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iOS 11 on iPhone 6 (or older) devices

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RobbyIdol

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 20, 2012
248
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I have an iPhone 6 and I feel like iOS 10 may be the pinnacle OS for it's design. Other than a few simple tweaks (like the new control center), I don't see much difference or appeal in 11 for those of us owning older devices. The risk of system lag is too high to download and try for me. Right now, 10.3.3 runs buttery smooth on my iPhone 6 and I've made the mistake before of upgrading software beyond a phone's hardware capabilities.

So who's running 11 on an iPhone 6 (or older)? Your thoughts? Is there any real change that benefits your experience?
 
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RobbyIdol said:
I have an iPhone 6 and I feel like iOS 10 may be the pinnacle OS for it's design. Other than a few simple tweaks (like the new control center), I don't see much difference or appeal in 11 for those of us owning older devices. The risk of system lag is too high to download and try for me. Right now, 10.3.3 runs buttery smooth on my iPhone 6 and I've made the mistake before of upgrading software beyond a phone's hardware capabilities.

So who's running 11 on an iPhone 6 (or older)? Your thoughts? Is there any real change that benefits your experience?
Click to expand...

I'd stay on 10.3.3 if on a 6, the changes with iOS 11 for the iPhone are not substantial enough to sacrifice any performance losses. I run it on a 6s just for the improved safari scrolling. However the more I use iOS 11, the more I am thinking of rolling back to 10.3.3 while the opportunity exists. It isn't very polished and noticing many instances of lag that were not there on 10.3.3 on my 6s.
 
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I'm planning on leaving my 6 on ios 10, but interested to hear the consensus among people who upgraded whether it's smooth
 
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I upgraded. It seems fine. I've just decided to upgrade the battery in my 6 and keep it for another year.
 
Works very well for me--so far no hick ups--however like some others--the keyboard shift does not seem to be supported on the 65
 
iPhone 6 here, on iOS 11.
I am extremely pleased with overall performance.
 
I am on an iPhone 6 that I got a few month ago (replacement from Apple because my previous had battery issues) and have been running iOS 11 since Beta 1.

Aside from some of the typical issues that others had with the Beta, I am very happy with iOS 11 on my 6. Don’t upgrade to 11 or stay on 10 based on what you read...different people have different issues. Try it and see if you like it!

I am very happy with iOS 11 and I do not notice any really performance issues. But then again, I’m not so picky that a few milliseconds difference on an animation are going to destroy me. It really isn’t that tragic...
 
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I REALLY like the screenshot functionality. Screenshot, markup, and send without saving and not cluttering up photos. It's great.
Maybe I'm weird and do that more than average user LOL...

But yes, it's slower on my 6, but tolerable.
 
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videotape74 said:
Don’t upgrade to 11 or stay on 10 based on what you read...different people have different issues.
[...]
I am very happy with iOS 11 and I do not notice any really performance issues. But then again, I’m not so picky that a few milliseconds difference on an animation are going to destroy me. It really isn’t that tragic...
Click to expand...

This. I'm not OCD/anal to the point milliseconds matter. My (soon to be ex) 6 is running fine. The main apps I use are running well. Not a social media, alternate messaging, gaming app user, so, not flipping wildly between apps and responding to notification alerts (have those turned off for most apps), so, not noticing anything dramatic performance-wise.

At a 32k foot view, not seeing any lag.
 
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I hate how the App Store doesn't bother to tailor itself to your device, despite A7 not having ARKit the apps/games pages are headlined with those apps, this seems like such a simple fix I can only imagine that they do it to make you feel bad for not having a new device.
 
I'm happy with iOS 11 on my 6. But my 6 is going to retire after 10/27. I've wanted to upgrade for two cycles now and honestly nothing was new and exciting enough to entice me. My 6 has been dying a slow death by battery for awhile now and it's time to put it to rest.
 
For what concerns smooth animations, it's quite ok. However, apps get kicked out of memory a lot quicker, which makes apps reload much more than on iOS 10 : this makes overall experience slower for me (one of the few device left with 1 GB RAM).
Battery life is also terrible. After a week on the GM, I returned to 10.3.3 yesterday evening. Already today I noticed a lot better battery life. Average life is about 6h on 10, on 11 it was about 4h.
Battery wear is 14% (500 cycles) on a 6 that's almost 3 years old.

I am definitely holding off on upgrading for now, might reconsider in a few months, but not sure if 11 brings enough to sacrifice performance for. By then a downgrade will be impossible, so better to act cautiously.
 
I assume there are some security updates enhancements in iOS 11 that are not in 10. I always update my phone to the current OS.
 
No problems here. The Apple TV remote on the control centre and the upgrades to watch os4 are particular highlights, but I’m liking the general look and feel updates too. Obviously it’s way better on the iPad Pro, and I was always going to upgrade everything to the same.

Good update as far as I can see
 
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