I am considering updating to iPadOS16 for my original 10.5 iPad Pro, and am reaching out to see if others have done it. Right now I'm on 14.3 and everything is still quick and responsive. But several apps are complaining about needing a newer OS, so it might be a good time to update. Am I looking at slowdowns and latency problems if I update?

Main uses are for video, zinio, browsing, MS Teams, kindle reading

Config:
ipad pro - model A1701, 256G, A10x cpu, currently on 14.3

I have it installed on my iPad Pro 10.5 and hasn’t been an issue.

Second… no issue.

Great to know. Thanks for the feedback.

For that use, keep it on iPadOS 14. You seem to be fine with it, why decrease battery life if it works just fine on iPadOS 14?

The main problem with keeping on 14 is that several apps will not load their latest version since they require at least ios15. So I'm reminded of that each and every time a new app version comes out. And some new apps won't load on 14.
As an aside, I also have an ipad mini 4 on 13.5 which has dozens of apps I cannot upgrade due to this issue. I'm forced to bypass most of the upgrades and click "load older version", and that is a hassle. And the longer I stay on my current os version, the worse this problem becomes.
What I hoped to do with save my SHSH2 blobs so that I can return to iPadOS14.3, but since Apple is not signing that old version I cannot save the blobs. I feel that loading iPadOS16.1 then saving the blobs will at least let me load 16 any time in the future. But the downside to that is I cannot return back to 14. I hate that Apple policy, but that's what I have to live with.

meeebee said:

The main problem with keeping on 14 is that several apps will not load their latest version since they require at least ios15. So I'm reminded of that each and every time a new app version comes out. And some new apps won't load on 14.
As an aside, I also have an ipad mini 4 on 13.5 which has dozens of apps I cannot upgrade due to this issue. I'm forced to bypass most of the upgrades and click "load older version", and that is a hassle. And the longer I stay on my current os version, the worse this problem becomes.
What I hoped to do with save my SHSH2 blobs so that I can return to iPadOS14.3, but since Apple is not signing that old version I cannot save the blobs. I feel that loading iPadOS16.1 then saving the blobs will at least let me load 16 any time in the future. But the downside to that is I cannot return back to 14. I hate that Apple policy, but that's what I have to live with.

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Yeah, you cannot update some apps, but they still work just fine. The apps that require more than iPadOS 14 to begin with aren’t a lot I reckon. You can download older versions just fine, and they work.

I use a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 (it would be on iOS 9 hadn’t Apple forced it out of it with the abhorrent A9 on iOS 9 activation bug) and it works just fine.

I download the apps I need and just use those. I don’t update them, but they do everything I need.

My only annoyance with staying on older versions of iOS is Safari, my iPhone 6s on iOS 10 fails to load a lot of websites, or at least enough that I am noticing. Apart from that, it’s perfect.

My 9.7-inch iPad Pro isn’t, battery life is significantly worse than on iOS 9, but it’s been three years and I’ve come to terms with it. I am grateful that it is not on iPadOS 16, battery life must be abhorrent. Maybe around 5-6 hours, as far as I’ve seen? It’s not the best. However, so far websites are fine on iOS 12, the vast, vast majority of them work perfectly.

My 10.5” has no issues with iOS 16, and no discernible decrease in battery life.

Count me among the 10.5” owners with no issues running iPadOS 16.x

Count me among the 10.5” owners who are still enjoying this sweet iPad. In hindsight, it was a much better value than I realized.

ProMotion, quad speakers, headphone jack, and a form factor made for holding comfortably. I’ve recently purchased a new Apple leather Smart Cover and a new Smart Keyboard, both new and at huge discounts and it feels new again. Yeah, I have a faint “white spot” but dark mode hides it well.

I have a 10.5 MacBook Pro 2017 running IPADOS 16X. Nothing has changed since the update.

CharlesShaw said:

Count me among the 10.5” owners with no issues running iPadOS 16.x

Count me among the 10.5” owners who are still enjoying this sweet iPad. In hindsight, it was a much better value than I realized.

ProMotion, quad speakers, headphone jack, and a form factor made for holding comfortably. I’ve recently purchased a new Apple leather Smart Cover and a new Smart Keyboard, both new and at huge discounts and it feels new again. Yeah, I have a faint “white spot” but dark mode hides it well.

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Yeah the two iPad Pros with a Home Button are really cool, even if the 9.7-inch iPad Pro was unfairly hindered by being the only iPad Pro ever to have less than 4GB of RAM. I don’t notice it because I’ve left it on iOS 12 (after being forced from iOS 9 by Apple) and frankly it performs perfectly, better than I expected immediately after I was forced.

I find the 9.7-inch iPad Pro cool because it is the best 9.7-inch iPad to ever exist, kind of like the culmination, the best iteration of that initial form factor.

In some ways, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is better than the last iteration of the 10.5-inch iPad (the Air 3) although that isn’t as clear-cut as it is with the 9.7-inch model.

Regardless, it’s very nice. I like the home button form factor, so much so that I continue to use it even if I have a model with the new form factor.

FeliApple said:

Yeah, you cannot update some apps, but they still work just fine. The apps that require more than iPadOS 14 to begin with aren’t a lot I reckon. You can download older versions just fine, and they work.

I use a 9.7-inch iPad Pro on iOS 12 (it would be on iOS 9 hadn’t Apple forced it out of it with the abhorrent A9 on iOS 9 activation bug) and it works just fine.

I download the apps I need and just use those. I don’t update them, but they do everything I need.

My only annoyance with staying on older versions of iOS is Safari, my iPhone 6s on iOS 10 fails to load a lot of websites, or at least enough that I am noticing. Apart from that, it’s perfect.

My 9.7-inch iPad Pro isn’t, battery life is significantly worse than on iOS 9, but it’s been three years and I’ve come to terms with it. I am grateful that it is not on iPadOS 16, battery life must be abhorrent. Maybe around 5-6 hours, as far as I’ve seen? It’s not the best. However, so far websites are fine on iOS 12, the vast, vast majority of them work perfectly.

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The main issue you have is the OS has security holes, as do the core apps like Safari and Messages, and many of the third party ones will too. Apart from that, it’s all good.

gutferric said:

The main issue you have is the OS has security holes, as do the core apps like Safari and Messages, and many of the third party ones will too. Apart from that, it’s all good.

Security on iPad is much less of an issue than on MacOS or, worse, Windows. Having said that I am among those who are on 16 on the 10.5 with no slowdown, can't tell if the battery life is less, was already not great on 15. However my 9.7 is staying on 13.4.

Digitalguy said:

Security on iPad is much less of an issue than on MacOS or, worse, Windows. Having said that I am among those who are on 16 on the 10.5 with no slowdown, can't tell if the battery life is less, was already not great on 15. However my 9.7 is staying on 13.4.

It’s a lottery. We’ve seen from many high profile cases how damaging some attack vectors can be. You shouldn’t feel safe because you believe it’s less of an issue. If you get targeted or hit, all kinds of really bad things are as possible on iOS/iPadOS as they are on windows or Mac.

gutferric said:

The main issue you have is the OS has security holes, as do the core apps like Safari and Messages, and many of the third party ones will too. Apart from that, it’s all good.

The security argument falls apart immediately. Why? Because what happens when Apple stops supporting the device anyway? What if I don’t want to or can’t buy another, before you say “buy a new one”? Do I have to no longer use my iPad? No way. I’ll keep it in the best possible version Apple allows me (i.e., the earliest), and it will last a while like that.

In fact, I’d argue that the main issue is a different one (or a couple):

-App support: The #1 staying-on-earlier-versions killer. I’ve seen many, many, many people, countless people, stay on early versions of iOS for years until, like I said, they don’t want to or can’t buy a new one, and some apps stop working (because some require the latest versions which in turn require a newer version of iOS) or they cannot download new ones because the initial version requirement is outright higher and they don’t have a device to download it first and then download an earlier version. It is impossible to solve without updating and tough to put up with if enough versions of iOS have passed and the user is a frequent new app user.

-Features: This one is completely irrelevant for me because I frankly don’t care, but some people really like using the new features.

-Safari: While it can be mitigated through the use of a third-party browser, I like to use Safari and its usefulness diminishes a lot. Many, many websites don’t load if you stay behind enough. I’m on iOS 10 on my iPhone 6s and Safari works half the time, it’s not great. This is obviously because Safari updates are bundled with iOS.

Edit: both App Support and Safari have the same qualms even when updating: they eventually stop working perfectly regardless, and you have a far more crippled device that if you were to leave it on its original iOS version.

Even if usefulness is greatly reduced, what would you prefer, four years from now, or five? An iPad Air 2 on iOS 8 or an iPad Air 2 on iPadOS 15? The former will be perfect for basic apps, the latter won’t be, Safari will work poorly on both, and security will be poor on both. Give it enough time, and any argument in favour of updating is nullified.
Yeah, you can say, you gain a lot of life if you update, even at the expense of battery life and performance, and then you will need to upgrade anyway, either because the iOS version is too old (iOS 8), and can’t run anything other than the most basic tasks, or because the device works too poorly AND the iOS version Will also be too old (albeit a lot newer). So, you gain a little time at the massive expense of both performance and battery life; otherwise, you lose some functions quickly (or more quickly than a fully updated device), but the device remains flawless for its entire lifetime.

gutferric said:

It’s a lottery. We’ve seen from many high profile cases how damaging some attack vectors can be. You shouldn’t feel safe because you believe it’s less of an issue. If you get targeted or hit, all kinds of really bad things are as possible on iOS/iPadOS as they are on windows or Mac.

I feel totally safe... If I upgrade it's not for security but for apps and features. Other than that I have zero issues with security on iPads, at least with the way I use them...

Did you update it in the end? I have it on 15.7.2 and not sure if I should upgrade or not.
I remember when iPad OS 15 came out I had a lot stutter and frame drops. It was fixed in the end but I want to avoid it if that’s the case now with iPad OS 16.

FeliApple said:

Even if usefulness is greatly reduced, what would you prefer, four years from now, or five? An iPad Air 2 on iOS 8 or an iPad Air 2 on iPadOS 15? The former will be perfect for basic apps, the latter won’t be, Safari will work poorly on both, and security will be poor on both. Give it enough time, and any argument in favour of updating is nullified.
Yeah, you can say, you gain a lot of life if you update, even at the expense of battery life and performance, and then you will need to upgrade anyway, either because the iOS version is too old (iOS 8), and can’t run anything other than the most basic tasks, or because the device works too poorly AND the iOS version Will also be too old (albeit a lot newer). So, you gain a little time at the massive expense of both performance and battery life; otherwise, you lose some functions quickly (or more quickly than a fully updated device), but the device remains flawless for its entire lifetime.

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Frankly, both of those will be awful 4-5 years from now. That said, Air 2 + iPadOS 15 is a lot more usable now than Air 2 + iOS 8. I can't even install Disney+ on iOS 8.

Yes, you'll need to upgrade eventually. That said, if I never updated my iPads, I would've needed to replace that Air 2 on iOS 8 after just 2 years whereas a relatively up to date one (maybe 1-2 major versions below latest) lasted us 6 years with good to acceptable performance.

rui no onna said:

Frankly, both of those will be awful 4-5 years from now. That said, Air 2 + iPadOS 15 is a lot more usable now than Air 2 + iOS 8. I can't even install Disney+ on iOS 8.

Yes, you'll need to upgrade eventually. That said, if I never updated my iPads, I would've needed to replace that Air 2 on iOS 8 after just 2 years whereas a relatively up to date one (maybe 1-2 major versions below latest) lasted us 6 years with good to acceptable performance.

Agree, completely!

I think I said it pretty well here: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-or-upgrade-to-ios-15-5.2348934/post-31910044

[...]
“I think that like many things in life, there’s a currency here: you sell battery life and performance in exchange for temporary compatibility. The more that compatibility extends, the more performance and battery life you give away. While they aren’t directly proportional, the overall gist is correct, I think. How much performance and battery do you want to spend? Well, that’s a very individual decision.”

[...]

z.i.g said:

Did you update it in the end? I have it on 15.7.2 and not sure if I should upgrade or not.
I remember when iPad OS 15 came out I had a lot stutter and frame drops. It was fixed in the end but I want to avoid it if that’s the case now with iPad OS 16.

I did want to report back that I backed up the system just in case I needed to restore, and then updated to 16.2. It runs really well, and I don't notice any lag or performance hit. The battery levels seem about the same too. So really pleased that I upgraded, and am thankful that this older model performs so well. It will last me another year or two. Thanks for all of the feedback on this thread, which gave me the courage to upgrade.