Damnit, did I just have an aneurism? Seriously, the iPad 1 isn't old (or doesn't feel old to me), and it came out around the same time as the iPod touch 4th generation, which is supported. I'm really getting sick of this "throw-away hardware" culture that Apple is enforcing.
I'm really getting sick of this "throw-away hardware" culture that Apple is enforcing.
Just because iPad 1 can't run iOS 6 doesn't mean it's suddenly "trash".
Also, the first iPad is woefully underpowered – thanks to the display, it's quite memory and graphics constrained. It's entirely possible Apple wasn't willing get new iOS features working well on that hardware, especially considering iPad 1's install base is a rapidly decreasing percentage of the overall iPad market.
Lots of iOS 6 features doesn't require more processing power. They could have easily turned off the features that did, just like they did with iOS 5 on the iPhone 3G / 3GS.
But they don't have an incentive to do that, and it would mean more work for them supporting a shrinking user base.
However, customer loyalty may have been increased quite a bit by providing updates for more than 2 years. I'd have much less of a problem with Apple dropping iOS 7 support on the iPad 1, for instance.
I could see that being confusing to people. "iOS 6 includes Ultra Photos! But not on your device. Yes, you do have iOS 6, just not the good iOS 6."
My parents have an iPad one, and I've used an iPad 2 at work. I've got to say I'm not that surprised, as the thing is clearly constrained as it is. It's over 2 years old, so it's not like they just suddenly abandoned it. And you can still get iOS apps for it for quite a while. I know there are apps I use that still support iOS 3.
Dramatically lower resolution. That's the key – iPad's larger display puts far more pressure on its GPU and, because there's no dedicated VRAM, it also increases the system's memory usage and reduces the amount of free RAM usable by apps. The latter issue is really a serious problem on the first iPad.
Agreed. I hated browsing the web on the iPad one because it could only hold one tab loaded at a time, and refresh the others when you moved between them.
iPad 3, sorry, 'new iPad' is vastly improved. iPad 1 is now kid's iPad: iView & jigsaw puzzles. :)
I don't care about new iOS features, or any of their iCloud nonsense, I know it won't support Siri (ipad1 lacked a microphone).
What I do care about is the web browser on my iPad not receiving any software updates... ever. That's a serious problem. Without any software upgrades ever, the iPad will become the future IE. In fact, this is worse because of Apple's closed system they also won't allow 3rd parties to upgrade the software either. That means no new web browsers, audio players, or any other new type of software which might threaten their platform.
Apple wants to pretend that software can't be upgraded because you're using old hardware, which not only is completely retarded, it defeats the purpose of software.
Without any software upgrades ever, the iPad will become the future IE. In fact, this is worse because of Apple's closed system they also won't allow 3rd parties to upgrade the software either.
Huh? Citation needed. Apple didn't suddenly cut off App Store updates to iPad 1. Developers are free to support (or not support) iOS 5, just as they were with other iOS updates.
Furthermore, are you remotely surprised by this? iPhones prior to iPhone 3GS aren't supported by iOS 5.
Do you have the same issues with Android? There's a platform that's destined to be the "future IE". How many Android users are stuck on 2.2 or 2.3, with a horribly crippled browser?
Finally, Apple does allow other browsers, audio players and other new types of software. They don't threaten Apple's platform, the bolster it.
I'm not sure where you're digging up this FUD, but it's way off base.
Apple doesn't allow third parties to upgrade iOS's built-in apps. If you're running Windows XP you can replace IE6 with a modern Firefox, but if you're running an iPad 1 it's WebKit version whatever for the rest of time. (The only "browsers" allowed by Apple are basically thin shells around the built-in WebKit.)
I suggest we add Apple/Android criticisms to Godwyn's law. whenever anything negative is said about Apple, someone inevitably turns it into an Android bash instead. The same applies in reverse.
In this instance, the grandparent was spreading FUD about Apple, so the usual Apple/Android digs have come out.
"Do you have the same issues with Android? There's a platform that's destined to be the "future IE". How many Android users are stuck on 2.2 or 2.3, with a horribly crippled browser?"
You do realize that there are third party browsers on Android that have their own rendering engines that you can install right? You don't have to ever use the built in Android browser if you don't want to. I've found Firefox works quite well actually.
Apple doesn't pretend anything. You're just making reasons up. They didn't state any reason for not providing iOS 6 for the first iPad. They are a company. Common sense dictates that if they saw a viable reason to invest the resources into the first iPad, they would have.
The processor has to wavelet compress the audio and ship it off to Siri for processing. Apple might not be happy with the performance on the original iPad.
I recall that someone got it running on a jailbroken device. I don't remember how well it worked.
Recording is easy. Dump the ADC output to a buffer and call it a WAV file. Or an AU.
Sending it to Siri requires chunking the audio into small pieces, compressing them with a wavelet table (I'm assuming here, my DSP knowledge is a bit dated), and shipping them off to North Carolina.
If this can't be done quickly, Siri appears to suck. Apple is religiously conservative about enabling features on hardware that might cause the experience to suck.
Audio compression was a slow thing on desktop computers when desktop computers had similar specs to the first iPad. I'm no authority, but this seems like a relevant detail to me.
I too have a first model iPad and it sucks, but I also kinda expected it. Other developers also don't seem that much surprised/disappointed. The problem is RAM: The iPhone 3GS and the iPad have the same amount of RAM, but the iPad has twice the resolution and almost 5 times the amount of pixels to push to screen.
I suspect Apple and third party App developers will support the second Generation iPad exceptionally long, because it is still selling (obviously), it has much better hardware specs and it outsold the first Generation over 3:1. It makes sense to make the cut now with iOS 6.
Oops, I've actually never used it. So I guess Siri should be able to work on iPad 1 also. Anything Apple says about the hardware being incapable of using Siri sounds is probably a load of their typical bullshit.
Unlike all those 2010 Android devices that are all running ICS... er ...
So far the main reason Apple has not supported new OS updates on old hardware is due to hardware requirements, usually memory. I agree it seems odd as the 4th gen touch is basically the same spec as the iPad 1, but in general their record in this area is unmatched by any of their competition. Nobody else even comes close.
I know, but that's really no excuse. I don't have a problem with Apple dropping support for old hardware, but this feels a little forced on a device that's only two years old.
Of course, forced obsolescence is a fact of life with commercial, proprietary products, and of course you're not entitled to software updates apart from bugfixes.
But it's very different world compared to the PC world where companies like Microsoft and other OS vendors have an incentive to stretch compatibility as far back as possible.
As more and more developers drop support for iOS 5, an otherwise perfectly working device becomes less and less valuable, which is a shame. Of course an option is still to jailbreak it.
You automatically assume hardware is trash when it doesn't support the latest OS but still works just fine with the older version, and you're blaming Apple for a throw-away culture? I think you need to look in a mirror....
A significant number of apps require the latest version of the OS. The utility really does drop off if you are a major OS version or two behind. Trash? Maybe not, but definitely worth much, much less. I agree that 2.5 years is far too soon to stop updating the iPad’s OS.
I'm not surprised, as iOS went thru 3 versions on iPad, and the newest hardware is far enough ahead of the old that keeping up compatibility across all versions (original hardware included) would grow strained.
But yeah, that's a big downer. I'm still lovin' my iPad 1, and won't be able to swing a replacement anytime soon (assuming the new iMacs show up, which to the surprise of many didn't today).
And yet the 3GS is supported. I think I'm right in saying that almost no one would have worried too much if Apple had dropped the 3GS too. They would have understood that the 3GS wouldn't be able to run the latest and greatest iOS. The fact that they are supporting the 3GS and not iPad 1 is surprising.
The difference is that you can as of today get a 3GS free with contract. Don't underestimate Apple's desire to push competitors out of the low end of the smartphone market. Steve Jobs always said that the Mac went premium when they should have been going for market share and that Apple wouldn't make such a mistake again. Supporting the 3GS is critical for that. Especially when you consider global expansion.
The iPad 1 does not have contract lock-in and is not actively being sold by Apple. Apple is not facing serious tablet competition right now so what incentive do they have to support the iPad 1? What are people going to do, throw out the iPad 1 for a Kindle Fire? Maybe if Windows 8 or Android get their act together, but right now, Apple is chasing demand and has little incentive to support old hardware when they can push you into the new one. This is why the tablet space needs some real competition.
> The iPad 1 does not have contract lock-in and is not actively being sold by Apple
Bingo. Apple still sells new 3GS phones, so it would directly impact customers that may be buying their products today. This isn't the case with the iPad1.
Apple rarely does things (solely) based on technical requirements or some architectural vision. It may be frustrating, but it is consistent - they are primarily customer focused, not specs-focused or vision-focused. Yes, there is attention to specs and an underlying vision of computing, but they are 2nd to the (paying) customers.
It's likely still a memory issue though rather than anything to do with the CPU. As with the 4th gen touch, it's smaller display on the 3G likely means it has enough memory for enough of iOS 6 features compared to the iPad 1.
I think you're probably right - to give some context, the iPhone 3GS and iPad 1 have the same amount of RAM (256MB), but the iPad has to push roughly four times the amount of pixels as the 3GS.
I currently have a 3GS and am planning on getting the new iPhone when it's released, and will give my 3GS to a family member when that times comes. I'm excited about the new features for iOS6, but I'm a little wary of the performance. Upgrading from iOS4 to iOS5 was quite nice, but it caused a large number of performance hits when it came to app loading and switching between apps. Even bringing up my Messages would cause delays in which I could count to "10-Mississippi" before finally being able to let me interact with it. I don't expect it to perform the same was at an iPhone 4(s)/(new one), but it does make me grit my teeth a little sometimes :)
The iPad 1 has the same 256MB of RAM but it has to allocate more than double the amount of space towards VRAM than a 3GS. Also in general iPad applications have a larger memory footprint than iPhone applications. Those two factors combined pretty much doomed it. Most importantly Apple just decided to starve it of RAM. Very bad design choice.
Looked into selling our 64GB WiFi+3G iPad 1 just after the launch of the new iPad. Going rate on eBay was ~AU$350, originally AU$1050. For that, plus the losses in fees, we just kept it.
That almost gave me an aneurysm at the time - I had a first generation iPod touch, and it quickly became less useful app-wise. But long term it was still probably the right move, iOS 3 ran slowly on the first gen touch.
Maybe Apple should warn people that when they shell out $600.00 for an Ipad that in about 2 years Apple will no longer support it with their new software. I was looking to buy an Apple laptop. Not now. Not EVER! Why would I? will Apple refuse to support that with new software in 2 years? What a JOKE. I did not know that my iPad would be treated by Apple like a disposable throw away item like a cardboard camera. My first purchase of an Apple product will be my last. I took a bite of the apple and all I got was a worm. Steve Jobs told us it was a magical device. I feel it was more of a rotten apple
The iPad 1 is more than two years old, so is not supported in upcoming OS versions. Every iOS devices has been updated only two major OS versions so far; it looks like the 3GS will be the first to beat this trend with three major OS updates from iOS 3, but has the advantage of a rather low resolution screen needing less memory for graphics.
It's kind of lame, but it was clear within weeks after launch that the original iPad was gimped for RAM. Apple manged to make it bearable for a while, but iOS 5 on the original iPad has always been hitchy with a crashy Mobile Safari, so it's no surprise that iOS isn't going to be supported.
Yea, this is a real downer. I still like my iPad 1 and was planning on upgrading eventually, but it feels like Apple is kind of forcing my hand here. PS I realize I don't have to upgrade, so Apple isn't really forcing me to do anything.
