Fortnite and Roblox making iPad 9 obsolete sooner than expected

Apple doesn’t talk much about RAM and iPads. Popular iPad games, however, are forcing the conversation. Fortnite and Roblox, for example, are saying game over to an iPad model with a kid-friendly price that Apple sold until last year.

What you should know

• Roblox is breaking on iPads with 3GB RAM or less
• Fortnite requires at least 4GB RAM to launch
• Apple stopped selling iPads with 3GB RAM in May 2024

How iPad games are breaking

Epic Games brought Fortnite back to the U.S. App Store in May 2025, requiring at least 4GB RAM for the online multiplayer title to actually work on iPad. Devices with 3GB RAM can install Fortnite, but the game won’t actually launch.

Meanwhile, Roblox has a lower minimum hardware requirement to run. Instead, players are randomly accessing “Low Memory Warning” messages during playback.

The alert could easily be misunderstood to mean that the device is low on free storage. However, memory refers to RAM (random access memory) in this case.

Roblox documents the “Low Memory Warning (Error Code: 292)” alert on its support site:

When your device is running low on memory we will display a warning. This gives you the option to:

• Leave – You will leave the experience and return to the Roblox home page. 
• Keep Playing – You can continue the experience but might crash soon!

We recommended that you exit the experience as soon as possible. This will ensure your state is saved and avatar is in a favorable position before you exit. After exiting, you can re-enter the same experience in a more stable state or try a new experience!

iPad upgrade tips

The good news is that each model in Apple’s current iPad lineup meets the minimum RAM requirement. However, Apple sold the iPad 9 with 3GB RAM from September 2021 through May 2024. This was the last iPad model with a Home button.

While Apple introduced the $449 iPad 10 with 4GB RAM in October 2022, the iPad 9 with 3GB RAM stuck around for another year and a half to hold the $329 price.

Apple dropped the iPad 10 price to $349 in May 2024. In March 2025, the iPad (A16) model replaced the iPad 10 with double the storage for the same price. RAM remains 4GB. Check your iPad’s RAM here.

While the iPad 9 remains perfectly suitable for FaceTime, video playback, and less graphics-intensive games, it can’t run Fortnite and struggles with Roblox. 

Fortunately, upgrading to a more capable model doesn’t have to cost game console prices. 

For example, my son’s iPad 9 retained $130 trade-in value. Meanwhile, the newest iPad (A16) discounted from $349 to $299 on sale made the upgrade cost a more manageable $169. That’s not bad for going from a 10.2-inch to 11-inch display, 64GB to 128GB storage, and Lightning to USB-C. 

If you’re running into the RAM constraint, it’s the most affordable upgrade without being refurbished or used hardware. However, the 3GB to 4GB RAM increase is the bare minimum. For a bigger RAM leap, any iPad that runs Apple Intelligence has at least 8GB RAM. The latest iPad Air will cost another $200, however, so the new iPad (A16) is ideal if price is a concern.