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Performance of iOS 9 in older iPhones and iPads

K

KoolAid-Drink

macrumors 68000
Sep 18, 2013
1,859
947
USA
Retired Cat said:
iPhone 5 feels slightly more sluggish under 9.0 than 8.4.3 or whatever the final 8 release was (I can't remember).

Specifically, animation transitions aren't as smooth in multitasking, control center, and spotlight search. The stutter can be pretty bad.

Overall though, 9.0 is useable. It's just not as pleasant as it should be. I'm thankful though that the keyboard shift at least changes the key capitalization of the keys now.
Click to expand...
I agree; on my 5, iOS 9 is very choppy in multitasking and spotlight search too. Looks like that's everyone's sore area.

I downgraded back to iOS 8.4.1. When I get my preordered 6s, I'll be selling my current 5, and it may help some people buying the used 5 if iOS 8 was on it instead of 9, especially at a .0 version. Now, I just gotta bite my tongue and ignore the big bright red (1) on the Settings icon.
 
Beeplance

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
500
Retired Cat said:
iPhone 5 feels slightly more sluggish under 9.0 than 8.4.3 or whatever the final 8 release was (I can't remember).

Specifically, animation transitions aren't as smooth in multitasking, control center, and spotlight search. The stutter can be pretty bad.

Overall though, 9.0 is useable. It's just not as pleasant as it should be. I'm thankful though that the keyboard shift at least changes the key capitalization of the keys now.
Click to expand...

I agree. iPhone 5C here, just updated to iOS 9 from 8.4.1 in the morning. Very palpable slowdowns across a variety of aspects - from activating the multitasking interface, opening apps etc. Now I understand why people said 8.4.1 is smoother compared to it. It is definitely usable but the lag is undeniable.

6 betas later (including GM), I'm somewhat disappointed at this major point release. This whole upgrade has been hyped up since last year as a Snow-leopard release, not to mention even more so ever since Apply touted it to have under-the-hood improvements (I know metal doesn't affect 32 bit devices, but still..) & improved battery life at WWDC 2015. How many people are actually seeing/experiencing said improvements? O_O

The wait for 9.1 to complete beta-testing process begins...
 
S

steeler

macrumors regular
Jan 30, 2008
164
4
Not sure if you consider a 5s "older", but I did a DFU restore/upgrade and just finished syncing apps about 20 minutes ago. Everything seems just fine. I would say faster, but it's hard to say for sure. Definitely not any lag I didn't see before.

(I always do a DFU restore for major iOS releases.)
 
S

SHNXX

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 2, 2013
1,901
663
Finally took the plunge with my 5. My 5 doesn't seem too bad although it may be because it's practically empty and barely has anything on it.
 
dollystereo

dollystereo

macrumors 6502a
Oct 6, 2004
907
114
France
Can we still install iOS 8?
I have my iPhone 5 in iOS7 (works well) but I would like to upgrade to iOS8 before they remove it.
 
L

lg251

macrumors 6502
Dec 3, 2009
369
126
Canada
9.0 on iPhone 6 Plus here and I must say I'm disappointed! Multi-tasking and sometimes opening up the keyboard is very sluggish. Absolutely not what Apple has gotten us used to in the past. The 6S isn't even out and our phones are already obsolete!?

FWIW, I force rebooted the phone and removed pretty much every spotlight suggestions. Seems to have helped a bit.
 
M

masands

macrumors regular
Sep 17, 2010
247
80
Yes, the iPhone 5 is definitely sluggish on iOS 9. Although, I turned off Siri Suggestions in Spotlight settings and things are much faster now. It's not iOS 8.4.1 level but I expect it will get there in the next .1 releases. I also noticed that it's indexing through a lot of apps (seems like a new feature) so I suspect it'll improve in the next day or two.
 
R

RockSpider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2014
903
396
stulaw11 said:
I dont ****ing get it; why this is such a hard concept. Just like Windows on a PC; sure it runs on older hardware but slower and likely missing a few features. Idk WTF you expected using 2-3-4 year old hardware frankly.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to support old hardware at some point when it gets too old. If you're too cheap to upgrade your hardware then you have to simply deal with a little lag.

I swear I've seen so many iOS9 sucks on my 3-4 year old hardware that is just flat out braindead posting now (not to OP but other morons who really believe it).
Click to expand...
Of course you don't get it, because you don't know what you're talking about, I've got 6 and 7 year old computers running Windows 10 and they are running faster now than when they were new.
I've got a 3 year old Mac Mini now running faster than the day I bought it, but according to you I should throw it in the bin.
My 18 month old iPad is running better with 9 than the day I bought it, before making stupid comments try learning about software and computers.
 
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Pagemakers

Pagemakers

macrumors 68030
Mar 28, 2008
2,903
1,200
Manchester UK
stulaw11 said:
I dont ****ing get it; why this is such a hard concept. Just like Windows on a PC; sure it runs on older hardware but slower and likely missing a few features. Idk WTF you expected using 2-3-4 year old hardware frankly.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to support old hardware at some point when it gets too old. If you're too cheap to upgrade your hardware then you have to simply deal with a little lag.

I swear I've seen so many iOS9 sucks on my 3-4 year old hardware that is just flat out braindead posting now (not to OP but other morons who really believe it).
Click to expand...
Try telling that to my slower iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6
 
I7guy

I7guy

macrumors Nehalem
Nov 30, 2013
35,156
25,262
Gotta be in it to win it
RockSpider said:
Of course you don't get it, because you don't know what you're talking about, I've got 6 and 7 year old computers running Windows 10 and they are running faster now than when they were new.
I've got a 3 year old Mac Mini now running faster than the day I bought it, but according to you I should throw it in the bin.
My 18 month old iPad is running better with 9 than the day I bought it, before making stupid comments try learning about software and computers.
Click to expand...
This! My iPad 2 is running iOS 9 better than the day I got it. Apple did a great job with tuning iOS 9, especially safari; especially with the new ad-blocker functionality.
 
B

BarcelonaPaul

Suspended
Jul 1, 2015
185
243
stulaw11 said:
I dont ****ing get it; why this is such a hard concept. Just like Windows on a PC; sure it runs on older hardware but slower and likely missing a few features. Idk WTF you expected using 2-3-4 year old hardware frankly.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to support old hardware at some point when it gets too old. If you're too cheap to upgrade your hardware then you have to simply deal with a little lag.

I swear I've seen so many iOS9 sucks on my 3-4 year old hardware that is just flat out braindead posting now (not to OP but other morons who really believe it).
Click to expand...


That's truly harsh and rather uneducated. Some people don't upgrade every year or so, maybe they have ethical issues. Personally, I like to keep something that's decent. If it slows something down, then in truth, they should not advertise that it is compatible with that software update. Your attitude sucks by saying if you're too cheap! You obviously are highly materialistic and thoughtless to have an opinion like that. Not everyone in the world is turned on by mobile phones. If people kept things for longer, there would be less pollution and less people getting exploited in this world. Maybe you should get a decent university education instead of being so closed minded with your mouthy opinions!
 
B

bransoj

macrumors 68000
Jul 31, 2013
1,563
739
masands said:
Yes, the iPhone 5 is definitely sluggish on iOS 9. Although, I turned off Siri Suggestions in Spotlight settings and things are much faster now. It's not iOS 8.4.1 level but I expect it will get there in the next .1 releases. I also noticed that it's indexing through a lot of apps (seems like a new feature) so I suspect it'll improve in the next day or two.
Click to expand...
Not had any issues with iOS9 on my iPhone 5....runs fine.
 
T

Tallgntlmn

macrumors newbie
May 14, 2011
27
1
Ya know, I want to know if iOS 9 will kill performance on a 4s and iPad2. You know why? Because I want the security updates that are included beyond those in iOS 7 that I have been running for 3 years. I want to be able to buy something on Amazon on my iPad 2 without worrying about security. I want to be able to do the same on my 4s if necessary. I want to be able to run the DirecTV app on the iPad. I have heard/read so many nightmare issues with iOS 8 on a 4s or iPad 2 that I just want someone else to tell me does the upgrade make it suck beyond what is it on iOS 7. I don't have $800 for the new iPad just yet. Even if I did, I can't buy it just yet. I won't have my 4s much longer (maybe a month or 2 depending on supply of the 6s) and then it will go to my brother in Sweden. That one doesn't matter as much as the iPad 2. I use the iPad 2 a lot more for surfing than I do the 4s. I don't want to be frustrated and yelling at it while I am trying to use it. So does iOS 9 make those two suck? That's all I want to know.

Aside from that, if Apple would patch the security holes with patches and not require a full upgrade to get them, I probably would not even care the answers to this question. But they won't and that right there sucks.
 
oldmacs

oldmacs

macrumors 601
Sep 14, 2010
4,941
7,182
Australia
Tallgntlmn said:
Ya know, I want to know if iOS 9 will kill performance on a 4s and iPad2. You know why? Because I want the security updates that are included beyond those in iOS 7 that I have been running for 3 years. I want to be able to buy something on Amazon on my iPad 2 without worrying about security. I want to be able to do the same on my 4s if necessary. I want to be able to run the DirecTV app on the iPad. I have heard/read so many nightmare issues with iOS 8 on a 4s or iPad 2 that I just want someone else to tell me does the upgrade make it suck beyond what is it on iOS 7. I don't have $800 for the new iPad just yet. Even if I did, I can't buy it just yet. I won't have my 4s much longer (maybe a month or 2 depending on supply) and then it will go to my brother in Sweden. That one doesn't matter as much as the iPad 2. I use the iPad 2 a lot more for surfing than I do the 4s. I don't want to be frustrated and yelling at it while I am trying to use it. So does iOS 9 make those two suck? That's all I want to know.

Aside from that, if Apple would patch the security holes with patches and not require a full upgrade to get them, I probably would not even care the answers to this question. But they won't and that right there sucks.
Click to expand...

Why not upgrade to iOS 8 while you still can? Its more secure than iOS 7 and its faster than iOS 9.

That is my comparison between iOS 7, 8.1, 8.4 and 9 performance on a clean installed iPad 2. Not perfect, but it gives you an idea of how fast apps open.

Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 9.35.29 am by oldmacs, on Flickr

That is my comparison of iOS 8.4 and 9.0 on my backup that I've had since 2013, which should give you a better idea of what iOS 8 and 9 are like on installs where you restore from backup.

Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 10.01.01 am by oldmacs, on Flickr
 
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M

mdhwoods

macrumors regular
Jul 13, 2008
178
26
I am curious on the ipad 2. 8.1 runs like crap and I wish I could go back to 7. If it doesn't run well then Apple should just no allow it to be installed if the experience will be severely degraded. I can tell you 8.1 on the ipad 2 is painful. If they didn't support it and left it at 7.1 then it would be my choice to upgrade to a new ipad or not for the latest os and not have a crippled one on my ipad. I was forced to do a restore and had to upgrade to 8, its not something i wanted to do. Hoping 9 brings back a bit of life.
 
Yaboze

Yaboze

macrumors 6502a
May 31, 2007
799
280
The Garden State
On my 6, it's just as fast or faster than 8.4.1. No lag opening apps or swiping through screens. As far as battery life, we'll see, 8.4.1 wasn't too great for me.

On my iPad 4, I was surprised on how smooth it was. I had a lot of choppyness and lag with 8.4.1. iOS 9 is smooth as silk on my iPad 4, I couldn't believe it. Of course, they cut some of the multitasking features, but I'm happy, it feels like a new tablet.

My sons 5S seems pretty snappy and he told me everything seemed fast and it wasn't worse, so there's that.

Overall, I'd say on the 6 and 5S I broke even (the same as 8.4.1, or slightly better) and on the iPad 4, iOS 9 is much better than 8.4.1 for me.
 
_Refurbished_

_Refurbished_

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2007
2,344
3,066
I7guy said:
iOS 7 also has security holes and does significantly less. My iPad 2 has been running iOS 9 and I love it!
Click to expand...

I've never met an iPhone user being impacted by a security hole, other than when Chinese users jailbreak their phones via shady means.

iOS 9 in its current state is a turd and does more, but more slowly than iOS 7.
 
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