7 ms·

The iPad 1

kennu 14y ago
As a developer, I would be happy to no longer have to deal with iPad 1's. They really have little memory to work with and it tends to constantly run out. Particularly when you try to pre-render things in memory to have them smoothly scroll into view. As a reminder, iPad RAM amounts (from Wikipedia): 1st generation 256 MB DDR 2nd generation 512 MB DDR2 3rd generation 1 GB DDR2 So I can't blame Apple for feeling the same way. When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be.
- bengl3rt 14y ago
  When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be. I mean... they did release a device that's basically just a huge screen...
- matwood 14y ago
  While the iPad1 is noticeably slower, I have found it running out of RAM around the same time as the iPad3 during app development. Oddly enough, the iPad2 really is the best iPad right now in terms of overall package performance. Of course the retina screen looks great, but the iPad3 hardware is just barely enough to support it. I'm expecting the iPad4 to really be the retina device to have.
  - macspoofing 14y ago
    >Oddly enough, the iPad2 really is the best iPad right now in terms of overall package performance. I agree. For me it's the fact that the iPad2 stays cool after any period of usage. iPad3 has a noticable heat spot on the back and it really bothers me, it shouldn't, but it does.
- Nicole060 14y ago
  > So I can't blame Apple for feeling the same way. When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be. Oh yeah ? Apple has always skimped out on ram on every single device and made you pay a premium to get more. That wasn't a real problem on macs in the past because it wasn't difficult to add ram yourself, but now with tablets and the new macbook air and macbook pro retina.. that's kind of a problem. I bought one of the first macbook air that had the ram soldered to the board without thinking. If I had known that Mac OS Lion and Mountain Lion would've become so bloated I wouldn't have bought the 2gb model that I sold for a measly 200 euros recently. This piece of shit couldn't browse the web with multiple tabs open without swapping even though the same task was okay in the past with Windows XP and 512mb of ram. (I probably could have gotten more but I didn't WANT to sell it for more because I would have felt like I'd be robbing someone by selling them a defective device for a premium) By the way, there wasn't a single PC vendor selling laptops with less than 4gb of ram, when I bought my MBA, even el cheapo laptops that sold for $400 had 4gb of ram (what does it says about Apple ?). I was kind of retarded to buy the 2gb MBA, and I should've spent a little more for the 4gb, but I don't really regret it either since I opened my eyes and sold all my Apple devices, and will never buy anything from apple again. It was obvious to a LOT of people that the first iPad was way too lacking in power and would be prone to something akin to planned obsolescence. Even me, who got fucked by the Macbook air, knew that the first iPad was indecent (I waited for the iPad 2 before I got my first tablet.) Look at the top of the line in the android world : the (tablet) Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, which has a much lower resolution than the iPad Retina (and thus less hefty memory needs for the apps), has 2gb of ram inside, future proofing it a bit against future applications. The (phone) Galaxy Note 2 also has 2gb of ram, as do some of the variants of the Galaxy S3, now that's a real top of the line phone. When I saw the retina iPad for the first time, my first impressions, after the initial "wow" you get for the screen, was, the specs are underwhelming for this kind of device. Apple is all about the shiny. The 13" Macbook Pro still has 4gb of ram as a standard in the entry level, even though it sells for 1249 euros. I've seen PC laptops under 999 euros sold with 8gb of ram, 1TB hard drives, core i7 and a nvidia chip inside (rather than the shitty intel graphic chip that's included in the entry MBP). I'm done getting ripped off by Apple.
  - 14y ago
axx 14y ago
When the iPad 1 launched in germany, i bought a 64GB model with 3G. I payed more than 800 Euros. And now Apple tells me "it's to old, go and sell it on eBay for 150 bucks". Are you fucking kidding me? I'm a Apple user for ages, i have two Mac Pros, three MacBook Pros (family), one MacBook Air and all iPhones that Apple ever made. I sold every old piece of hardware or replaced it when i needed a faster or newer model. But THIS is fucking sick. Android is rising and in 6-12 month it will be even better. If Apple continues to ship crap like Siri and iOS6 Maps with all this false marketing Apple has a dark future ahead! I bought a Nexus 7 a few weeks ago and it cost me 200 euro. It can do nearly the same as any iPad (i use it for - yes, instapaper, email, youtube and general media consumption). Sure, there are not as many Apps as in Apples App Store, but this is going to change. To be said: i will never buy any iPad again. Sorry iPad, but i'm with Android now! EDIT: As some sub-commenters said/ask: I'm not 100% sure what happens when i have old App versions (compatible with my iPad 1) and i need to reinstall iOS and all my Apps (for whatever reason- maybe a crash or anything else), which App Version do i get? The latest? Or the latest one that is compatible with my iPad 1? Since many App developers are very happy to drop support for older iOS versions (which is fine - make better software!) i think it's time for Apple to provide some backwards support for older devices. Some mechanic for developers to freeze certain App Versions especially for older devices. It's not like we're talking about ancient technology, that thing isn't even 2 years old.
- upinsmoke 14y ago
  So you are saying iOS 6 sucks, yet you complain you can't install iOS 6 on iPad 1? Why not just stay on iOS 5? It works great and almost all the apps work on it.
- sxcurry 14y ago
  Funny, I have the original iPad as well, but I haven't yet gotten the official message from Apple to sell it on eBay. Maybe they're sending them to Europe first? Also, the strange thing is that it still runs as well as the day I bought it, and still does everything it did from Day 1, as well as new things that came with updates to iOS. I forget, why am I supposed to be angry at Apple?
pmjordan 14y ago
The RAM thing is a nice theory until you consider the 4th gen iPod touch has a similar number of pixels as iPad 1, also has 256MB of RAM and also gets iOS6 support. They're still selling it now (just about), so that's probably why. I'm sure with a bit of engineering effort, the memory footprint of iOS could be drastically reduced. (Hire some game programmers who have worked on console games! A 1st gen iPad has about 3x as much memory as a Wii.) But let's face it, that's not going to improve their bottom line, whereas telling everyone to buy a new iPad every 24 months is. Still, those 15+ million iPad1 owners aren't going to be all that pleased, especially those who paid through the nose for the 64GB model. (don't feel too bad though - us 16GBers already got shafted anyway when apps suddenly went huge due to retinafication)
- refulgentis 14y ago
  Just because the dimensions are similar doesn't mean the number of pixels is sufficiently similar – in fact, an iPad 1 has 28% more. This is a significant difference to a programmer.
- jsz0 14y ago
  You have to take into account the larger memory footprint of iPad apps as well. No doubt they could have run the base OS without much trouble but there wouldn't be a lot of memory left over for apps. So an iPad 1 with iOS5 and enough free RAM to run apps is better than an iPad 1 with iOS6 that can't do much more than run the OS. Apple learned their lesson from the iPhone4/3G thing.
- Firehed 14y ago
  > But let's face it, that's not going to improve their bottom line, whereas telling everyone to buy a new iPad every 24 months is. That kind of short-term thinking is what gets companies into trouble. No, it won't help the bottom line now, but when the next purchase rolls around, don't you think premature obsolescence (or the lack thereof) of the device being upgraded will factor into what replacement to get? It's certainly a major reason I won't buy an android device (at least one not made by google, which tend to get long term support like apple)
  - 14y ago
dpearson 14y ago
What Apple has done with the iPad 1 (I'll refrain from speculating on motives, as I have absolutely no idea why they actually EOL'd it) is still not as bad as what they've done with armv6 devices. A developer, if they want (and some won't), can still support the iPad 1 fairly easily (or as easily as any support for iOS 5). The iPhone 3G and older, on the other hand, are truly unsupported; it is impossible to build for these devices in the iOS 6 SDK[1], making them a nightmare to support (and impossible to support alongside armv7s code for the new iPhone). [1]: http://blog.chpwn.com/post/31824877081 http://blog.chpwn.com/post/31824877081
msrpotus 14y ago
I would have liked iOS 6 but you know what? My iPad still works and still does everything I bought it to do. Sure, it might be cool to have some of the new features but I'm perfectly happy without them.
ChuckMcM 14y ago
Its an interesting business question, "How much do we invest in supporting the old generation vs the return?" Apple really hasn't set a way to price it. They could of course, they could price an iPad 1 version of IOS6 to see what the market would pay for the capability. But you get maybe one shot at that. They could do an 'upgrade today' offer where you sent them and iPad and they gave you a discount on a new iPad, but if they sold you the new iPad at the 'loaded cost' (which is COGS + warranty support + inventory costs) it might not be as much of a discount as you could get by just applying the money you got on ebay toward a new one.
brackin 14y ago
The iPad 1 feels much slower than the iPhone 3GS does today. Although I don't like this move, having played with my friends iPad 1 recently. I feel that anything further than iOS6 might slow down the device considerably. When I installed iOS6 on my 4S it became much faster which is unusual for me.
Kylekramer 14y ago
I don't get why the author feels the need to rationalize the decision as not motivated by money. Sure, it isn't the whole reason. But there is just little motivation to get iOS 6 on the iPad. Apple does a better job than pretty much everyone else in this area, but dropping hardware from iOS6 is win-win from Apple's perspective. Easier engineering effort while incentivizing upgrades. I'm one of those iPad 1 owners left out of iOS 6, and I don't begrudge Apple that. If it was that important to me, I'd plunk down the cash.
nopal 14y ago
I'd be interested to see an iOS developer's perspective on when they're going to start requiring iOS 6. From a user's perspective, I don't see any features that are going to encourage devs to drop iOS 6 compatibility (eg. ARC; background support). It's big these types of features and functionality that are going to determine the usefulness and longetivity of iOS 5.
bobbles 14y ago
As an iPhone 3G user previously, this is probably a very good thing. The iOS 4.0 update basically bricked the phone because it just couldn't handle it. I recently found out how easy it was to revert to 3.1.3 and its actually a pleasure to use again (albeit still noticeably slower than my 4S). If Apple released iOS6 for the iPad 1 you would probably be bagging them out for making the device so slow.
- boristhespider 14y ago
  Yes, Apple does seem to be between a rock and a hard place.
CrazedGeek 14y ago
(warning: tangential) "Knowing Apple, that sounds like a far more plausible explanation than the most popular theory I’ve heard: that Apple just wants to force iPad 1 owners to buy new iPads." I totally believe this is true on the iPad front, but I can't imagine any other reason that iOS 6 would support the iPhone 3GS but not the 3rd generation iPod Touch. They have very nearly the exact same specifications, except one has a GSM radio in it and the other doesn't. I wouldn't mind if it didn't get further updates (three years is pretty decent update-wise), but the disparity is slightly irritating.
- spaghetti 14y ago
  I'm wondering about the two-year or similar contracts people signed when they purchased or obtained for free a 3GS? Perhaps there's a corner case when someone got a 3GS + 2 year contract just five months ago. Might be some backlash if the device they planned to use for the next 19 months couldn't be upgraded to the latest iOS. Note this isn't an issue with iPod Touch or iPad due to lack of contracts (except perhaps an iPad data contract? But I'm under the impression those are more flexible, month-to-month etc).
jaysonelliot 14y ago
The disappointment, to me, isn't with the iPad alone. It's with the new move in the industry to non-upgradable devices and internet-dependent software. I've enjoyed my iPad 1 since the day I bought it, and I haven't seen any need to replace it with a newer model. Neither the Retina Display nor the camera were particularly important to me, and I didn't have much need for more storage or memory. Would I like to use iOS 6 on my iPad? Certainly. Do I need to? Not right now. Over the next year or two, though, I'm sure there will be plenty of software that I'd like to use, but won't be able to. It's possible that some apps, like Netflix or Spotify, or some games, will reach a point where older versions won't work anymore, as they roll out features that require some update or another to play nicely with their servers. What will happen if I have to restore my iPad to factory settings, or just accidentally delete some app? Will I still be able to re-install the version I need in two years, or five, or more? Every computer reaches a useful end to its life at some point in time. The acceleration of that process due to a closed system that allows no upgrade to RAM or storage, and no ability to install software except through a centrally-controlled repository, frankly sucks. Windows 8 shows that it's more than just Apple headed for closed systems. If current trends prevail, how far out are we from the closed model of the iPad being the standard for the industry? I hope there will be some consumer backlash, and a company with a commitment to great technical and experience design takes up the standard of more open hardware and software as a competitive differentiator. I'd vote for them with my dollars.
- morisy 14y ago
  This isn't a theoretical, and it's sadly not limited to the iPad. I've purchased the Apple suite of office programs (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) and I can't install them without updating to the latest version of Mac OS X. That's OK for me, but it's been a huge PITA for the non-profit I work with, which is always struggling to get working computers, let alone modern ones. Because they can't install Lion on their computers, software we'd bought for them simply won't be re-installable if I have to wipe the system clean for some reason. I was fed up with Android bloatware enough to finally switch to iOS a few weeks ago, but the lock-in on both platforms (non-stock Android + iOS) is beyond aggravating and feels more like a shakedown at some points.
- jhasse 14y ago
twelvechairs 14y ago
Apple are horrible for trying to make people upgrade - thats for sure, but really, what apps 'require ios 6'? I'm still using an iphone3 (last os upgrade was a stripped down version of ios4) and the only thing I haven't been able to download because it won't work on my phone was a some game once that was just a timewaster anyway. The most important thing by far on a phone/tablet is the web. It doesn't care about your OS version... It was like this on the iphone1 and it will be on the ipad10.
- ajross 14y ago
  What apps "require" ICS? Isn't Gingerbread good enough? :) The point is that lack updates hurts consumers. This is no less true when Apple does it than when Android OEMs and carriers do.
mythz 14y ago
I bought the 1st gen iPad knowing it was only going to be a stop gap measure until a newer version with a Camera came out (which I thought was going to be the killer feature - turns out I rarely use it) so I only bought the baseline version. I found the $499 baseline price a steal which quickly turned into my most used device. The value of Apple's products go way down the higher up the range of models you go, so I can see why iPad 1 owners may be upset - but it shouldn't be unexpected that the resale value of top range models depreciate faster than the baseline. So I can't complain, I've got a lot of utility out of the iPad1 whose experience led me to buy the top of the line Retina iPad 3 when it came out. I was keeping the old iPad 1 around for compatibility (as an iOS dev) but I guess this means I wont need to hold onto it for much longer :).
fierarul 14y ago
Totally didn't see this coming. I was actually looking into Settings to see if it detects the iOS 6 release and only afterwards I bothered searching the net and finding out there will be no iOS 6 update! But this is not the biggest disappointment about the iPad1. The big one was how iPad1 doesn't have a camera and not long after I bought it (when it finally arrived in the EU) Apple released the iPad 2 which had a camera! How hard could it have been to engineer an external camera for the iPad1 that could be plugged in via a docking connector? This way I could use the iPad upside-down and actually have is usable as a video conferencing device. I can't even give it to my parents as a laptop replacement (what people imagine it could be) since Skype video won't work on it!
benhalllondon 14y ago
How did you get this? It's not even on http://www.marco.org/ http://www.marco.org/ ?
mfincham 14y ago
Here's an idea: The moment the device is no longer supported, unlock the bootloader. If you really felt philanthropic, release some docs on the hardware interfaces. This way Linux / *BSD / Haiku / whatever could be ported and extend the usable life of the device. This would foster a thriving second hand market, massively reduce the security risks that users of the older devices are exposed to, help clear old stock, keep devices out of landfills and so on. Apple has already said they don't support the device anymore, so they have nothing to lose by opening it up (if we accept that the reason Apple locks down their bootloaders etc is to ease the burden of support from people breaking their own devices, not an argument I entirely buy...).
- taligent 14y ago
  Why ? The device still works on iOS5 and will still run 99% of the apps available today and over the next few years. Most developers are still going to be targeting iOS4+ for a while to come.
  - mfincham 14y ago
    Eleven good reasons: mfincham@desktop:~/Desktop$ grep "Subject:" < ios6.eml Subject: APPLE-SA-2012-09-19-1 iOS 6 mfincham@desktop:~/Desktop$ grep "code execution" < ios6.eml | wc -l 11 Those bugs will never be fixed for iPad 1 users. Furthermore, "next few years" seems quite optimistic to me. There's no harm in unlocking these unsupported devices, then people can EITHER run iOS 4/5 and live with the flaws OR run their own code. Nobody loses! (Note as well that the bugs are things like "loading a web page could result in arbitrary code execution").
    - achompas 14y ago
      I agree. Top iOS app developers like Marco are dying to move their apps to iOS 6 (according to their podcasts + blog posts), so I think we can measure app compatibility for the iPad 1 in months, not years.
melling 14y ago
How much more would it have cost to put an extra 256MB in the original iPad? Apple has more money in the bank than they know what to do with; over $100B. It might be a better use of the money to give a little extra RAM to make their devices run better.
- robryan 14y ago
  Apple didn't get that money taking low margins on hardware. Overall this probably helps their new iPad sales, the vocal minority complain and everyone else probably either stays on ios5 or upgrades.
  - melling 14y ago
    It creates a small fragment in the iOS market. Should developers move to iOS6 only support in a few months or keep supporting the iPad 1?
MatthewPhillips 14y ago
This is going to become a really problem for developers. As people upgrade, they don't simply throw the old iPads away. Some sell them, but others give them to their parents. And older people will keep technology around for a long time. My mother has my old 1st generation Kindle, which happens to work fine, and probably will keep using it for many years to come. The same will happen to the iPad 1 (and 2, etc.). They won't notice, or care about maps or Siri, but they will notice if Facebook stops working.
kcwebz 14y ago
It's been long enough now that we should all be learning something. If its a "1st Gen" product or doesn't have an "S" on the product name, ignore it..
d0m 14y ago
What trouble me is when there's a new apple release, older devices seems to automagically slow down. When I first bought the ipad1, it was crazy fast. Everyone was amazed about the speed things would move and open. Now, everything is do damn painful to use.. it's lagging and taking eternity to do trivial tasks. (And by the way, I've formatted it and there's practically nothing on it). My guess would be that more recent os use more memory to be more efficient on newer devices while rendering older devices slower. I hope it's the reason, and not a voluntary "let's slow you down so you buy a new one".
- Adirael 14y ago
  Couldn't it be just perception? I still use an iPhone 3G and I remember I did not want to touch the iPhone 4 when it came out because it was a lot faster than my old 3G and I would realize it even more before playing with a 4. Now I've used a lot a 4S and the 3G is slow as hell, but I would think it is just my perception. I use an iPad 1 and haven't used any new one for more than 5 minutes and the iPad 1 feels exactly as fast as when I first bought it. I think the same thing happens in computers. I run a hackintosh machine with an SSD and pretty good hardware and the other day I was putting together an old PC to run MAME (I'm building an arcade cabinet) and god, the thing is slow as hell. I'm sure it was just as slow then I was using it (Pentium D with 3 Gigs of RAM), it just that we are used to be faster now. EDIT: Note that new app versions probably ARE slower than older ones in old hardware. If the developer is using the last iPad available to test and neglecting older hardware is what happens. Back when I did native apps we used the best hardware available to develop and low-medium end to test in order to avoid this and optimize our code for speed on not-so-new hardware.
dj2stein9 14y ago
By far the worst thing about this is there will never be an improved web browser on the iPad... ever. Because of Apple ridiculous aversion to altenate web browsers (that don't use the Safari engine) no third party will be able to deliver a new web browser. Years from now the iPad 1 will still be using outdated HTML5 specs, and old version of the web socket protocol, and will never have new wen technologies added to it. Apple has ensured this device remains technologically frozen in time forever.
maguay 14y ago
For me, my iPad 1 still makes a plenty good Instapaper/Kindle/email/writing/basic web/casual gaming device, and my only major hope is that developers like Marco don't drop iOS 5 support way too quick for their apps.

kennu 14y ago

As a developer, I would be happy to no longer have to deal with iPad 1's. They really have little memory to work with and it tends to constantly run out. Particularly when you try to pre-render things in memory to have them smoothly scroll into view. As a reminder, iPad RAM amounts (from Wikipedia): 1st generation 256 MB DDR 2nd generation 512 MB DDR2 3rd generation 1 GB DDR2 So I can't blame Apple for feeling the same way. When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be.

bengl3rt 14y ago
When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be. I mean... they did release a device that's basically just a huge screen...
matwood 14y ago
While the iPad1 is noticeably slower, I have found it running out of RAM around the same time as the iPad3 during app development. Oddly enough, the iPad2 really is the best iPad right now in terms of overall package performance. Of course the retina screen looks great, but the iPad3 hardware is just barely enough to support it. I'm expecting the iPad4 to really be the retina device to have.
- macspoofing 14y ago
  >Oddly enough, the iPad2 really is the best iPad right now in terms of overall package performance. I agree. For me it's the fact that the iPad2 stays cool after any period of usage. iPad3 has a noticable heat spot on the back and it really bothers me, it shouldn't, but it does.
Nicole060 14y ago
> So I can't blame Apple for feeling the same way. When they originally released iPad 1, they probably didn't quite anticipate how graphical and visual the user interfaces would eventually turn out to be. Oh yeah ? Apple has always skimped out on ram on every single device and made you pay a premium to get more. That wasn't a real problem on macs in the past because it wasn't difficult to add ram yourself, but now with tablets and the new macbook air and macbook pro retina.. that's kind of a problem. I bought one of the first macbook air that had the ram soldered to the board without thinking. If I had known that Mac OS Lion and Mountain Lion would've become so bloated I wouldn't have bought the 2gb model that I sold for a measly 200 euros recently. This piece of shit couldn't browse the web with multiple tabs open without swapping even though the same task was okay in the past with Windows XP and 512mb of ram. (I probably could have gotten more but I didn't WANT to sell it for more because I would have felt like I'd be robbing someone by selling them a defective device for a premium) By the way, there wasn't a single PC vendor selling laptops with less than 4gb of ram, when I bought my MBA, even el cheapo laptops that sold for $400 had 4gb of ram (what does it says about Apple ?). I was kind of retarded to buy the 2gb MBA, and I should've spent a little more for the 4gb, but I don't really regret it either since I opened my eyes and sold all my Apple devices, and will never buy anything from apple again. It was obvious to a LOT of people that the first iPad was way too lacking in power and would be prone to something akin to planned obsolescence. Even me, who got fucked by the Macbook air, knew that the first iPad was indecent (I waited for the iPad 2 before I got my first tablet.) Look at the top of the line in the android world : the (tablet) Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, which has a much lower resolution than the iPad Retina (and thus less hefty memory needs for the apps), has 2gb of ram inside, future proofing it a bit against future applications. The (phone) Galaxy Note 2 also has 2gb of ram, as do some of the variants of the Galaxy S3, now that's a real top of the line phone. When I saw the retina iPad for the first time, my first impressions, after the initial "wow" you get for the screen, was, the specs are underwhelming for this kind of device. Apple is all about the shiny. The 13" Macbook Pro still has 4gb of ram as a standard in the entry level, even though it sells for 1249 euros. I've seen PC laptops under 999 euros sold with 8gb of ram, 1TB hard drives, core i7 and a nvidia chip inside (rather than the shitty intel graphic chip that's included in the entry MBP). I'm done getting ripped off by Apple.
- 14y ago

axx 14y ago

When the iPad 1 launched in germany, i bought a 64GB model with 3G. I payed more than 800 Euros. And now Apple tells me "it's to old, go and sell it on eBay for 150 bucks". Are you fucking kidding me? I'm a Apple user for ages, i have two Mac Pros, three MacBook Pros (family), one MacBook Air and all iPhones that Apple ever made. I sold every old piece of hardware or replaced it when i needed a faster or newer model. But THIS is fucking sick. Android is rising and in 6-12 month it will be even better. If Apple continues to ship crap like Siri and iOS6 Maps with all this false marketing Apple has a dark future ahead! I bought a Nexus 7 a few weeks ago and it cost me 200 euro. It can do nearly the same as any iPad (i use it for - yes, instapaper, email, youtube and general media consumption). Sure, there are not as many Apps as in Apples App Store, but this is going to change. To be said: i will never buy any iPad again. Sorry iPad, but i'm with Android now! EDIT: As some sub-commenters said/ask: I'm not 100% sure what happens when i have old App versions (compatible with my iPad 1) and i need to reinstall iOS and all my Apps (for whatever reason- maybe a crash or anything else), which App Version do i get? The latest? Or the latest one that is compatible with my iPad 1? Since many App developers are very happy to drop support for older iOS versions (which is fine - make better software!) i think it's time for Apple to provide some backwards support for older devices. Some mechanic for developers to freeze certain App Versions especially for older devices. It's not like we're talking about ancient technology, that thing isn't even 2 years old.

upinsmoke 14y ago
So you are saying iOS 6 sucks, yet you complain you can't install iOS 6 on iPad 1? Why not just stay on iOS 5? It works great and almost all the apps work on it.
sxcurry 14y ago
Funny, I have the original iPad as well, but I haven't yet gotten the official message from Apple to sell it on eBay. Maybe they're sending them to Europe first? Also, the strange thing is that it still runs as well as the day I bought it, and still does everything it did from Day 1, as well as new things that came with updates to iOS. I forget, why am I supposed to be angry at Apple?

pmjordan 14y ago

The RAM thing is a nice theory until you consider the 4th gen iPod touch has a similar number of pixels as iPad 1, also has 256MB of RAM and also gets iOS6 support. They're still selling it now (just about), so that's probably why. I'm sure with a bit of engineering effort, the memory footprint of iOS could be drastically reduced. (Hire some game programmers who have worked on console games! A 1st gen iPad has about 3x as much memory as a Wii.) But let's face it, that's not going to improve their bottom line, whereas telling everyone to buy a new iPad every 24 months is. Still, those 15+ million iPad1 owners aren't going to be all that pleased, especially those who paid through the nose for the 64GB model. (don't feel too bad though - us 16GBers already got shafted anyway when apps suddenly went huge due to retinafication)

refulgentis 14y ago
Just because the dimensions are similar doesn't mean the number of pixels is sufficiently similar – in fact, an iPad 1 has 28% more. This is a significant difference to a programmer.
jsz0 14y ago
You have to take into account the larger memory footprint of iPad apps as well. No doubt they could have run the base OS without much trouble but there wouldn't be a lot of memory left over for apps. So an iPad 1 with iOS5 and enough free RAM to run apps is better than an iPad 1 with iOS6 that can't do much more than run the OS. Apple learned their lesson from the iPhone4/3G thing.
Firehed 14y ago
> But let's face it, that's not going to improve their bottom line, whereas telling everyone to buy a new iPad every 24 months is. That kind of short-term thinking is what gets companies into trouble. No, it won't help the bottom line now, but when the next purchase rolls around, don't you think premature obsolescence (or the lack thereof) of the device being upgraded will factor into what replacement to get? It's certainly a major reason I won't buy an android device (at least one not made by google, which tend to get long term support like apple)
- 14y ago

dpearson 14y ago

What Apple has done with the iPad 1 (I'll refrain from speculating on motives, as I have absolutely no idea why they actually EOL'd it) is still not as bad as what they've done with armv6 devices. A developer, if they want (and some won't), can still support the iPad 1 fairly easily (or as easily as any support for iOS 5). The iPhone 3G and older, on the other hand, are truly unsupported; it is impossible to build for these devices in the iOS 6 SDK[1], making them a nightmare to support (and impossible to support alongside armv7s code for the new iPhone). [1]: http://blog.chpwn.com/post/31824877081 http://blog.chpwn.com/post/31824877081

msrpotus 14y ago

I would have liked iOS 6 but you know what? My iPad still works and still does everything I bought it to do. Sure, it might be cool to have some of the new features but I'm perfectly happy without them.

ChuckMcM 14y ago

Its an interesting business question, "How much do we invest in supporting the old generation vs the return?" Apple really hasn't set a way to price it. They could of course, they could price an iPad 1 version of IOS6 to see what the market would pay for the capability. But you get maybe one shot at that. They could do an 'upgrade today' offer where you sent them and iPad and they gave you a discount on a new iPad, but if they sold you the new iPad at the 'loaded cost' (which is COGS + warranty support + inventory costs) it might not be as much of a discount as you could get by just applying the money you got on ebay toward a new one.

brackin 14y ago

The iPad 1 feels much slower than the iPhone 3GS does today. Although I don't like this move, having played with my friends iPad 1 recently. I feel that anything further than iOS6 might slow down the device considerably. When I installed iOS6 on my 4S it became much faster which is unusual for me.

Kylekramer 14y ago

I don't get why the author feels the need to rationalize the decision as not motivated by money. Sure, it isn't the whole reason. But there is just little motivation to get iOS 6 on the iPad. Apple does a better job than pretty much everyone else in this area, but dropping hardware from iOS6 is win-win from Apple's perspective. Easier engineering effort while incentivizing upgrades. I'm one of those iPad 1 owners left out of iOS 6, and I don't begrudge Apple that. If it was that important to me, I'd plunk down the cash.

nopal 14y ago

I'd be interested to see an iOS developer's perspective on when they're going to start requiring iOS 6. From a user's perspective, I don't see any features that are going to encourage devs to drop iOS 6 compatibility (eg. ARC; background support). It's big these types of features and functionality that are going to determine the usefulness and longetivity of iOS 5.

bobbles 14y ago

As an iPhone 3G user previously, this is probably a very good thing. The iOS 4.0 update basically bricked the phone because it just couldn't handle it. I recently found out how easy it was to revert to 3.1.3 and its actually a pleasure to use again (albeit still noticeably slower than my 4S). If Apple released iOS6 for the iPad 1 you would probably be bagging them out for making the device so slow.

boristhespider 14y ago
Yes, Apple does seem to be between a rock and a hard place.

CrazedGeek 14y ago

(warning: tangential) "Knowing Apple, that sounds like a far more plausible explanation than the most popular theory I’ve heard: that Apple just wants to force iPad 1 owners to buy new iPads." I totally believe this is true on the iPad front, but I can't imagine any other reason that iOS 6 would support the iPhone 3GS but not the 3rd generation iPod Touch. They have very nearly the exact same specifications, except one has a GSM radio in it and the other doesn't. I wouldn't mind if it didn't get further updates (three years is pretty decent update-wise), but the disparity is slightly irritating.

spaghetti 14y ago
I'm wondering about the two-year or similar contracts people signed when they purchased or obtained for free a 3GS? Perhaps there's a corner case when someone got a 3GS + 2 year contract just five months ago. Might be some backlash if the device they planned to use for the next 19 months couldn't be upgraded to the latest iOS. Note this isn't an issue with iPod Touch or iPad due to lack of contracts (except perhaps an iPad data contract? But I'm under the impression those are more flexible, month-to-month etc).

jaysonelliot 14y ago

The disappointment, to me, isn't with the iPad alone. It's with the new move in the industry to non-upgradable devices and internet-dependent software. I've enjoyed my iPad 1 since the day I bought it, and I haven't seen any need to replace it with a newer model. Neither the Retina Display nor the camera were particularly important to me, and I didn't have much need for more storage or memory. Would I like to use iOS 6 on my iPad? Certainly. Do I need to? Not right now. Over the next year or two, though, I'm sure there will be plenty of software that I'd like to use, but won't be able to. It's possible that some apps, like Netflix or Spotify, or some games, will reach a point where older versions won't work anymore, as they roll out features that require some update or another to play nicely with their servers. What will happen if I have to restore my iPad to factory settings, or just accidentally delete some app? Will I still be able to re-install the version I need in two years, or five, or more? Every computer reaches a useful end to its life at some point in time. The acceleration of that process due to a closed system that allows no upgrade to RAM or storage, and no ability to install software except through a centrally-controlled repository, frankly sucks. Windows 8 shows that it's more than just Apple headed for closed systems. If current trends prevail, how far out are we from the closed model of the iPad being the standard for the industry? I hope there will be some consumer backlash, and a company with a commitment to great technical and experience design takes up the standard of more open hardware and software as a competitive differentiator. I'd vote for them with my dollars.

morisy 14y ago
This isn't a theoretical, and it's sadly not limited to the iPad. I've purchased the Apple suite of office programs (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) and I can't install them without updating to the latest version of Mac OS X. That's OK for me, but it's been a huge PITA for the non-profit I work with, which is always struggling to get working computers, let alone modern ones. Because they can't install Lion on their computers, software we'd bought for them simply won't be re-installable if I have to wipe the system clean for some reason. I was fed up with Android bloatware enough to finally switch to iOS a few weeks ago, but the lock-in on both platforms (non-stock Android + iOS) is beyond aggravating and feels more like a shakedown at some points.
jhasse 14y ago

twelvechairs 14y ago

Apple are horrible for trying to make people upgrade - thats for sure, but really, what apps 'require ios 6'? I'm still using an iphone3 (last os upgrade was a stripped down version of ios4) and the only thing I haven't been able to download because it won't work on my phone was a some game once that was just a timewaster anyway. The most important thing by far on a phone/tablet is the web. It doesn't care about your OS version... It was like this on the iphone1 and it will be on the ipad10.

ajross 14y ago
What apps "require" ICS? Isn't Gingerbread good enough? :) The point is that lack updates hurts consumers. This is no less true when Apple does it than when Android OEMs and carriers do.

mythz 14y ago

I bought the 1st gen iPad knowing it was only going to be a stop gap measure until a newer version with a Camera came out (which I thought was going to be the killer feature - turns out I rarely use it) so I only bought the baseline version. I found the $499 baseline price a steal which quickly turned into my most used device. The value of Apple's products go way down the higher up the range of models you go, so I can see why iPad 1 owners may be upset - but it shouldn't be unexpected that the resale value of top range models depreciate faster than the baseline. So I can't complain, I've got a lot of utility out of the iPad1 whose experience led me to buy the top of the line Retina iPad 3 when it came out. I was keeping the old iPad 1 around for compatibility (as an iOS dev) but I guess this means I wont need to hold onto it for much longer :).

fierarul 14y ago

Totally didn't see this coming. I was actually looking into Settings to see if it detects the iOS 6 release and only afterwards I bothered searching the net and finding out there will be no iOS 6 update! But this is not the biggest disappointment about the iPad1. The big one was how iPad1 doesn't have a camera and not long after I bought it (when it finally arrived in the EU) Apple released the iPad 2 which had a camera! How hard could it have been to engineer an external camera for the iPad1 that could be plugged in via a docking connector? This way I could use the iPad upside-down and actually have is usable as a video conferencing device. I can't even give it to my parents as a laptop replacement (what people imagine it could be) since Skype video won't work on it!

benhalllondon 14y ago

How did you get this? It's not even on http://www.marco.org/ http://www.marco.org/ ?

mfincham 14y ago

Here's an idea: The moment the device is no longer supported, unlock the bootloader. If you really felt philanthropic, release some docs on the hardware interfaces. This way Linux / *BSD / Haiku / whatever could be ported and extend the usable life of the device. This would foster a thriving second hand market, massively reduce the security risks that users of the older devices are exposed to, help clear old stock, keep devices out of landfills and so on. Apple has already said they don't support the device anymore, so they have nothing to lose by opening it up (if we accept that the reason Apple locks down their bootloaders etc is to ease the burden of support from people breaking their own devices, not an argument I entirely buy...).

taligent 14y ago
Why ? The device still works on iOS5 and will still run 99% of the apps available today and over the next few years. Most developers are still going to be targeting iOS4+ for a while to come.
- mfincham 14y ago
  Eleven good reasons: mfincham@desktop:~/Desktop$ grep "Subject:" < ios6.eml Subject: APPLE-SA-2012-09-19-1 iOS 6 mfincham@desktop:~/Desktop$ grep "code execution" < ios6.eml | wc -l 11 Those bugs will never be fixed for iPad 1 users. Furthermore, "next few years" seems quite optimistic to me. There's no harm in unlocking these unsupported devices, then people can EITHER run iOS 4/5 and live with the flaws OR run their own code. Nobody loses! (Note as well that the bugs are things like "loading a web page could result in arbitrary code execution").
  - achompas 14y ago
    I agree. Top iOS app developers like Marco are dying to move their apps to iOS 6 (according to their podcasts + blog posts), so I think we can measure app compatibility for the iPad 1 in months, not years.

melling 14y ago

How much more would it have cost to put an extra 256MB in the original iPad? Apple has more money in the bank than they know what to do with; over $100B. It might be a better use of the money to give a little extra RAM to make their devices run better.

robryan 14y ago
Apple didn't get that money taking low margins on hardware. Overall this probably helps their new iPad sales, the vocal minority complain and everyone else probably either stays on ios5 or upgrades.
- melling 14y ago
  It creates a small fragment in the iOS market. Should developers move to iOS6 only support in a few months or keep supporting the iPad 1?

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

This is going to become a really problem for developers. As people upgrade, they don't simply throw the old iPads away. Some sell them, but others give them to their parents. And older people will keep technology around for a long time. My mother has my old 1st generation Kindle, which happens to work fine, and probably will keep using it for many years to come. The same will happen to the iPad 1 (and 2, etc.). They won't notice, or care about maps or Siri, but they will notice if Facebook stops working.

kcwebz 14y ago

It's been long enough now that we should all be learning something. If its a "1st Gen" product or doesn't have an "S" on the product name, ignore it..

d0m 14y ago

What trouble me is when there's a new apple release, older devices seems to automagically slow down. When I first bought the ipad1, it was crazy fast. Everyone was amazed about the speed things would move and open. Now, everything is do damn painful to use.. it's lagging and taking eternity to do trivial tasks. (And by the way, I've formatted it and there's practically nothing on it). My guess would be that more recent os use more memory to be more efficient on newer devices while rendering older devices slower. I hope it's the reason, and not a voluntary "let's slow you down so you buy a new one".

Adirael 14y ago
Couldn't it be just perception? I still use an iPhone 3G and I remember I did not want to touch the iPhone 4 when it came out because it was a lot faster than my old 3G and I would realize it even more before playing with a 4. Now I've used a lot a 4S and the 3G is slow as hell, but I would think it is just my perception. I use an iPad 1 and haven't used any new one for more than 5 minutes and the iPad 1 feels exactly as fast as when I first bought it. I think the same thing happens in computers. I run a hackintosh machine with an SSD and pretty good hardware and the other day I was putting together an old PC to run MAME (I'm building an arcade cabinet) and god, the thing is slow as hell. I'm sure it was just as slow then I was using it (Pentium D with 3 Gigs of RAM), it just that we are used to be faster now. EDIT: Note that new app versions probably ARE slower than older ones in old hardware. If the developer is using the last iPad available to test and neglecting older hardware is what happens. Back when I did native apps we used the best hardware available to develop and low-medium end to test in order to avoid this and optimize our code for speed on not-so-new hardware.

dj2stein9 14y ago

By far the worst thing about this is there will never be an improved web browser on the iPad... ever. Because of Apple ridiculous aversion to altenate web browsers (that don't use the Safari engine) no third party will be able to deliver a new web browser. Years from now the iPad 1 will still be using outdated HTML5 specs, and old version of the web socket protocol, and will never have new wen technologies added to it. Apple has ensured this device remains technologically frozen in time forever.

maguay 14y ago

For me, my iPad 1 still makes a plenty good Instapaper/Kindle/email/writing/basic web/casual gaming device, and my only major hope is that developers like Marco don't drop iOS 5 support way too quick for their apps.