Apple Doesn't Deliberately Slow Down Older Devices According to Benchmark Analysis

[iSunrise]

Proof looks pretty irrefutable to me. The CPU performance bars got lower and lower as time goes by. I'd says Apple definitely is slowing down devices, and this shows it. Thanks for proving my theory.

At least someone who has good eyes, instead of others just repeating the article's conclusion, which is clearly false if you take a look at the CPU decreases on the iPhone 7 especially, where there is actually no reason for, since the A10 is still extremely powerful and it's also been under-utilized since introduction.

If not deliberately, Futuremark's results show there is a serious bug in iOS 11, which could have something to do with the 1st generation performance controller that spreads the CPU load to all cores, where iOS 11 however, has been optimized for iPhone 8 and iPhone X's 2nd generation performance controller (all CPU related) or there is some other bug that just needs to be fixed urgently.

From the GPU side the "old" GPU in iPhone 7 is still using IMGTec's GPU IP and since iOS 11 apparently brings newer GPU drivers, there will be a slight increase when the GPU is utilized fully (benchmarks).

One has to always remember that the GPU or CPU on iOS is never 100% utilized when doing only basic things within iOS, which is why the Macrumor's comment and conclusion presented in this news is pretty far from the truth, even if they are only quoting Futuremark, which just presented contradicting data by themselves.

Feature wise very old devices can only still be fast or "as fast" when Apple is willing to invest time optimizing things and naturally, they want to have iOS 11 out running good on their newest devices first, but that's a priorities decision that of course will not be a very welcome one by the masses of people owning older devices.

 

[rikscha]

Fact, iOS 10 I double tap to summon Apple Pay, happens instantly. iOS 11, 2-3 seconds? Exaggerated, no. I have been using this ever since and the pause is very noticeable at the till to the point where you question if this is quicker than pulling out your debit card. Same for summon the camera through control centre. It takes a few seconds before I can take a picture, same when I’m swirching from photo to video, there is a Noticable lag. Deliberate? I doubt it but the above is fact.

 

[blackcrayon]

New versions of iOS undoubtedly require more RAM as well as CPU- they'd almost have to, they add features every year and usually keep all of the prior year's features. That's one reason an old device will be more stuttery than before. And I think the problem tends to be more mild the further we go- since the 6s got 2 GB of RAM, there's a lot more leeway during its lifetime than the 512mb of the iPad 2.

 

[kbearh]

Benchmarking company Futuremark recently set out to debunk long-running speculation that Apple intentionally slows down older iPhones when it releases new software updates as a way to encourage its customers to buy new devices.

Starting in 2016, Futuremark collected over 100,000 benchmark results for seven different iPhone models across three versions of iOS, using that data to create performance comparison charts to determine whether there have been performance drops in iOS 9, iOS 10, and iOS 11.

The first device tested was the iPhone 5s, as it's the oldest device capable of running iOS 11. iPhone 5s, released in 2013, was the first iPhone to get a 64-bit A7 chip, and iOS 11 is limited to 64-bit devices. Futuremark used the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme Graphics test and calculated all benchmark scores from the iPhone 5s across a given month to make its comparison.

The higher the bar, the better the performance, and based on the testing, GPU performance on the iPhone 5s has remained constant from iOS 9 to iOS 11 with just minor variations that Futuremark says "fall well within normal levels."

iPhone 5s CPU performance over time was measured using the 3DMark Sling Shot Extreme Physics test, and again, results were largely consistent.

Charts for other devices, including the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7, show some mild dips and increases when it comes to GPU performance. In the iPhone 6 and 7, GPU performance is up compared to previous-generation versions of iOS.

CPU performance across those three devices has dropped slightly, something Futuremark attributes to "minor iOS updates or other factors." "A user would be unlikely to notice this small difference in everyday use," says the site. Based on its benchmarking comparisons, Futuremark claims "there are no signs of a conspiracy."Raw CPU and GPU power across devices does not offer a complete picture of performance on an older device that's updated to a new operating system, however, nor are benchmarks an accurate measure of real world performance. Apple may not be deliberately slowing down older devices with its software updates, as some have speculated, but there are other factors to take into account.

New features that eat up more system resources can make a device feel slower, as can more system intensive design elements and other tweaks and changes designed for newer devices that are more powerful.

Apple's operating system updates also introduce more advanced APIs and technology for its newest devices, leading to built-in and third-party apps that are aimed at more powerful devices and may not be optimized on older devices, resulting in an older device feeling more sluggish than a newer device following an iOS update.

Sometimes, there are also early bugs in the software that need to be worked out through additional updates. For example, we've seen complaints of app slowdowns and performance drops from users who have installed iOS 11, issues that may be resolved as Apple tweaks and updates the iOS 11 operating system.

Article Link: Apple Doesn't Deliberately Slow Down Older Devices According to Benchmark Analysis

 

[JacekSD]

In other news: US inflation at close to zero

 

[Millah]

Apple engineers who probably work their asses off optimizing code for older devices, probably want to tear their hair out that this is even a topic of discussion.

Apple could take the easy way out and just stop supporting devices altogether after 18 months. But they don’t.

Facts don’t matter though, emotions are all that matter. And emotionally, many people feel like “my device used to be better, there must be a conspiracy!”

 

[Apple_Robert]

I think the conspiracy theory is nuts. At the same time, I think the people that adhere to said conspiracy while continuing to buy products from a company they claim is trying to deceive them, are just as dysfunctional as the conspiracy they posit.

 

[fivenotrump]

The biggest thing I tell anyone I know is when doing a major revision upgrade (9 to 10 to 11, etc.), always do a wipe and clean install. My brother was having so many issues, crashes, and slow downs with his 7+ that I wasn’t having with my 6S+. I finally convinced him to wipe it clean and voila - he’s got the faster phone again.

This is mumbo jumbo, rather like the old 'fix permissions' in OS X.

 

[deanthedev]

Apple engineers who probably work their asses off optimizing code for older devices, probably want to tear their hair out that this is even a topic of discussion.

Apple could take the easy way out and just stop supporting devices altogether after 18 months. But they don’t.

Facts don’t matter though, emotions are all that matter. And emotionally, many people feel like “my device used to be better, there must be a conspiracy!”

If Apple drops support after 2 years (like Android) people would be screaming that their iPhone didn’t get the latest version. Apple supports for 5 years and people scream their device isn’t as fast as before.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Personally, I prefer how Apple does it now. I’d hate for them to abandon older users.

 

[robertosh]

I love how people always claim Apple intentionally slows devices down to force people to upgrade.

You know, there’s a much easier way to force people to upgrade - just copy the Android OEMs. Instead of making iOS available to devices that are 4 years old Apple should only support devices that are 2 years old. And completely abandon users on devices that are over 2 years old.

Seems that they are doing us a favor. We are customers and we payed almost 1k for a mobile phone.

I don't feel abandoned with a usable device and old os, i feel abandoned with a device that performs worst from one day to another due to an update with no major features.

I can assume a lost of performance if I get new nice features but for nothing... is like throwing your mobile to a recycle bin.

 

[timborama]

Apple engineers who probably work their asses off optimizing code for older devices, probably want to tear their hair out that this is even a topic of discussion.

Not true, they don't put much, if any, effort in optimizing for older devices. They make sure that the new stuff WORKS on older devices, but DO NOT optimize. They only put effort in for the latest hardware. Fact!

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I’ve never been in the Apple conspiracy camp, but still regardless of this benchmark data, my iPhone 6 Plus is significantly slower now than when I bought it 3 years ago. Like 5 times slower. I don’t think it’s intentional and it may be attributed it just normal “wear and tear”, but there is no way it’s in my imagination.

Who designs charts where the data only takes up a 10th of the scale?

Looks like they wanted to keep the scale consistent across all iPhones. Possibly not the right choice, but a defendable one.

 

[Mefisto]

Hey MacRumors, make a pole and 'ask the people.". You know, real world opinion.

I'm not disputing people have problems with their devices, not at all. And it sucks, whatever the reason.

Then again, a MacRumors poll providing a "real world opinion"? There will most certainly be an opinion and probably even a consensus of some sort, but will it actually represent a "real world opinion" without the voice of the majority of iOS users weighing in? You know, the folks who don't post, or haven't even heard of this site? No.

If you ask people on a forum, the participants of which more likely than not have some issues they would like to see resolved and to that end post questions and grievances, the results will be heavily skewed. And posting to that end is what it should be about, after all that's why I at least like coming here. To read about problems so I can prevent them, and maybe even getting some help with mine, should the need arise.

But to form any kind of actual statistic based on that? It's not going to work.

EDIT: Correction to the last paragraph.

 

[sterile stork]

Y-axis range is inappropriate for the data set. Before any real conclusions are made the range should be fixed and set to statistically valid upper/lower

 

[iSunrise]

Battery life also went down significantly along with lower CPU performance on the iPhone 7 / iPhone 7 Plus, you can read it here (it's in German, but a pictures says more than a thousand words):
https://www.computerbase.de/2017-09...bschnitt_update_3_akkulaufzeiten_im_vergleich

The data they compare are taken from their reviews for all phones when they had been released and they used the same test procedure for newer iOS releases.

 

[jonnysods]

Its not slowing the processors down, its not optimizing the iOS versions for older hardware that makes it slow.

 

[Rocko99991]

Looks slower to me. Or does smaller bars as time goes on represent something else?

 

[Wackery]

this is “fake news perpetuated by the lying media” as the president would say

 

[brushlee]

Yes, but this is raw performance in a specific task. People are generally complaining of GUI slowdowns in new versions of iOS.

Exactly what I had with my "beloved" iPad Mini 2 - was perfectly fine up to latest iOS 10. As soon as I put iOS 11 - even simple home pages swipe animation is now slow - it is soooo visual.....
(sigh) Had to go to the store and get myself iPad Pro 10.5"

 

[macfacts]

This story won't play well in the MacRumors.com community--it completely invalidates all the conspiracy theories and complaining.

No one is complaining their games or apps are slower, they are complaining that the OS is slower. Doing things like switching between apps, interacting with the home screen, using the keyboard, etc.

 

[wizard]

This story won't play well in the MacRumors.com community--it completely invalidates all the conspiracy theories and complaining.

Beyond that if people would step up and take notice, Apple will not release an upgrade if the hardware can't handle it. Of course this leads to people using very old hardware to complain loudly. But is seems to be a policy of sorts not to release software if the hardware can't maintain a good users experience.

 

[iMi]

The only thing that is a little weird is that the iPhone 6S Plus that I updated to iOS 11 would have terrible battery life.

The new iPhone 8 Plus battery is great.

iPhone 6S Plus has a larger battery but less efficient components, so I don’t know.

 

[valleian]

It should, there is now indisputable evidence that these disgusting allegations made about Apple are completely untrue.

Have you ever met any one of the wild-eyed, crackpot “truthers” that lurk on the forums? Logic doesn’t play well with them. When it’s presented to them, they flatly deny its existence or validity simply because it doesn’t jive with their opinions which are undisputedly facts in their mind. This will likely play out the same.

 

[Fishing Rick]

I’ve never been in the Apple conspiracy camp, but still regardless of this benchmark data, my iPhone 6 Plus is significantly slower now than when I bought it 3 years ago. Like 5 times slower. I don’t think it’s intentional and it may be attributed it just normal “wear and tear”, but there is no way it’s in my imagination.


Looks like they wanted to keep the scale consistent across all iPhones. Possibly not the right choice, but a defendable one.

Sorry if it sounds like attacking you personally, I just wanted to share my 2 cents on the topic with the charts.

This is so obviously a scam - why does the scales reach those high numbers that none of the performances even go near, the one that goes until 3000 or whatever. Of course the performance differences arent gonna be visible when you squash it down into a flat line and leave a ton of headroom! The real issue is the performance of iOS itself and its user interface, graphical glitches, keyboard performance, battery life, and a million other things. For all I can see the charts actually do confirm that there is a significant drop in performance, but its hard to read because the difference is only a few pixels high. If you import the charts in photoshop you can select the charts close to the height of the tallest colum and then stretch it upwards to see the actual difference between them. The relative performance drop is the issue here, but these charts map the performance to some much higher completely non-relevant absolute value pulled out of nowhere.

Have had the iphone 4, 4s, 5s, 6s, ipad mini 1 and 4, and each new version of iOS have been very noticable.

I call ********, seems fabricated and orchestrated.

 

[deckard666]

There needs to be more testing on this subject, much much more.
Then... when there is undeniable proof that Apple is not sabotaging their own old devices, then maybe people will give this subject a rest.

Where is the undeniable proof they are besides the subjective outpourings of a load of tin-hatters on here ? And whilst we are here can we test Android for the same, if we can find a device that is over 3 years old that can have any sort of update ?