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iOS 6 is not compatible with: iPad 1 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

iOS 6 is not compatible with: iPad 1 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.

Watabou 14y ago
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.
- veyron 14y ago
  The 3GS phones are still being sold. It would be a real surprise if it didn't support a product currently on the market ...
  - sandipc 14y ago
    Agreed - the iPad 2 is also still being sold, so there's incentive to support that too (over the iPad 1).
  - artmageddon 14y ago
    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 :)
- JunkDNA 14y ago
  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.
  - simonh 14y ago
    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.
    - objclxt 14y ago
      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.
  - r00fus 14y ago
    > 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.
- jsz0 14y ago
  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.
ctdonath 14y ago
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).
blutonium 14y ago
First generation hardware is difficult to support. They dropped the original iPhone in iOS 3.
- xol 14y ago
  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.
  - ja27 14y ago
    And iOS 6 dropped the third generation iPod Touch. Even iOS 4 is noticably laggy on mine.
ZanderEarth32 14y ago
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.
fjarlq 14y ago
An iPad 1 is not trash, even though it can't run iOS6. I suspect you'll be surprised how well it holds its value when you resell yours.
- stock_toaster 14y ago
  Not to mention that, but you can jailbreak it and install things via cydia.
- photojosh 14y ago
  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.
ryannielsen 14y ago
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.
- simonh 14y ago
  I forgot about the display. It's likely it increases memory requirements relative to the 4th gen touch enough to be a problem.
- wavephorm 14y ago
  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.
  - biot 14y ago
    iPad 1 does have a microphone; I use mine for Skype calling at times.
    - wavephorm 14y ago
      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.
simonh 14y ago
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.
- gnaffle 14y ago
  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.
  - simonh 14y ago
    So what should they do about the memory limitations on old devices. Just not add more features to the OS, so it still works on the older hardware?
    - gnaffle 14y ago
      No, they could add features, but leave out those features on older devices just like they have done previously with each new iOS release. Many if not most of the new features in iOS 6 doesn't require more processing power.
mikeash 14y ago
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....
- alanh 14y ago
  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.
  - lotu 14y ago
    Remember how computer were last decade, and you need to buy a new one every year and a half? Well that's tablets and smartphones now.
    - alanh 14y ago
      No, it was never “every year and a half”! It was more like like every two years for hardcore gamers and at least 3 years for real people.
bjustin 14y ago
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.
UnHappy 14y ago
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
easp 14y ago
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.

Watabou 14y ago

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.

veyron 14y ago
The 3GS phones are still being sold. It would be a real surprise if it didn't support a product currently on the market ...
- sandipc 14y ago
  Agreed - the iPad 2 is also still being sold, so there's incentive to support that too (over the iPad 1).
- artmageddon 14y ago
  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 :)
JunkDNA 14y ago
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.
- simonh 14y ago
  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.
  - objclxt 14y ago
    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.
- r00fus 14y ago
  > 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.
jsz0 14y ago
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.

ctdonath 14y ago

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).

blutonium 14y ago

First generation hardware is difficult to support. They dropped the original iPhone in iOS 3.

xol 14y ago
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.
- ja27 14y ago
  And iOS 6 dropped the third generation iPod Touch. Even iOS 4 is noticably laggy on mine.

ZanderEarth32 14y ago

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.

fjarlq 14y ago

An iPad 1 is not trash, even though it can't run iOS6. I suspect you'll be surprised how well it holds its value when you resell yours.

stock_toaster 14y ago
Not to mention that, but you can jailbreak it and install things via cydia.
photojosh 14y ago
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.

ryannielsen 14y ago

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.

simonh 14y ago
I forgot about the display. It's likely it increases memory requirements relative to the 4th gen touch enough to be a problem.
wavephorm 14y ago
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.
- biot 14y ago
  iPad 1 does have a microphone; I use mine for Skype calling at times.
  - wavephorm 14y ago
    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.

simonh 14y ago

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.

gnaffle 14y ago
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.
- simonh 14y ago
  So what should they do about the memory limitations on old devices. Just not add more features to the OS, so it still works on the older hardware?
  - gnaffle 14y ago
    No, they could add features, but leave out those features on older devices just like they have done previously with each new iOS release. Many if not most of the new features in iOS 6 doesn't require more processing power.

mikeash 14y ago

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....

alanh 14y ago
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.
- lotu 14y ago
  Remember how computer were last decade, and you need to buy a new one every year and a half? Well that's tablets and smartphones now.
  - alanh 14y ago
    No, it was never “every year and a half”! It was more like like every two years for hardcore gamers and at least 3 years for real people.

bjustin 14y ago

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.

UnHappy 14y ago

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

easp 14y ago

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.