Wife has an iPad 3, running some version of IOS (I have no idea, I don't use the thing, and barely tolerate its existence).  I had read some time ago about people suffering great pains after upgrading their iPads to whatever the latest version of IOS is.  She has some apps, however, that are not working right, and we cannot access the App Store to update them, presumably because Apple is forcing us to upgrade the IOS version.

So... What are the troubles with upgrading IOS on an iPad 3?  I had read about broken features, broken functionality, dismal battery life, and many people hated the new interface.  She has a brand new iPhone 6 something or other, so perhaps she is already used to whatever the "new" interface is?

Should we upgrade?

so your apps don't work, the iPad is basically useless, and you're concerned it will be worse when you upgrade?

just upgrade and get it over with

The apps that don't work are entertainment apps, she uses other apps for work and I'm concerned about it not working at all after the upgrade.

Just curious what pitfalls to watch out for.  I assume its not possible to easily roll an Apple product back to a prior release....

I updated mine and my wife's last week. We did not turn into newts.

This entirely depends on how far back the iOS is.


Three versions back, yes, then you will have problems due to that alone.




Current version and just the latest stuff to update? Probably won't have problems if you don't upgrade, but if you do, you could be an involuntary beta-tester for Apple.




Here is what I would do:




- Make absolutely sure your wife knows how to reboot.  Not just turn the screen off, RE BOOT it.


- Make sure she knows how to actually close apps.  Not just, "hide them" but close.  (Hint: double click the button, swipe up on all the tiles that appear until no more appear.)




Do that first, chances are, it's fucked up because it hasn't been restarted.




But find out the latest version of the OS, and the version installed on it too.




For the WORK stuff, ask the IT department at work about it. If they won't support it, then she shouldn't be using that device for work. Make THEM do the thinking on that stuff.




The interfaces don't change THAT much so she should be fine.


 

I always wait a few months before updating the OS to let other people deal with the bullshit bugs that get introduced and fixed.

From what I'm reading the iOS 8 update slowed down the iPad 3 a bit, but the iOS 8.1 update fixed that. I would go ahead and update it.

Check out gottabemobile

Part of the updates is not just new features but security updates. If you're using the iPad for work it should be up to date on software to avoid security issues.


FWIW the iPad 3 was underpowered out of the box. The GPU was not up to running the Retina screen which was introduced to iPad's with that model. That is why the iPad 4 was released pretty quickly after the 3 with a much better CPU/GPU.



You can find NIB iPad Air's for pretty good prices these days. Much improved over previous models even if you don't want to shell out for a new Air 2. They have had 128GB cellular models around here for ~$500 and lower models for around ~$350.

iPad3 here.  Running iOS 8.2.

It's slow.  Not dead, but much slower than 7.x was. 8.3 (coming soon) is 'supposed' to address this, but I'll believe it when I see it.


Otherwise it runs just fine on 8.2

 

I am running the beta of 8.3 on my iPhone 6 and everything is running great. Awesome battery life, and no major issues.



The iPad 3 is 4 generations old now so its not unexpected that performance would slow when its running an OS that is designed around newer and much better hardware.

the latest ipad upgrade fixed my issue with inline youtube videos on arfcom

I just updated my Six Plus, and it went fine. No issues noticed so far.

You can semi-hide it at least:

Not to steal the thread, but I think you'll be surprised how many they sell.