“iOS 9 introduces some exciting new features, and one of the most interesting is Split View, which allows you to use two apps at the same time on your tablet,” Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writes for ZDNet.
“But there’s a catch, which is that in order to make use this feature you’ll need the newest iPad, the iPad Air 2,” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “Two things separate the iPad Air 2 from the earlier iPads. The first of those differences is that the iPad Air 2 is the first iPad to feature 2GB of RAM (it’s predecessor had 1GB). The other difference is that it is the first iPad to feature a triple-core processor, giving it more horsepower.”
“One question that I have is this — is this limitation based on hardware, or it is an arbitrary limitation that Apple has imposed to sell more iPads? ” Kingsley-Hughes writes. “Whatever the reason, if you want to use two apps simultaneously, the price of entry is a new iPad Air 2.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: iPad Air 2 owners – enjoy. Owners of older iPads, of whom there are many, might want to consider waiting a few months for Apple’s next-gen iPads – they’re going to be very hot-sellers!
SEE ALSO:
Split-view multitasking: Hands on with Apple’s iOS 9 beta on iPad Air 2 – June 9, 2015
By the time iOS 9 goes out of beta, Apple will be about to launch the next generation iPad. It’s not that certain iOS 9 features will only support the latest iPad, but the latest iPad and the previous iPad. Either way, just wait until October and buy the next one. By the way, nobody complains when it’s clearly a hardware issue, like how the iPhone 5S had Touch ID in iOS 7 but iPhone 5 didn’t. It’s not that much different here: iPad Air 2 has twice the RAM as the iPad Air 1. Apple is completely right to push that extra hardware toward something useful in the OS.
When Target left Canada iPads were selling for 15% off, I wavered between an Air and an Air 2. Glad I spent a little extra.
Could’ve waited til this fall’s refresh, but iPhone prices had jumped earlier that week due to currency rate adjustments. It hadn’t (and still hasn’t) affected prices for the current Air 2 inventory, but it’s a 100% certainty the next iPad will be $70-100 CAD higher if the starting US price remains $499.
I’m sure someone will hack iOS 9’s split-screen view to work on older jailbroken iPad models. Then we can decide whether it was a performance decision or a marketing decision.
Try this using apps that barely run on iPad Air 1 because of RAM constraints and then compare to iPad Air 2.
If the word about Rootless in iOS 9 is accurate I would not be counting on jailbreaking your device.
Yep, time to upgrade. Use the old one as a second monitor using Duet or give it to kids for their games.
Or – if you’re interested – wait for the ‘iPad Pro” likely out this fall (surprised MDN didn’t mention it)…. ….more real estate, next gen processor, etc…. …and the iPA’s refresh in the familiar size….
…and bet you the ppl working in MS’ Surface Shop can hear the footsteps already….
These are just unfounded rumors, and people saying stuff like this matter-of-factly is what drives the stock down when it doesn’t actually happen.
This is comparative to how fans of science preaching pseudoscience and harming the scientific community through negative perceptions.
Assumptions and guesses presented as facts are not the way to go. However, saying to wait until the next line of iPads are released is a safer approach, as Apple has statistically released new versions year over year, but people should not get their hops up for an entirely new iPad Pro until Apple announces such a still-mythical device.
“likely” covered it for me. Your mileage obviously varied.
I’m a happy owner of an iPad 2. I got in it 2011, and it’s still serving me as well as during the first day. Now I’m thinking in buying a new iPad to access the new features.
Having said that, 4 years lifespan for a piece of technology is remarkable. No complaints. I’ll give my old iPad to my wife (she’s not a techie, so she doesn’t need more), and I’ll get a new one. If it lasts me 4 more years, I’ll be fully satisfied.
You’re really asking the question ? Of COURSE its an arbitrary Apple decision. It aligns exactly with Apples often too quick and planned obsolescence of products.
BTW sounds like a feature screaming for larger screen.
BS alert!
It’s not BS at all. I’ve used Macs exclusively since 1988 and it’s been a standard feature of software updates that there is usually a certain hardware requirement that needs to be met or else the software will not load.
Obviously software needs an appropriate amount of CPU power and RAM in order to function, but there have been many examples of the yes/no decision was made according to other features. Lack of built-in FireWire was one of those limitations that prevented me from installing software upgrades on a number of Macs many years ago, despite the fact that the CPUs and RAM would have easily handled the software itself. You can see similar seemingly arbritary restrictions every time that upgrades appear.
In my loft I have many old Macs, MacBooks, TiBooks, iDevices and heaven knows what. All of them are in working condition, but every one of them had to be prematurely retired because they could not have their software upgraded in order to interact with my newer devices.
I’m intelligent enough to realise that an old computer can’t do the demanding tasks that new ones can, but that doesn’t mean that they have to be completely abandoned. For example, HomeKit is a great concept and it shouldn’t need vast computing power for a device to serve as a remote control but HomeKit requires OS 8, so older iPhones or iPod touches can’t be used.
Abandoning Rosetta was another example. I have design work from twenty or more years ago that was done on commercial apps which were long-since killed off. Rosetta allowed me to emulate a PPC Mac, run the original software and re-visit those files. The custom equipment I designed has a working life of 20-30 years and occasionally I need to make repairs or upgrades, which requires access to the design files. No current Mac or iPad allows me to do that, yet every current Mac has more than enough ability to run Rosetta – if it hadn’t been killed off.
It’s hard to definitely say whether this is a deliberate ploy for planned obsolescence, but the fact remains that devices have to be replaced while the hardware is still fully operational.
Apple quite rightly flags up it’s green credentials. It would be good if they also did more to allow our older devices to still be useful in a meaningful way, rather than gathering dust.
So why don’t you use one of your old, still working Macs sitting in your loft to run your old Rosetta needing design programs?
Sucks that i have to go all the way to a new iPad to get these features. I mean at least the iPad air should be able to. I hate when they leave out older models. I mean the split screen should not take up that much ram depending on what your doing. video yes but email and chat or something or notes and email or browsing and chat no reason to not even go back a few more generations.
First these stupid flat icons on the iPhone then the stupid stuff they have done to the mac. Now i know how it feels to be a windowz user haha