Thoughts on old tablets: iPad Air 2

The iPad Air 2 came out in October 2014 and started with iOS 8. Now, nearly 9 years later, they’re on iOS 15.7.8. It’s an old tablet by any means. That it still works and is largely capable is a sign of the reduced need for the constant march for upgrading. That’s not to say Moore’s Law is dead or any such exaggeration but that we reached a point even 10 years ago where any decently kitted computer still has enough processing power to do day-to-day tasks with aplomb. Mostly.

For instance, this works just fine for typing this up using Pages. The old Bluetooth keyboard also still works and, surprisingly, doesn’t have particularly bad input lag when it comes to typing. The display is as bright and clear as it was new and though the bezels are noticeably thicker than with today’s tablets, it’s still usable. And, really, that’s where it lands. It’s roughly as capable as it was when it was all new in 2014.

That’s not to say there haven’t been advances since then. No question there have been. Efficiency and battery life have both improved and having a 9 year old battery certainly won’t last nearly as long as a new unit. However, if your needs are for a tablet to use at a desk that will need more than occasional power it is just fine for that. And that’s largely where older devices like this come in, as less-capable but still useful tools.

That it had an update, to iPadOS 15.7.8, mere days ago, is something that Apple should be lauded for in comparison to some of their competitors who release tablets and phones that are already abandoned from support even when they are still on store shelves. That’s especially true given the nature of device security, something that older devices are always at greater risk compared to newer devices without years of attack vectors being analyzed. Having said that, it’s still not the latest operating system. With iOS 17 nearly here, and iOS 16 having been out for some time now, it is lacking the frills of the latest versions.

What then, to do with such old hardware? It’s a difficult question. Abandoning working hardware to the dump is, by all accounts, a poor choice. That’s poor for economic and more importantly, for environmental reasons. It can still be used, to be repurposed, but ultimately in the ever march of progress it is at the end of its life. And because of that, there are issues that need resolved. Electronics are chock full of hazardous materials, like lead, cadmium, and lithium. The batteries are still a form of chemical energy storage that can have catastrophic failure resulting in fires. Lithium fires aren’t the easiest to fight and are quite dangerous. 

Beyond that, there are of course, risks to user data as well. Though I haven’t used mine steadily for 9 years, many other tablet computers are used regularly until replaced. That makes for years of personal information that, if not properly wiped, can lead to identity theft, privacy loss, and real harm to those individuals. Doing factory resets and data wiping are tasks that all owners of computers, of any kind, should be familiar with and should do when retiring old hardware. But that takes knowledge, time, and proper education. That can be overwhelming to many, if not most, users. It means taking time. Ultimately, that’s an issue that will plague us for as long as we all have computers and are producing data using them. 

I think, for myself, what I’ve most learned from having several iPads (including an iPad Mini 5 that replaced this Air 2) is that as much as I enjoy tinkering with technology I just don’t see iPads as being part of my needed computing library of tools. If I want to type on a portable computer I’ll pull out my MacBook Pro. It’s wildly more capable than any iPad whilst being only marginally larger compared to something like an iPad Pro with keyboard case. I’ve just never used my tablets as much as my phones or my laptops, both of which serve their purposes more efficiently. I’ve thought of using a tablet as a drawing device, as I really would like to get into digital artwork, but I keep looking back at my tablet use over the years and wonder if that really would be worth it or if I’d just be looking back in another 9 years typing up another short essay on how I never really used it except as an experiment to type up and share about how it still works.