Hardly any manufacturer keeps its smartphones and tablets alive longer than Apple. But even with the US group, the end of the road is reached at some point. It currently hits two iPad classics. We reveal what’s changing for tablet owners and why that doesn’t bode well for future software updates.
When you hear “vintage”, the first thing that comes to mind is fashion or furniture. However, the term is also a constant at Apple: the manufacturer uses it to describe products that “have not been manufactured for more than five and less than seven years” and for which the group restricts the hardware service. With the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 now fall into this category as two true iPad classics (Source: MacRumors).
Apple classifies iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 as “vintage”.
Means for owners of the respective iPads: The repair window is closing. Apple only promises one more limited service and parts support. In the worst case, the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 can no longer be repaired if there is damage because the spare parts are simply not available.
Have iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 2 already a few years under his belt. The former was presented in 2014, the Mini 2 the year before. It shouldn’t be too surprising in 2022 that both tablets will eventually end up in the technology graveyard.
If you are looking for a replacement for your vintage iPad, you might find it in the new iPad Air 5:
Will the iPad Air 2 get another update to iPadOS 16?
However, the classification as a “vintage” product for future software updates is likely to be more important than the end of hardware support – at least for the iPad Air 2. To the surprise of many, the tablet classic received an update to iPadOS 15 last year. The odds of iPad Air 2 getting iPadOS 16 update this fall, have at least not increased with the vintage classification. The iPad Mini 2 has already reached the end of its software life.