Is iOS 11 Safe For The iPhone 6?

[Bazza1]

Seems okay - maybe even a bit faster - but I find the 'features' of the iOS are, for the most part, a huge wan... uh, more promise than actually useful.

We are constantly reminded that battery takes an initial hit on any iOS upgrade, but that improves over time - as the OS re-calibrates and reindexes, they say - less clear about why this need happen. I can't comment on battery life, as I have a Mophie battery case on mine - never finding the 6's battery life was anything to write home about.

 

[fmalloy]

My 6 is running pretty well, no complaints. I had a weird battery issue prior to updating where the battery meter was not working properly that seems to have cleared up with the update. (Battery would deplete quickly, battery would go from 30% to 0 instantly).

On my 6, I upgraded to 11 and the battery was at about 22% then just shut down. Plugged it in and it showed 11% remaining immediately.

In the MacOS console, I see that the BatteryHealth of my phone is "Poor". It's a three-year-old phone.

My theory is if you have an older phone with an aging battery that's lost a fair amount of capacity, the sudden shutoffs are going to happen because the battery discharge rate is no longer predictable by the battery meter. Just a theory.

 

[Jjayf]

On my 6, I upgraded to 11 and the battery was at about 22% then just shut down. Plugged it in and it showed 11% remaining immediately.

In the MacOS console, I see that the BatteryHealth of my phone is "Poor". It's a three-year-old phone.

My theory is if you have an older phone with an aging battery that's lost a fair amount of capacity, the sudden shutoffs are going to happen because the battery discharge rate is no longer predictable by the battery meter. Just a theory.

I had been seeing that quite a bit. Battery at 19% plug it in and instantly 30%. Etc. It's an apple conspiracy to force us into an upgrade!,,

 

[boltjames]

On my 6, I upgraded to 11 and the battery was at about 22% then just shut down. Plugged it in and it showed 11% remaining immediately.

In the MacOS console, I see that the BatteryHealth of my phone is "Poor". It's a three-year-old phone.

My theory is if you have an older phone with an aging battery that's lost a fair amount of capacity, the sudden shutoffs are going to happen because the battery discharge rate is no longer predictable by the battery meter. Just a theory.

Checking in a week later, has anyone seen improvement in Battery Life or performance in their iPhone 6 having upgraded to iOS 11?

 

[Vivian125]

I highly recommend upgrading to an iPhone 8.

I highly recommend upgrading to an iPhone X instead of iPhone 8 for SIX REASONS:
1. First of all iPhone 8 still lacks HEADPHONE JACK while 6/6S has it
2. STILL 3GB RAM
3. iPhone 8 Glass Design is not as durable like 6/6S
4. iPhone 8 Design is not drastic compared to iPhone 7
5. iPhone 8 Camera because it is 12MP, You should expect if you take a SELFIES like me from a near distance you should expect that even your pores and pimples is visible unlike the 6/6S which still hides your pores... iPhone 8 is not good for taking selfies unless you only take a picture AT A DISTANCE like Mountains, Birds in the sky, or the blue whale..
6. Last but not the least, iPhone 8 design looks like iPhone 6... Other people would assume that you're still using an iPhone 6 even you're using an iPhone 8... which the design came from over 3 years ago..

At the end of the day, i wouldn't recommend for anyone to upgrade from iPhone 6/6S to iPhone 8... because of THE SAME DESIGN especially in the front... But if you're still using an iPhone 5/5C/5S then might as well get an iPhone 8 because iPhone 5S is getting obsolete next year. JUST wait for the iPhone X as it has newer design, better camera, and powerful specs..

 

[pika2000]

6S is fine speed wise (I installed 11.0.1 the minute it was available on mine), but 11.1 is THE one you want to get some of the missing features back.

As for the 6, unfortunately imo it's the "iPad 3" of iPhones. It is hobbled by 1GB of RAM. In comparison, the SE has 2GB of RAM, faster SoC, and it is cheaper than the iPhone 6 when it was launched. So I don't think Apple "slows" it down, but the 6 (especially 6 Plus) wasn't such a speed demon to begin with. The 6 Plus was already "lagging" UI wise when it was released.

 

[fmalloy]

6. Last but not the least, iPhone 8 design looks like iPhone 6... Other people would assume that you're still using an iPhone 6 even you're using an iPhone 8... which the design came from over 3 years ago..

Some of us don't care what "other people would assume". We use what we want to use and are not out to impress other people.

And let's be honest - the X design is the same tired old rectangle. They just ditched the button and cut an ugly black notch in the top.

 

[gregrose]

It’s trash on the 6 don’t update. Even typing is laggy

 

[C DM]

I highly recommend upgrading to an iPhone X instead of iPhone 8 for SIX REASONS:
1. First of all iPhone 8 still lacks HEADPHONE JACK while 6/6S has it
2. STILL 3GB RAM
3. iPhone 8 Glass Design is not as durable like 6/6S
4. iPhone 8 Design is not drastic compared to iPhone 7
5. iPhone 8 Camera because it is 12MP, You should expect if you take a SELFIES like me from a near distance you should expect that even your pores and pimples is visible unlike the 6/6S which still hides your pores... iPhone 8 is not good for taking selfies unless you only take a picture AT A DISTANCE like Mountains, Birds in the sky, or the blue whale..
6. Last but not the least, iPhone 8 design looks like iPhone 6... Other people would assume that you're still using an iPhone 6 even you're using an iPhone 8... which the design came from over 3 years ago..

At the end of the day, i wouldn't recommend for anyone to upgrade from iPhone 6/6S to iPhone 8... because of THE SAME DESIGN especially in the front... But if you're still using an iPhone 5/5C/5S then might as well get an iPhone 8 because iPhone 5S is getting obsolete next year. JUST wait for the iPhone X as it has newer design, better camera, and powerful specs..

Got to love that the bolded reason out of all of that is that the design is still more or less the same and what other people would potentially think when they see someone using that device. Pretty much undermines essentially anything else that was said that might have even had a shred of something meaningful, let alone anything else superficially inconsequential like that.

 

[boltjames]

Just thought I would close the loop here, I upgraded to iOS 11.1 upon its release on Tuesday on my iPhone 6 and it has been nothing short of fantastic.

The operating system feels a little more punchy, much faster opening certain apps, nothing is moving slower. And battery life has been stellar. So no need to fear iOS 11 on an iPhone 6 IMHO.

 

[Eithanius]

Anyone running 11.2 Beta on iPhone 6...?

 

[Paddle1]

Camera seems to take longer to open but overall it's probably good enough that you won't notice any particular slowdown unless you look for it.

 

[jmarttu24]

Stay away from it! IOS 11 will kill your 6. I am on it and hate it. My phone is on the charger after 2 hours of listening to music. I have to charge my phone at least 3 times a day or more. It's not worth the few features that they added for it.

 

[C DM]

Stay away from it! IOS 11 will kill your 6. I am on it and hate it. My phone is on the charger after 2 hours of listening to music. I have to charge my phone at least 3 times a day or more. It's not worth the few features that they added for it.

Seems like that's not really the case for the OP:

Just thought I would close the loop here, I upgraded to iOS 11.1 upon its release on Tuesday on my iPhone 6 and it has been nothing short of fantastic.

The operating system feels a little more punchy, much faster opening certain apps, nothing is moving slower. And battery life has been stellar. So no need to fear iOS 11 on an iPhone 6 IMHO.

 

[satchmo]

6S is fine speed wise (I installed 11.0.1 the minute it was available on mine), but 11.1 is THE one you want to get some of the missing features back.

As for the 6, unfortunately imo it's the "iPad 3" of iPhones. It is hobbled by 1GB of RAM. In comparison, the SE has 2GB of RAM, faster SoC, and it is cheaper than the iPhone 6 when it was launched. So I don't think Apple "slows" it down, but the 6 (especially 6 Plus) wasn't such a speed demon to begin with. The 6 Plus was already "lagging" UI wise when it was released.

Or the iPad Air of iPads. And just my luck, I've got both.

Yes, the iPhone 6 is three years old and battery life is adequate at best... but what if one was to simply replace with a new battery?

Is the rest of iOS 11.1 at least decent and usable on the iPhone 6?

I'd hate to have to buy a new iPhone just to run iOS11, but may have to if I want to run watch OS 4 (and I do).

 

[bill-p]

Updating to 11.1 now, hopefully it will fix my 6+.

For the naysayers:

1. Apple nagged me literally every 3 hours on 10.3.3, I couldn't just dismiss the notification completely and forever. Pressed "Yes" to quell the annoyance. Well, WORST DECISION EVER!

2. Directly upgrading from 10.3.3 was a bad idea. Some apps don't run at all. Some run like I'm using an iPhone 4. Sometimes the phone freezes up completely. No button worked. It'd stay that way until 30 seconds or so later (sometimes minutes) and then everything would start animating based on the button presses I did earlier. What a mess. And yes, it froze up in that state with the screen being on and all.

3. Okay, maybe it was my fault for not installing from scratch. 11.0.3 didn't help either. So... what's next? I bit the bullet, backed up all of my data (note: 50GB worth of photos and app data on a phone takes a LONG time to back up), and then proceeded to wipe the phone and reinstalled from scratch. Making sure to NOT restore from a backup but start the whole thing as a new phone. And I've only installed just the base apps that I use the most.

4. Nope, same thing as before. I hadn't even pushed my photos back into the camera roll yet. I just gave up and inserted my SIM into my Pixel phone. And no, I'm not "threatening to switch to Android", I have always had both Android and iPhone. iPhone was ALWAYS better than Android to me until the recent bout of updates.

5. Saw 11.1 being offered today, updating to see if it'll fix the issues I've been seeing with performance.

So whatever you guys are saying, for my use case, iOS 11 has been the worst possible update ever. Not even going to iOS 5 on the iPhone 3GS made it this bad, and hell, I still have that iPhone 3GS here. It's fully functional. In fact, it runs BETTER than my iPhone 6+ now.

 

[PPopMatt]

NOOOOOO!!! CRAP!

Piece of Crap!

Major 20 second delay/lags on opening Camera, Typing, EVERYTHING!

TOTALLY SUCKS!

It is "criminal" what Appl does since the 90's - Slowing their older devices to a C R A W L - EVERYtime there is a major upgrade.

Shame on them! SHAME!

I've finally gotten to the point of being very PISSED at Apple for doing this sh*t. 1st time EVER I Even flipped off the new X commercial.
No WAY I'm gifting $1000 to them when they act like this. #$^&%$^^%&

FU Apple! - for THIS and other LAME issues like taking away functionality, ease of use, Horrible Spell Checker + and automatically doing sh*t i didn't ask for...

I've had no reason to upgrade to the 6S or the 7 and I know Apple's trick of releasing an iOS update that slows an iPhone or an iPad down to a c r a w l in order to push people toward getting a new device.

So...

Any iPhone 6 people running iOS 11 yet? Is it safe? Faster? Same speed? Or is it slow?

 

[C DM]

NOOOOOO!!! CRAP!

Piece of Crap!

Major 20 second delay/lags on opening Camera, Typing, EVERYTHING!

TOTALLY SUCKS!

It is "criminal" what Appl does since the 90's - Slowing their older devices to a C R A W L - EVERYtime there is a major upgrade.

Shame on them! SHAME!

I've finally gotten to the point of being very PISSED at Apple for doing this sh*t. 1st time EVER I Even flipped off the new X commercial.
No WAY I'm gifting $1000 to them when they act like this. #$^&%$^^%&

FU Apple! - for THIS and other LAME issues like taking away functionality, ease of use, Horrible Spell Checker + and automatically doing sh*t i didn't ask for...

That's not a typical experience. Something seems off there. (Even the OP is having essentially a positive experience with iOS 11.1 at this point.)

 

[Chazzle]

That's not a typical experience. Something seems off there. (Even the OP is having essentially a positive experience with iOS 11.1 at this point.)

Gotta give ‘em an A for enthusiasm though.

 

[campyguy]

Anyone running 11.2 Beta on iPhone 6...?

Yes, but I'm not committing to a conclusion right now. I've got two identical iP6 handsets, VZW/128GB - one with 9.3.5 and one with just-installed 11.2B1 (as an update, not a clean install).

I was not thrilled with 11.0 on my iP6 or 11.1 on my ATTWS iP6S, but, surprisingly, the latest beta on the iP6 is pretty smooth. Fingers crossed, it's a keeper so far.

 

[aleni]

11.0 and 11.03 have been crap on iPhone 6, but the new 11.1 has been fantastic. Near speed of 10.3.3

 

[redfirebird08]

11.0 and 11.03 have been crap on iPhone 6, but the new 11.1 has been fantastic. Near speed of 10.3.3

 

[taxi_driver]

11.0 and 11.03 have been crap on iPhone 6, but the new 11.1 has been fantastic. Near speed of 10.3.3

i'm on 10.3.3 and am weary of updating - anything tangible to back this up?

 

[boltjames]

i'm on 10.3.3 and am weary of updating - anything tangible to back this up?

I don’t think there’s anything tangible, I think it’s entirely subjective. I stuck with iOS 10 right up until this past Tuesday when 11.1 was released. I am extremely happy. Up to you whether not you want to try it.

In my case I am receiving my iPhone X next week so I had a little to lose by taking the chance. I’m glad I did.

 

[aleni]

i'm on 10.3.3 and am weary of updating - anything tangible to back this up?

Sooner or later you need to go to ios 11. Why not now and try it for yourself? My dad’s iphone 6 was horrible on 11.0 but it’s great on the latest 11.1, so does my friend’s 6. I’m using iPhone 8 and I feel it too it. It was crap on 11.0 even though it has a11 bionic chip but it’s great and fluid now on the 11.1.