Technical analysis on iOS planned obsolescence

[Radon87000]

Maybe refined is a better word for you. iOS 9.1 is not as refined yet as iOS 8.4.2. Once iOS 9.1 becomes 9.4, then comparisons with 8.4.2 become more appropriate. Right now they should not be compared. iOS 9.1 is not as refined as 8.4.

So we get about 2 months to enjoy a proper product before the cycle restarts...

 

[thed0g]

Maybe refined is a better word for you. iOS 9.1 is not as refined yet as iOS 8.4.2. Once iOS 9.1 becomes 9.4, then comparisons with 8.4.2 become more appropriate. Right now they should not be compared. iOS 9.1 is not as refined as 8.4.

What kind of excuse for a company is that ?

If I'm using software version A and am happy with it, then company who issued A states publicly that version B will perform better (which isn't the case) and I'm forbidden to downgrade to A, what else do we compare it to ? Hypothetical version B in the undisclosed future which exists in your mind?

And BTW to further display that your logic is dumb - 8.x when released didn't stutter as iOS 9, not in any further releases.

 

[I7guy]

So we get about 2 months to enjoy a proper product before the cycle restarts...

What kind of excuse for a company is that ?

If I'm using software version A and am happy with it, then company who issued A states publicly that version B will perform better (which isn't the case) and I'm forbidden to downgrade to A, what else do we compare it to ? Hypothetical version B in the undisclosed future which exists in your mind?

And BTW to further display that your logic is dumb - 8.x when released didn't stutter as iOS 9, not in any further releases.

Based on past history some think the "best" release of iOS is in June although iOS 9, imo, in general was the best release in years. 8.x while I didn't really have much issue on my 5s, it wasn't great on my iPad 2 to put it mildly.

 

[Radon87000]

Based on past history some think the "best" release of iOS is in June although iOS 9, imo, in general was the best release in years. 8.x while I didn't really have much issue on my 5s, it wasn't great on my iPad 2 to put it mildly.

The best release of iOS is the family version the device shipped with.Upgrading results in lag.ipad Mini 1 was as fast my iPad Air 2 on iOS 6 as is iPhone 4S until Apple crippled both those devices

 

[alp00]

I don't think bcodemz will get a reply to the question on this forum as most people just say ios 8 or 9 is a good release, if you can't get beyond ios 9 is slower than ios 6 or 7 then you won't look for reasons.
Heres a few thoughts :
Ios 8 and 9 have more security in them and I think they are more encrypted than previous versions, also features like continuity must run in the background.
I personally think Apple have rushed out new features, but I don't know enough to say why scrolling or say opening the phone app or the calculator is slower. I agree it looks bad when the screen stutters.
There will be certain background processes which will have become bigger or use more cpu time. Something must be taking up cpu time because I agree that the task of say typing on a keyboard or opening a folder is the same as before.

 

[Shirasaki]

Hey Apple, if you want to prove yourself a company super friendly with environment, then DON'T imply users to upgrade their products that frequently, cause producing every new device will eventually harm the environment. The more we produce, the more old devices we will need to throw away, and in turn, environment will becomes worse.

My 2 cents.

 

[QuickDraw]

I suggest not getting a career in technical analysis. Good luck though if you do.

I want to do a technical analysis on the big issue of iOS slowing down our phones every year.

Let's debunk some myths about iOS planned obsolescence.

1) every new iOS version gains a lot more features. This is why it slows down.

More features generally do not slow down an OS. Let me explain.

Think about a feature as a separate tool. It does one function. If I have many separate tools, why should that affect the performance of a completely unrelated tool, such as scrolling? It can be understandable that the new features are slow on older iOS devices, but existing, unchanged features should be just as fast as before.

Scrolling is the same from iOS 1 to now. It is an act of moving pixels from the left or right with some physics added as well. These calculations are the same, no matter how many features you have. iOS was smooth from iOS 1, not just smooth, it was PERFECTLY smooth no matter what. Think about it, Apple perfected scrolling on hardware hundreds of times *slower* than current iPhones.

Windows 8/10 is a fantastic argument of this. Windows 8 and 10 has *far* more features than Windows 7. It added animations that simply weren't available in Windows 7. Yet, both OS are subjective *and* objectively faster than Windows 7. In fact, it is much faster subjectively than Windows 7. Oh and the animations? They are perfectly smooth running on an extremely underpowered Intel Atom CPU on a netbook. Windows managed to add a ton more features and animations while speeding up!

2) The new features take more resources on the phone, so it slows down.

Let's see why that's wrong. Say if the new features took up so much of the phone's resource that it caused the animations to lag. Let's assign an arbitrary number, say animations needs 80% of the CPU to be smooth, and the new features now take up 30% of the CPU, so now the animation can't get the full 80% of the CPU it needs to be smooth.

This cannot be true. To achieve iPhone's current battery life, the CPU of the phone must be kept at the lowest power state to conserve power during standby or idle times. This usually means keeping the CPU below 2-3% usage most of the time. Going to even 5% CPU utilization is a large bump to the power state that greatly reduces battery life. This is why iOS heavily limits what apps can do in the background because just a bit of background usage can be a huge battery drainer.

Therefore, any features that take up background resources must be very, very small, otherwise there is a HUGE impact on the battery life. And this is why the argument new features take more CPU resources does not hold.

Now some arguments for planned obsolescence.

1) How is it possible that the exact same actions, such as scrolling, or other UI animations, starts to lag in a new iOS? When they introduced parallax in iOS 7, those are different animations, then there is a case on why it might lag on older devices that can't handle the blur and physics as well. But simple UI animations that have been around since iOS 1 should never lag. It is doing the same thing.

2) Say if the lags were actually because the code is so unoptimized that the hardware isn't powerful enough to support it, this means the CPU is being maxed out while doing these tasks. Then why isn't there a HUGE drop in battery life between smooth and laggy iOS versions?

3) How is it possible the keyboard lags on older iOS devices? The keyboard is an incredibly lightweight program. The most it does is some spell check. How is it possible that it takes a few seconds to load the keyboard and have the keys not keep up with my typing? Why? Because keyboard lag is extremely noticeable to the user, and it pushes them to buy new devices to return to the previous swift speed.
4) Have you ever used old iOS devices on old iOS versions? Check out the video of the iPhone 4S on iOS 5 vs iOS 8. Everything on iOS 5 shows up instantly, just as fast as the latest iPhones.

I have an iPad 3 on iOS 7. The speed is unbelievable. If iOS was not purposely slowed down on older devices, there is actually very little reason to upgrade iPads. While there are often very nice hardware improvements on the iPhone that's worth upgrading to, people would experience very few speed improvements over new iPhones because they were so fast to begin with. And honestly, it doesn't take much chip power to make UI's fast and smooth. Apple demonstrated UI animation perfection from iOS 1 on the original iPhone's absolutely pathetic hardware. There should be no reason an iPhone with a CPU over 100x faster cannot do perfectly smooth animations.

 

[nj1266]

So we get about 2 months to enjoy a proper product before the cycle restarts...

The trick is not to update immediately to the newest iOS. Just wait until the x.4 edition and then upgrade. This way you can have a year between upgrades.

Another option is to jailbreak your device and remove all animations using speed intensifier. This makes it lightening fast. I am jailbroken on 9.0.2 and I have almost a perfect iPhone 6.

The final option is to get an Android Nexus phone. I read great things about the 6P. You can get timely updates and have an open platform to boot.

 

[nj1266]

What kind of excuse for a company is that ?

If I'm using software version A and am happy with it, then company who issued A states publicly that version B will perform better (which isn't the case) and I'm forbidden to downgrade to A, what else do we compare it to ? Hypothetical version B in the undisclosed future which exists in your mind?

And BTW to further display that your logic is dumb - 8.x when released didn't stutter as iOS 9, not in any further releases.

Don't believe what corporations tell you. If you have been using iOS for a while, then you should know by now that the first version of the new iOS is not refined. This has been the case since iOS 7. If you want refinement, then do not update to the first iOS release. Wait until x.3-x.4 and then update. Apple does not force you to update. You have a choice. I stayed on a jailbroken 8.4 until there was a jailbreak for 9.0.2 and then I upgraded. That saved me a lot of frustration and hand wringing.

You are given a short window of time to downgrade. Once you upgraded to 9.0 and did not like it, you can still downgrade until Apple stops signing the old iOS. I upgraded to 9.1 to see if it is any better than 9.0.2. It wasn't. So I downgraded both my iPhone 6 and Mini 2 to 9.0.2 and jailbroke them.

Unfortunately iOS is no longer a refined product when introduced. You have to wait for the x.x updates to get refinement. This is the new way Apple does things. If you do not like it, then vote with your wallet and get another platform. I read great thing about the Nexus 6P. Try it.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I want to do a technical analysis on the big issue of iOS slowing down our phones every year.

Let's debunk some myths about iOS planned obsolescence.

1) every new iOS version gains a lot more features. This is why it slows down.

More features generally do not slow down an OS. Let me explain.

Think about a feature as a separate tool. It does one function. If I have many separate tools, why should that affect the performance of a completely unrelated tool, such as scrolling? It can be understandable that the new features are slow on older iOS devices, but existing, unchanged features should be just as fast as before.

Scrolling is the same from iOS 1 to now. It is an act of moving pixels from the left or right with some physics added as well. These calculations are the same, no matter how many features you have. iOS was smooth from iOS 1, not just smooth, it was PERFECTLY smooth no matter what. Think about it, Apple perfected scrolling on hardware hundreds of times *slower* than current iPhones

Windows 8/10 is a fantastic argument of this. Windows 8 and 10 has *far* more features than Windows 7. It added animations that simply weren't available in Windows 7. Yet, both OS are subjective *and* objectively faster than Windows 7. In fact, it is much faster subjectively than Windows 7. Oh and the animations? They are perfectly smooth running on an extremely underpowered Intel Atom CPU on a netbook. Windows managed to add a ton more features and animations while speeding up!

Oh come on. Windows 7 has something called Aero. It's display graphics are far more complex than the flat Windows 8 and 10. They include 3D effects and translucency.

2) The new features take more resources on the phone, so it slows down.

Let's see why that's wrong. Say if the new features took up so much of the phone's resource that it caused the animations to lag. Let's assign an arbitrary number, say animations needs 80% of the CPU to be smooth, and the new features now take up 30% of the CPU, so now the animation can't get the full 80% of the CPU it needs to be smooth.

This cannot be true. To achieve iPhone's current battery life, the CPU of the phone must be kept at the lowest power state to conserve power during standby or idle times. This usually means keeping the CPU below 2-3% usage most of the time. Going to even 5% CPU utilization is a large bump to the power state that greatly reduces battery life. This is why iOS heavily limits what apps can do in the background because just a bit of background usage can be a huge battery drainer.

Therefore, any features that take up background resources must be very, very small, otherwise there is a HUGE impact on the battery life. And this is why the argument new features take more CPU resources does not hold.

You miss one of the biggest gripes about every new iOS version.. Battery life sucks compared to the last point release of the older version.

Now some arguments for planned obsolescence.

1) How is it possible that the exact same actions, such as scrolling, or other UI animations, starts to lag in a new iOS? When they introduced parallax in iOS 7, those are different animations, then there is a case on why it might lag on older devices that can't handle the blur and physics as well. But simple UI animations that have been around since iOS 1 should never lag. It is doing the same thing.

Bugs. Pure and simple. Apple's software testing is mainly skewed towards newer hardware. I'm guessing that the iPhone 4S got less testing and optimisation than the iPhone. Most of the bugs get squashed in the point releases.

2) Say if the lags were actually because the code is so unoptimized that the hardware isn't powerful enough to support it, this means the CPU is being maxed out while doing these tasks. Then why isn't there a HUGE drop in battery life between smooth and laggy iOS versions?

See above Battery life is a huge gripe with new releases on old devices.

3) How is it possible the keyboard lags on older iOS devices? The keyboard is an incredibly lightweight program. The most it does is some spell check. How is it possible that it takes a few seconds to load the keyboard and have the keys not keep up with my typing? Why? Because keyboard lag is extremely noticeable to the user, and it pushes them to buy new devices to return to the previous swift speed.

If the keyboard was the only process running, then you'd have a point. But it isn't.

4) Have you ever used old iOS devices on old iOS versions? Check out the video of the iPhone 4S on iOS 5 vs iOS 8. Everything on iOS 5 shows up instantly, just as fast as the latest iPhones.

No sh*t sherlock. These devices were new on iOS 5.

I have an iPad 3 on iOS 7. The speed is unbelievable. If iOS was not purposely slowed down on older devices, there is actually very little reason to upgrade iPads. While there are often very nice hardware improvements on the iPhone that's worth upgrading to, people would experience very few speed improvements over new iPhones because they were so fast to begin with. And honestly, it doesn't take much chip power to make UI's fast and smooth. Apple demonstrated UI animation perfection from iOS 1 on the original iPhone's absolutely pathetic hardware. There should be no reason an iPhone with a CPU over 100x faster cannot do perfectly smooth animations.

complete wibble.

 

[pika2000]

Hey Apple, if you want to prove yourself a company super friendly with environment, then DON'T imply users to upgrade their products that frequently, cause producing every new device will eventually harm the environment. The more we produce, the more old devices we will need to throw away, and in turn, environment will becomes worse.

My 2 cents.

Actually, Apple devices hold so much value that I still see iPhone 4 and 4S in second hand market, even in Japan. At least they are desirable. Compare that to Samsung that flooded the market with cheap plastic phones that nobody wants.

 

[Shirasaki]

Actually, Apple devices hold so much value that I still see iPhone 4 and 4S in second hand market, even in Japan. At least they are desirable. Compare that to Samsung that flooded the market with cheap plastic phones that nobody wants.

Well. I still have an iPhone 4, with back glass shattered. don't know if someone would like to have it.

But yeah, even it is super slow, it is still usable (updated to iOS 7.1.2). Unfortunately battery cannot last for long. I can barely use it for about 2 hours without charging. This is not acceptable.

 

[I7guy]

Well. I still have an iPhone 4, with back glass shattered. don't know if someone would like to have it.

But yeah, even it is super slow, it is still usable (updated to iOS 7.1.2). Unfortunately battery cannot last for long. I can barely use it for about 2 hours without charging. This is not acceptable.

What isn't acceptable, that a 5+ year old li-ion battery perform like new? Or is the battery new and your phones battery performs poorly.

 

[Shirasaki]

What isn't acceptable, that a 5+ year old li-ion battery perform like new? Or is the battery new and your phones battery performs poorly.

Well. Sorry for that first.
Then, what I think it is not acceptable, is the phone can only run two hours, with light use under current battery. This means I need to recharge it several times a day and I need to carry a battery pack for emergency use.

 

[Radon87000]

Well. Sorry for that first.
Then, what I think it is not acceptable, is the phone can only run two hours, with light use under current battery. This means I need to recharge it several times a day and I need to carry a battery pack for emergency use.

I think Apple charges very less for battery replacements.You should look into it

 

[Shirasaki]

I think Apple charges very less for battery replacements.You should look into it

Very less? Hmm.
Anyway, I leave it there for my secondary device and receive SMS from another number.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Well. Sorry for that first.
Then, what I think it is not acceptable, is the phone can only run two hours, with light use under current battery. This means I need to recharge it several times a day and I need to carry a battery pack for emergency use.

How old is your phone? Batteries have a limited life. Get a new battery from eBay and replace it.

 

[Shirasaki]

How old is your phone? Batteries have a limited life. Get a new battery from eBay and replace it.

Probably three or four years.
Now I have no desire to replace the battery, cause this is no longer my main phone.

 

[sziehr]

I do not think it is so much planned to go obsolete as it was optimized to the extreme for that version of ios. This has been there secret to having such high margins. The people who said oh i am ok with my 6 not having 2 gigs of ram are just plain full of it. There was no reason that the 6 should have not just shipped to 2 gigs of ram. This is how apple makes your device useless. They release the device right on the razor edge of being underpowered. This has changed in the iPad line with the air getting 2 gigs of ram it has legs to keep on going. The iPad pro having 4 gigs of ram even longer legs. The iPhone could use even more ram that is clear. The OS is not bloated it is just feature rich. The more features you add on the more resources you need. If you were starting from 88% max used to run and add more resources you will have a poor user experience in the future. Is this to make you buy a new phone you better believe it.

This will not end any time soon. This also is partly our fault we ant the fastest and smoothest experience. I know people who use a 4s and are happy with it. They are getting updates and they are staying secure compared to android people who are wide open to a number of well documented tactics. So it is perspective.

I do not fault the coders so much as i fault the hardware team. The hardware team could free up the bottle necks like ram early on with out giving up much.

 

[dk001]

I...

I do not fault the coders so much as i fault the hardware team. The hardware team could free up the bottle necks like ram early on with out giving up much.

That is a really good point. Hardware is driving the bus.

 

[Risco]

I never understand this, it is very simple, don't upgrade. You have to draw the line somewhere otherwise technology would never move forward.

 

[cynics]

I notice #1 in the phone app, my thumb can move faster then recent calls can update so I end up calling the wrong person. Happened on my 4, 4S and now with iOS 9 on my 5S.

Seriously, why would the phone app slow down?

 

[thed0g]

I do not think it is so much planned to go obsolete as it was optimized to the extreme for that version of ios. This has been there secret to having such high margins. The people who said oh i am ok with my 6 not having 2 gigs of ram are just plain full of it. There was no reason that the 6 should have not just shipped to 2 gigs of ram. This is how apple makes your device useless. They release the device right on the razor edge of being underpowered. This has changed in the iPad line with the air getting 2 gigs of ram it has legs to keep on going. The iPad pro having 4 gigs of ram even longer legs. The iPhone could use even more ram that is clear. The OS is not bloated it is just feature rich. The more features you add on the more resources you need. If you were starting from 88% max used to run and add more resources you will have a poor user experience in the future. Is this to make you buy a new phone you better believe it.

This will not end any time soon. This also is partly our fault we ant the fastest and smoothest experience. I know people who use a 4s and are happy with it. They are getting updates and they are staying secure compared to android people who are wide open to a number of well documented tactics. So it is perspective.

I do not fault the coders so much as i fault the hardware team. The hardware team could free up the bottle necks like ram early on with out giving up much.

Except that RAM isn't a hail mary for bad OS optimization. RAM is beneficial in storing the apps in cache longer without reloading. But that's it. Now lets take iOS 9, system and apps. Did apps get bigger and more RAM hungrier ? No, actually they slimmed them down with app-slicing, so no extra resources aren't on device then needed. App indexing existed before, so did Siri. iOS really isn't a feature rich OS such as Android, specially because each app can run a persistent background service if it wishes, nor is it bloaty with garbage collection.

 

[dk001]

Except that RAM isn't a hail mary for bad OS optimization. RAM is beneficial in storing the apps in cache longer without reloading. But that's it. Now lets take iOS 9, system and apps. Did apps get bigger and more RAM hungrier ? No, actually they slimmed them down with app-slicing, so no extra resources aren't on device then needed. App indexing existed before, so did Siri. iOS really isn't a feature rich OS such as Android, specially because each app can run a persistent background service if it wishes, nor is it bloaty with garbage collection.

Does app slicing affect RAM or just MEM? My understanding it was to minimize the load/install size of apps be excluding the pieces that don't apple to your OS/Hardware.

 

[thed0g]

Does app slicing affect RAM or just MEM? My understanding it was to minimize the load/install size of apps be excluding the pieces that don't apple to your OS/Hardware.

It sure doesn't ADD UP to more memory usage if you get what I mean. Stating that iOS 9 suddenly can't keep up with 1 GB, while 8 did has no solid grounds. Especially considering they were full of it how optimized it'll be.