For a 12 year old. Will an older ipad still run games, itunes etc ok?

Ipad3 onwards fine… versions 1&2 now pretty obsolete.

If it’s not running iOS 10 then no. Slow and insecure plus the app may not run at all.

I’m still using an iPad 2 and it’s perfectly fine. Having said that the only game I play is solitaire….

Its the only game in town

Planned obsolescence . . Besides he’s too young for said device – Steve Jobs wouldn’t let his kids have one . .

Really? Just about to replace the screen on an iPad 3 which is still in regular use, still works with current apps and running iOS 8 IIRC (can’t unlock to check at the moment).

Compare to the nvidia android offering new. Don’t know what you’re paying but probably with a look. Thread on here in the last few days.

Don’t go below the Air – anything earlier and iOS upgrades will stop pretty soon (As with the iPad2) rendering many Apps useless (where the latest iOS is required to run / update). The 2017 iPad has 32GB, great processor and is £339 retail before vouchers / cashbk etc. Buying second hand is often not worth it with Apple products. Also make sure that second hand units haven’t had any third party repairs, especially screens.

^ Agree with this.

Yes, older stuff will go on working if you never update OS/apps. But things will stop working/updating once it gets too old.

As said, the current iPad is better value than the model it replaces, starts with 32GB which is plenty for most uses and has a massive battery – if you can afford/justify it then you’ll get a good 4+ years of current support then however long after that.

What’s your budget OP? I would agree with the replies above saying not to go older than an iPad Air first gen but even they are £200+ second hand.

Depends on the app – there are only one or two apps we’ve found which don’t work on the iPad3 and yet to have an update for those installed which requires a newer OS. Most mainstream stuff doesn’t require the OS to be updated to anything very modern – why would they limit their market? (the one I can remember which didn’t work was some bobbins free app with a pair of shoes). Sure there will come a time when this doesn’t happen, but we’re a way off that yet – haven’t even updated the OS to the latest available version, so there’s an easy extension available there when it does become a problem. This seems to be an issue which is overstated by those without direct experience of running older hardware.

Really? Just about to replace the screen on an iPad 3 which is still in regular use, still works with current apps and running iOS 8 IIRC

Apologies I ignored the thread for most of the weekend. My original statement was poorly framed. Mrs S has an iPad 2 and it is stuck on iOS9. Slower than a slow thing and she has been warned off banking with it as there are some large security holes in the OS, since patched in the latest release. (One was a drive-by vulnerability when used on public wi-fi). Some of the apps will not update, so further holes to worry about but I’m a foil hat wearing type, ymmv.

Sigh…max of £200 WAS the plan.

My old iPad 3 runs like an absolute dog on iOS 9. Basically just use it for watching films on the train because it’s no good for anything else

Hmmm, interesting. I have an iPad air which works great. The kids use my iPad from 2013. Not sure which model name it is – it’s the first one with a lightning cable, came out as a bit of a surprise release.

Seems to work fairly well but at the same time it’s not being tested – the kids use it for messing about it (4 and 5). Should I stop updating it at some point?

my old iPad 4 still runs most things with no real issues – certainly well enough for the kids and wife.

There’s been a couple of new games that wouldn’t work but none the kids were interested in