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Dulcimer

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 20, 2012
891
688
I'm going to get my first smartphone soon (and replace the 'dumbphone' I got right before the smartphone revolution 6 years ago) but I'm debating about getting the iPhone 5 now or waiting for the 5S (supposedly to be released this summer). What I really want to know is if the current iPhone is slow in anyway. If not, then new features on the 5S probably won't bug me.
 

akdj

macrumors 65816
Mar 10, 2008
1,186
86
62.88°N/-151.28°W
Not at all. iPhone 5 is incredibly quick. Definitely not on the list of things that need to be improved. Obviously, other chips forthcoming will add to the 'speed' in benchmarks...but right now, looking at available chipsets (currently on the market), the A6 is about as fast as it gets. Both in benchmarking and in 'real world' usage.

There are other factors that go into decision making when purchasing a new phone...but if speed is your only concern...iPhone 5 is a formula one super car;)
 

LightOnAHill

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2010
138
0
iPhone 5 is fast. Buy one, you won't regret it's- especially since you will be getting a lot more than you've been using.

I never think my iPhone 5 is slow...
 

Spidder

macrumors regular
Dec 31, 2012
182
405
That depends... how long will you keep your 5?

1 or 2 years = no-brainer, buy
more than 2 years = wait for 5S

Thats because iOS will get 'bigger', meaning more features will suck CPU and RAM and that will slow down your phone. iOS6 runs incredibly smooth, iOS7 will do too, but iOS8? I'm not so sure about that.
 

ThatsMeRight

macrumors 68020
Sep 12, 2009
2,284
243
I'm going to get my first smartphone soon (and replace the 'dumbphone' I got right before the smartphone revolution 6 years ago) but I'm debating about getting the iPhone 5 now or waiting for the 5S (supposedly to be released this summer). What I really want to know is if the current iPhone is slow in anyway. If not, then new features on the 5S probably won't bug me.

The iPhone 5 hasn't been slow for me at all.

Whether you should get an iPhone 5 now or an iPhone 5S later this year? Difficult question. I suppose the question should really be: could you 'forgive' yourself if a new iPhone came out in just a few months while you just bought the 'old' iPhone 5?
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
I still get lag sometimes when inputting a fair bit of text on forums, such as this one. This seems to be something that I've dealt with on every iPhone though. Also, pinch to zoom can be a bit jumpy while things are loading. Things load very fast, but when I'm pinching right at the beginning of loading it can get that way. Otherwise I've had nothing to complain about.
 

QuarterSwede

macrumors G3
Oct 1, 2005
9,778
2,025
Colorado Springs, CO
As others have said, the iPhone 5 never lags. It's the perfect iPhone in that regard.

I still get lag sometimes when inputting a fair bit of text on forums, such as this one. This seems to be something that I've dealt with on every iPhone though.
I've seen slight lag in text input boxes (MR) but not in others (The Verge). I really think that's a software thing and probably not even iOS's fault as whether you experience lag depends on the site you're on, certainly not the A6 chip's.
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,448
1,228
Charlotte, NC
Phone is extremely fast and loading web pages and videos is instant if you have LTE.

Only time I've ever seen it hiccup was when I got a barrage of group text messages one day.
 

TFMTASAD

macrumors regular
Jun 5, 2008
119
0
It is very quick most of the time. Never noticed any slowdown like I did on my GNex and HTC One X.
 

Cody21

macrumors 6502a
Aug 9, 2012
544
0
Knoxville, TN
The iPhone 5 is fast, both itself and the LTE. I have at&t and I bring in about 65mbps when I'm in LTE coverage. The phone itself hasn't been slow for me at all.
 

Bahroo

macrumors 68000
Jul 21, 2012
1,860
2
If you're gonna jailbreak and get some tweaks on it then yes it will be slow.

Not even with jailbreak, my iphone 5 flies even with jailbreak tweaks

----------

Once in a great while a few apps crash, otherwise the speed of my iPhone 5 nearly matches my Note II. They're both very nice.

Its faster then the Note 2 dont kid your self
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
As others have said, the iPhone 5 never lags. It's the perfect iPhone in that regard.


I've seen slight lag in text input boxes (MR) but not in others (The Verge). I really think that's a software thing and probably not even iOS's fault as whether you experience lag depends on the site you're on, certainly not the A6 chip's.

I'm just saying it like I see it is all. :)
 

Mrg02d

macrumors 65816
Jan 27, 2012
1,102
2
It will be compared to HTC ONE. If you aren't set on apple, go for the new HTC ONE....
 

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Oct 1, 2007
15,539
16,253
My iPhone 5 flies with JB and 46 tweaks.

I largely attribute that to the 5 being great hardware, none of my tweaks taking up too much resources for something I would notice in my usage, and with FakeClockUp it's lightning quick.
 
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