Introduction

I recently upgraded my older iPad Pro 12.9-inch from 2018 to the latest iPadOS, only to find it lagging more than before. After some troubleshooting, I discovered three settings that significantly improved its performance. In this guide, I'll walk you through these settings and explain how they work.

I turned off 3 iPad settings and my 8-year-old iPad Pro finally stopped lagging

BAR (Background App Refresh) Off

The first setting I turned off was Background App Refresh. This feature allows apps to continue running in the background, checking for updates or new content. On older hardware like mine, this can stress the limited RAM, causing the user interface (UI) to lag.

How to Disable Background App Refresh

  1. Open Settings on your iPad.
  2. Tap General.
  3. Scroll down and tap Background App Refresh.
  4. Toggle it off completely.

Benefits and Drawbacks

  • Benefits: Reduces the UI lag and battery drain caused by apps running in the background.
  • Drawbacks: You won't be able to refresh apps in the background, which can be useful for checking for updates or new content.

Reduce Motion

The second setting I turned off was Reduce Motion. This feature changes the zoom/slide transitions to cross-fades and stops the parallax features for your wallpaper and icons. It's particularly useful on older hardware because the A12X's 7-core GPU struggles with the more modern compositing work with the newer OS.

How to Disable Reduce Motion

  1. Open Settings on your iPad.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Scroll down and tap Motion.
  4. Toggle the Reduce Motion option off.

Benefits and Drawbacks

  • Benefits: Reduces visual noise and improves readability, especially on older hardware.
  • Drawbacks: It may not speed up your iPad, but it can improve the overall user experience.

Reduce Transparency

The third setting I turned on was Reduce Transparency. This feature replaces blurred or translucent layers in places like Control Center, app switcher, and keyboard with a more solid color. It can improve contrast and readability, which is especially helpful on older hardware.

How to Enable Reduce Transparency

  1. Open Settings on your iPad.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Scroll down and tap Display & Text Size.
  4. Toggle the Reduce Transparency option on.

Benefits and Drawbacks

  • Benefits: Improves readability and contrast, especially on older hardware.
  • Drawbacks: It won't speed up your iPad, but it can make it easier to read and use.

Conclusion

By turning off Background App Refresh and Reduce Motion, and enabling Reduce Transparency, I was able to significantly improve the performance of my 8-year-old iPad Pro. These simple settings tweaks can make your older device feel much snappier and more responsive, which is especially useful for everyday tasks. If you're looking to speed things up even more, consider freeing up some storage space, which could help your device work just a little faster.

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