All of iOS 15.x has ruined my SE1 performance and battery life

[thadoggfather]

now, its nice that Apple supports devices so long...

at the same time, without being able to downgrade to iOS 14 officially (and with a caveat if you do with other methods) people on a shoestring budget or who can't be bothered to move on from the 4" / iPhone 5 form factor, are getting completely hosed imo.

Every single version of iOS 15 I've tried (15.0 PB's, 15.1.x, 15.4.1, 15.6) has been crap on my se1 with 98% battery health:
-jumpy battery percent indicator,
-gobbles battery life just looking at it or letting it rest,
-clunky performance, etc.

and yes, background app settings are off. yes, ive given it time to settle and index, etc. and yes ive restored and set up as new. many times.

I recently reverted to iOS 14.3 with A9 exploits and tools on a one-off and it is NIGHT and DAY different and superior.

I also have an SE 2020 (or 2nd generation, the A13 one) and have had it on iOS 13.5 , 14.8 and now 15.1 and it did not wreck the device in the same manner - I would be shocked if it did given the hardware. Same with 12 Pro from 14.x to 15.1

Granted, se2020 is a 4 year newer SoC and iOS 15 for the SE1 is 6 years down the line from its shipping version of iOS 9.3 which is impressive. But again, at the same time, if one even WANTED to pick up a cheap SE1 for the collection or nostalgia, unless you got a used one that someone hasn't updated or old inventory (always possible for both, but users are likely to upgrade their version than not / have auto updates on, even if they dont Apple pesters them enough they submit to its will eventually) it ain’t gonna be good

anyways, just thought I'd share, that I hate this. The final shipping major version of a device is an absolute dog. It in essence tarnishes the entire legacy of the device, if one were to pick one up now.

 

[Isamilis]

I have similar experience with my 6s. It was running smooth until iOS 12 (I stayed at 12 intentionally). When I gave the phone to my son, he urged to update to 15.x due to he needs game that run only in 15. It ends up, his 6s run slowly, bring power bank brick everywhere. I regrets allowing him to update, but nothing can be done.
Mine is iPhone 11 also got a bit slow down and easy to get hot after update to 15 (it was running cool in 14.8.1). But I need to upgrade due to security fix as well as copy text from photo functionality, which really helpful.
Lesson learned, even though old devices are still supported, but Apple didn’t guarantee they still run as fast, as efficient as in the previous version. It’s up to us to give up the speed and efficiency for better security and more functionalities. This is especially very noticeable in iOS 15 (upwards?).

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I have similar experience with my 6s. It was running smooth until iOS 12 (I stayed at 12 intentionally). When I gave the phone to my son, he urged to update to 15.x due to he needs game that run only in 15. It ends up, his 6s run slowly, bring power bank brick everywhere. I regrets allowing him to update, but nothing can be done.
Mine is iPhone 11 also got a bit slow down and easy to get hot after update to 15 (it was running cool in 14.8.1). But I need to upgrade due to security fix as well as copy text from photo functionality, which really helpful.
Lesson learned, even though old devices are still supported, but Apple didn’t guarantee they still run as fast, as efficient as in the previous version. It’s up to us to give up the speed and efficiency for better security and more functionalities. This is especially very noticeable in iOS 15 (upwards?).

My backup 6S is on 12.4 because I wanted at least one of my devices to have fully functional force touch and it works great on iOS12 as you stated. I rarely use it but I keep it charged between 40-80% and pull it out to mess with it every once and awhile.

 

[asus389]

Yeah my 6S does the same thing on 15. 15.5 and 15.6 have been the worst. I've reset, restored, set up as new, etc. The battery stuff is ridiculous. It was fine on 14.8.1.

 

[winxmac]

I recently reverted to iOS 14.3 with A9 exploits and tools

I think I know how you did it since I watched a few YouTube videos about it... It's not as easy as downloading the IPSW and restoring to iTunes... I am still hoping that we can restore/downgrade to the last update of previous versions officially without having to go through several hoops...

If Apple allows iOS downgrades, I would restore my iPhone 6s to iOS 9.3.5 and my iPhone 7 Plus to iOS 10.3.3 or I could just have them both on iOS 13.7 which is the oldest major version that has dark mode...

Right now the battery life of my iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 15.6 RC is 93% [it's been like that even before I switched/upgraded to iOS 15.x] and I don't really notice any slowdown nor does the battery life seem to be poor and it could also be because I don't play games nor do any high demand tasks on it...