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General discussion

Ipad 2 lifespan

Mar 13, 2011 12:00AM PST

I'm a college student, and I'm wanting to invest in the new ipad 2. The thing is i'm a bit worried shelling off over $500 on a product that maybe wont last long. The screen dying or something malfunctioning a year or after the warranty.
How reliable are apple products such as the ipad? What are the ipad's typical life expectancy? Also, and if so Is it necessary to buy an extended apple care warranty?

Appreciate any help.
Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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given that the oldest iPad is only
Mar 13, 2011 7:23AM PDT

a little over a year old, it is probably not possible to state what the typical life span of one of these devices is.

Replacing any LCD screen is not going to be a cheap endeavor so an extended warranty is always worth the effort on these type of devices. (laptops too)

Normally, Apple products are very reliable but of course, there is always the odd lemon out there, no matter what you buy


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ipad - very short lifespan for me
Oct 25, 2015 1:34PM PDT

I have an ipad2 I bought in 2012. Over the past year, it's become increasingly slow and now crashes often. I've done factory resets and deleted all data and a bunch of apps from it. It's 16 gig, with only 12 available to me. I find that if I don't keep at least 7 free, it's virtually unusable. So, my usable unfrustrating life span has been about 2 years. I'll be buying a new tablet soon. Will probably try a Samsung to see if it's any better. 4 or 5 hundred dollars every 2 years is just ridiculous.

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The price of technology.....
Oct 25, 2015 3:00PM PDT

....means that when technology changes/updates that you need to periodically upgrade the hardware. The terminology is "planned obsolescence". The odds of buying any modern technology and expecting it to run the same speed or efficiency even in a year are very slim. Welcome to the 21 st century.

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Obsolescence expected. Just not this quickly.
Oct 25, 2015 8:47PM PDT

Yeah, I know, planned obsolescence. I don't expect the same speed and efficiency as time goes on. But only 2 years for a device that expensive is just not right. I have an HP desktop that I've had for about 4 years, and it is somewhat slower than when new, but it doesn't have nearly the same frustration level as that damned ipad.

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Moore's law.
Oct 25, 2015 3:09PM PDT

Is always a factor. Keeping free space is however a good idea on all current devices. I have a Tab 3 8inch and frankly it's going back. I'm sticking with Google Nexus models and Apple iThings.

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Nexus
Oct 25, 2015 8:50PM PDT

I'll have to look into the Nexus.

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I have an iPad2, purchased in late 2011
Oct 26, 2015 4:32AM PDT

Which is still giving sterling service.
Granted, it's not quite as snappy as when it was new, but then again, it is currently running the latest version of iOS, iOS9.

Considering that the original version of the iOS for this iPad, was iOS5, this old iPad is doing well.

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Also, some people blame the device vs the apps
Oct 28, 2015 7:24AM PDT

I find many apps simply have never and do not run well on the iPad 2. It's a function of their quality as well as the Apple hardware.

Frankly, the fact that Apple even provides a way to load the latest version of iOS on them is impressive though.