having issues, try the normal Troubleshooting techniques:

1. A Reset may cure some bugs. Hold down the Home and sleep/power buttons until the apple logo shows up.

   If still not resolved:

2. Reset all Settings. Go to Settings->General->Reset->Reset All Settings

   If its still not resolved:

3. Restore the device as new.
   Restore your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to factory settings - Apple Support

At the bottom of http://www.apple.com/ios/ios-10/ is a complete list of compatible devices. You can identify your iPad model at Identify your iPad model - Apple Support

exLuddite wrote:

Instead of wasting their time on watches or artificial intelligence, it would be nice if Apple continued to support their existing products.

Lots of us would prefer that Apple continue to innovate and improve rather than wasting time trying to make new software compatible with hardware not powerful enough to support it. Doing what you suggest would lead to Apple becoming a moribund, unprofitable company, not able to support anything.

Much as I love my iPad, I use my Apple Watch a whole lot more.

So,

How far back would you feel Apple should continue to support their older, legacy products?

On the computer side, Apple supports older Intel model Macs for up to 6-7 years! with OS upgrades/updates.

Older PowerMacs were supported, under OS X, for 6-7 years.

Computer technology doesn't move as fast as mobile device technology.

Mobile device technology becomes less powerful and obsoleted quicker with upgrades/updates.

4-5 years seems to be the cycle on Apple's mobile device support for iOS upgrades/updates.

Doesn't mean your mobile device is going to stop working?

It will still receive app updates for another year, maybe two!

So, if you hang onto your iDevice for another year or two, then the device was still effectively working for your needs for?...6 or 7 years!

Hardly "planned obsolescence" which the term, for me, at least, is much like a verbal malaprop or oxymoron!

A term started by technology users who can't cope with the fact that their new, current, expensive electronic computing devices are becoming slower, less convienient, less powerful and becoming obsolete faster than these users think it should.

How long do you think TV/monitor manufactures, DVD/Blu-Ray/ streaming media player manufactures, electronic, digital camera/video camera manufacturers, electronic musical instrument manufacturers should support all of their old, aging, legacy products?

This is a very subjective, rhetorical and circular argument.

Hi

The reason why ios 10 cannot run on older iPhones / iPads is because the

C PU & other components are not powerful enough .

Tech will always be improved & as apps & other things get better

Its the same for cars & all other products .

Cheers

Brian

exLuddite wrote:

Instead of wasting their time on watches or artificial intelligence, it would be nice if Apple continued to support their existing products.

In the big picture, we are very very lucky to have Apple's level of support. If you left Apple because of "terrible support" and went Android, what would you find? Most Android devices are abandoned by their makers within one or two years. The big problem with Android is that so many users cannot even get security updates shortly after purchase, so their phones and tablets become security vulnerabilities.

Apple is known for providing longer software support than almost anybody. I bought an iPad 2, Apple supported it up to iOS 9. It is a 5-year-old product, but it is only locked out of the most recent iOS...it runs all of the other versions. Compared to Android, that is forever. I moved on to an iPad mini 2, now almost 4 years old, runs iOS 10 just fine. And this long support combined with Apple's regular security updates means our Apple devices stay secure.

I have a 5-year-old MacBook Pro. Will it run today's Sierra OS? Sure, no problem! Apple has done nothing on the OS front to make me think I should buy a new laptop. Sure, Mac users with 2009 or earlier Macs are annoyed that Sierra won't run on those, but come on...those are 8 year old machines.

Saying Apple pushes planned obsolescence doesn't make sense when compared to how short and horrible the support period is outside of Apple. It is much worse out there, believe me.

Your analogy are utterly false and entirely off target. Your iPad does indeed still run as it originally did. It just cannot be updated.

Your car analogy only works if my old car could be updated with ALL of the current advances and changes in the new one, which it cannot.

Yes it still runs, but it dos NOT run just like the newest model caes.

I understand the car analogy, but it is flawed because it's comparing products at very different points in the life cycle.

Mass market computing is only about 30 years old. Mobile computing, less than 10. Our perspective on them is distorted because we are living inside this period, but historically, all of computing, especially mobile, is only at the very beginning of its life cycle. This is the immature period where, in all industries, things have not settled down, standards and performance keep changing, and obsolescence is rapid not because any company is pushing that, but because the industry as a whole is evolving rapidly.

If we were living in the same period of the car industry, the first 10 to 30 years, that would be around 1915 or 1920. If you were to get into a car in that period, it would be unrecognizable. There were still hand cranks, there were still chokes. Safety features nonexistent. Highway standards nonexistent, road markings and signs are different everywhere. Even fuels took a while to settle down, most of the first cars were electric. Now imagine it's 1920 and you have a perfectly good electric car...nobody wants to support it because gasoline is the new standard. Your electric car is obsolete already. Things changing too fast, things going out of date, cars going obsolete...that was the early car industry. We're still in that stage in the computer industry, and definitely in mobile.

You might get your nice, stable mobile device where you can use it for 20 years because nothing changes anymore. It might happen by the year 2040 or so...

P.S. I understand the whole limited budget thing. That's why none of my Macs are newer than 5 years old, my iPads are 4 and 6 years old, and I used my last iPhone for 4 years. I can't afford to buy new gadgets all the time, I make 'em last. That's why I'm so glad Apple supports their devices longer than just about anybody else.

Last time I looked, I am far from ndependently wealthy.

I purchased an iPad Pro and new iPod Touch 6th gen over a year, ago.

My last iPad was purchased 4 years, ago.

My last iPod Touch was purchased 7 years, ago.

So, I don't purchase technology every "couple of years"

I can't afford that, either.

I see myself using my current iPad Pro for, at least 5-6 years and maybe pushing out another mobile device. purchase for another 2 years, maybe 3. So, I'll end up contemplating a new mobile device around 2022-2024.

I may need a new Mac computer before I purchase another new iPad model.

I don't buy iPhones, either. I am not an iPhone user.

A cell phone is a cell phone. I use cheap BOGO Android phones.

I only use these as phones and are hardly ever connected to the Internet

I bought a used 2009 iMac in 2011 and I will be still using THAT Mac until it completely dies, or close.

exLuddite wrote:

Finally, do you work for the company, or are you a major shareholder? You (and a couple of others) are responding as if you were personally attacked!

No, I nor the vast majority of those here do NOT work for Apple. And I never have. I do find it somewhat obnoxious (if not offensive) how so many newer users, when seeing a opinion contrary to their own, posted by other older members than they, immediately jump to the inane "do you work for Apple" defensive argument.

I have been a member here for a very long time, and have personally chosen to use Apple hardware for my own personal and preferred use for over 20 years. I simply disagree with your stated opinions. and do not see any validity in them.

Your original post asked a specific question about compatibility, which I provided information about.

Your follow up posts asked for opinions, and I disagree with yours. And your subsequent posts seem, to me, to be those acting in a defensive manner since your opinion was disagreed with?

I agree with several of the previous posts. Attempting to draw an analogy between the internal combustion engine and the integrated circuit borders on the absurd.

I begin to suspect your user name is not without irony. 🙂

IdrisSeabright wrote:

I begin to suspect your user name is not without irony. 🙂

Funny.

I had been thinking the same thing for quiteva few replies!

This OP's user name could be construed as an oxymoron!