Remember the time when the iPad 2 rolled out and the entire world of Mac lovers swooned over the new, sleek, powerful device? That was only three years ago, in fact. However, since the times, they are a-changing, and the pace at which new technologies emerge continues to speed up from one year to the next, it seems that three years is enough to turn an gadget into history. It’s not that Apple has officially confirmed that the iPad 2 is actually going to become obsolete soon. However, reputed news outlet Apple Insider reported in early February 2014 that the device, which first hit the markets early on three years before, is slowing being ramped down. Ready to see the iPad 2 discontinued?

It’s interesting to note that, in a certain sense, the tag of ‘legacy device’ attached to the second version of the iPad is, in fact, rather warranted. After all, Apple has already discontinued newer models of its powerful tablet, but kept production of the iPad 2 going, because consumers seemed to still be taken with it. As such, the company seemed to adopt a strategy they’ve worked with before: they kept the production lines of the older device up and running, in order to offer it as a lower price alternative for consumers. However, as consumer interest finally seems to have waned, perhaps the time has, indeed, come, for the world at large to prepare to see the iPad 2 discontinued.

With iPad 2 discontinued, what options remain?

One look at current customer interest reports say buyers the world over are massively switching to newer, even better performing devices, such as the iPad mini and the iPad Air. There’s also still a steep difference in terms of price tags between the two versions of devices: the 16GB iPad 2 with Wi-Fi only does cost a hefty $399, while the Wi-Fi + Cellular data version is priced at $529; however, the corresponding versions of the iPad Air are both $100 more expensive, respectively.

If you were planning to purchase a second generation Apple tablet, though, you can rest at ease – for the time being, at least. That’s because there’s been no official confirmation about having the iPad 2 discontinued from Apple. We don’t know when the devices are going to stop being sold and, implicitly, we have no estimates on when stock runs out. At the moment, all we know is that inside sources close to the company say production is going to be slowed down a notch. Of course, as most all Apple fans out there know, when they ‘slow down’ production, it only makes sense to assume that soon, the second iteration of the iOS powered tablet is going to be a thing of the past.

How come the iPad 2 has stayed popular for so long?

There are many reasons for which it took us a relatively long time to see the iPad 2 discontinued. For one thing, pricing matters – a device which is that much cheaper than the rest of the offer from Apple in this segment is bound to be attractive to lower-end consumers. Of course, this is also the case because the iPad 2 is an efficient tablet. Efficiency is not its only selling point either: it is also compatible to a wide range of other devices, thanks to the 30-pin dock connector, which newer iPad models don’t sport. Bottom line, all the above arguments made it a popular choice on specialized market niches, such as the educational segment and many other institutions. However, it still paled in comparison to the iPad Air and iPad mini, which hit in late 2013. The major slim-down of the Air model, and the Retina display on the mini, respectively, sealed the fate of the iPad 2 forever, it seems.