How useful is an iPad 2 for gaming?

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by DarkLo, Apr 7, 2014.

  1. DarkLo

    DarkLo Member

    Sep 10, 2013
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    So I bought an iPad 2 a couple years ago but about a year back I let a family member use it for a while. I now have it back and while I'd like to upgrade I'd rather wait six months and see what this year's iPad is.

    The question I have is how good is the iPad 2 at gaming still? I have a big older backlog but I'm curious if I can play newer games (and if playable are they at reasonable framerates). I'm not expecting much with a 3 year old device but I figure I'd ask the community and see what my expectations should be.
     
  2. slamraman

    slamraman Well-Known Member
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    Aug 27, 2011
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    I have an old iPad2 that I use almost every day and I can honestly say I've had no problem playing anything on it. It plays stuff like GTA San Andreas et al fantastically well. I've got an iPad Air as well and I have never found the difference that remarkable when it comes to gaming.
     
  3. copaeci

    copaeci Well-Known Member

    Nov 2, 2012
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    I used ipad 2 for gaming since 2012. If you use iOS 7, the game's perfomance on ipad 2 is bad. Most of games crash a lot esp when you play 3D games, even for boom beach game. I need to restart my ipad everytime I want to play it smoothly. However, if you still use ios 6, it doesn't disturb too much. Some games plays smoothly on it. The worst thing, most new games need iOS 7 to be played right now. Well, iPad 2 can be upgraded to 7, but the performance is poor IMO. I just bought iPad Air and it's an awesome device for playing games nowadays.:D
     
  4. DarkLo

    DarkLo Member

    Sep 10, 2013
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    So I have one person telling me it works fine and another saying it crashes constantly.

    Hopefully I don't have issues. I'm already enjoying the bigger screen size and I'm really hoping this holds me over until a new iPad comes out later this year.
     
  5. slamraman

    slamraman Well-Known Member
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    Aug 27, 2011
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    I think it will. I'm on iOS7 and me and my kids use it every day with no problems at all. My iPad Air is perhaps quicker with internet and prettier but my iPad2 we hammer the hell out of. It's the same spec (roughly) as the 1st gen iPad mini so should be okay for another year or so.
     
  6. cloudpuff

    cloudpuff Well-Known Member

    Sep 12, 2013
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    My daughter has ipad2 which my husband also uses (I have 1st gen mini) and it gets hours and hours of use everyday between them, it's still on iOS 6 as she hates the look of ios7 and it works perfectly fine. I reckon you'll get to the new release with yours fine as long as playing new releases isn't extremely important as some now require ios7 which I've read doesn't work too well with ipad2. Saying that, I've not come across a game that doesn't work with her device yet.

    What you could do though if you see any great new games at sale or free is lock in licenses for when you do get that shiney new iPad. If it was me, I would absolutely wait for the newer device
     
  7. OMG an iPad 2? You're so out of it. Jk no problem here.
     
  8. CzechCongo

    CzechCongo Well-Known Member

    Jul 17, 2013
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    I have the iPad mini which is similar hardware, and have ios 6 still, and I can count on one hand the number of games I've wanted to download that were ios 7 only.

    The only game that has been noticeably affected by the hardware is Smash Hit. Set it to medium graphics, though, and there's no problem.
     
  9. Topherunhinged

    Topherunhinged Well-Known Member

    Feb 7, 2014
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    My iPad 2 with iOS 7.x has played every title that I've tried perfectly... zero problems, perfect performance.
     
  10. kmacleod

    kmacleod Well-Known Member
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    Jul 1, 2009
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    There's nothing wrong with using the iPad 2 for gaming. Because of the retina display and iPad mini situation, the A5 used by the iPad 2 is still the primary target for most developers.

    You may not get buttery-smooth frame rates and the latest video effects, but you're probably at least a year from being locked out of any games completely ;)
     
  11. iPadisGreat

    iPadisGreat Well-Known Member

    Dec 10, 2012
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    I am still using my iPad 2 on the latest iOS 7.x. It is as fast as it was under iOS 6.x. Only difference is the App Store likes to crash now. Apps work as long as the developers patch to support iOS 7.1.

    To put things in perspective, I also have a Retina iPad Mini on iOS 7.x.

    I have not come across any significant difference between the two except LTE.
     
  12. SapphireDragon

    SapphireDragon Active Member

    Mar 24, 2014
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    My iPad 2 still works on all the latest games as long as I have it updated to iOS 7 :)

    How's your iPad so far?
     
  13. Dirty Harry Hannahan

    Dirty Harry Hannahan Well-Known Member

    Apr 14, 2011
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    I use an iPad 2. Plays everything my iPhone 5s does. Zero problems aside from the occasional crash. iPad 2 is still very useful for gaming.
     

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