AT&T told me to get off iOS 6.

[Tubamajuba]

Either deal with it (as I do now, especially with a jailbreak when I was on a version that was jailbreakable), or find another similar phone with a version of iOS I want. Or, I move on. I like Apple products, but I'm not such a fanatic that I'm forever married to the company.

So far, I've done 2.5 years on my iPhone 5 and I like it better than the later models. I do not need to upgrade every year, especially when my stuff still works.

Buying new is not the only option. I'm typing this response on a PowerMac G4 Quicksilver which is my main computer and was made in late 2001. It's still a viable machine. If and when it breaks I buy a new logicboard.

I upgrade and I update according to my needs and my own schedule.

This is one of the things I do not like about Apple.

Understood. I'm the kind of person that likes the latest and greatest, but I have an appreciation for old software and hardware. Generally though, I prefer even older hardware to be on the latest software possible. But hey, different strokes for different folks.

I'd love to buy myself a PowerPC Mac one day, but that's another topic for another forum

 

[eyoungren]

Understood. I'm the kind of person that likes the latest and greatest, but I have an appreciation for old software and hardware. Generally though, I prefer even older hardware to be on the latest software possible. But hey, different strokes for different folks.

I'd love to buy myself a PowerPC Mac one day, but that's another topic for another forum

When it comes to my Macs, I would tend to agree with you. Like many people though, I spend a lot of time with my phone and I would prefer the OS I want to use versus the OS Apple wants me to use.

P.S.
https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/145/

 

[MattMJB0188]

Called AT&T tech support due to horrible LTE speeds. They began troubleshooting and blamed the bad performance on IOS 6 running on my iPhone 5. She's like, "sir you are 2 versions behind and you need to upgrade your device ASAP to 8.2." I said I do not want bright colors and bright. She said older firmware is why I experience slow LTE speeds.

I just found this insulting. I should run any version of IOS I choose too.

Tell AT&T to go F themselves. Running iOS 6 will not impact your cellular connection or speeds at all. Don't listen to the people telling you to upgrade and get over the ios 7 look. Please. I'm glad your running iOS 6. Please don't upgrade. Apple needs to see how many people like you and me are still on what is the best OS of all time.

I have an iPhone 5 running iOS 6.1.4. Carrier version 13.0 will give you the exact performance as the whatever carrier version iOS 8.2 is running. FACT.

 

[Batman89]

Why should the OP have to?

Because it's technologically obsolete, and will continue to worsen as time passes.

 

[BeeGood]

Why?

Why should the OP have to?

He can do what he wishes, but posters (myself included) are advising him to upgrade because his experience will only get worse.

His current issue isn't ios 6, but assuming he is upgrading third party apps, it's only a matter of time before they stop working on iOS 6. I can understand his finding the new look unappealing but it will never look like iOS 6 again.

----------

Tell Don't listen to the people telling you to upgrade and get over the ios 7 look. Please. I'm glad your running iOS 6. Please don't upgrade. Apple needs to see how many people like you and me are still on what is the best OS of all time.

How many people is that exactly? Less than 5% of iPhones in the wild run something earlier than iOS 7. Apple isn't going to do anything for a handful of people who cling to older versions of iOS mainly for aesthetic purposes.

Look, I loved iOS 6. Maps aside, it was the least frustrating iteration of iOS IMHO. But at some point, you just have to move on whether its to the current iOS or to another platform.

 

[pooleman]

Unsubstantiated excuses? iOS 6 runs a lot better on an iPhone 5 than iOS 8 does. That, my friend, is a FACT.

Stick with iOS 6.

 

[eyoungren]

Because it's technologically obsolete, and will continue to worsen as time passes.

Perhaps you are assuming the OP engages in the same activities on his phone that you do. OP has made no mention that not having iOS 7/8 is preventing him/her from using the phone as OP is accustomed. OP's only problem (in this thread anyway) is slow speeds.

My wife is on iOS 6. She uses her phone for texting, email, phone calls and Youtube videos. She could just as well be using her old Touch Pro 2 or her old Sanyo Katana. She only upgrades because I do. Hell, we could both go back to our old 1999 Sprint flip phones and still be able to talk and text.

There are plenty of people still using the 3GS and the 4 who cannot go beyond iOS 6 and 7. Yet those versions of iOS do what they need for them.

I find it hard to believe that the mere passing of time is going to make that worse.

----------

He can do what he wishes, but posters (myself included) are advising him to upgrade because his experience will only get worse.

His current issue isn't ios 6, but assuming he is upgrading third party apps, it's only a matter of time before they stop working on iOS 6. I can understand his finding the new look unappealing but it will never look like iOS 6 again.

There are plenty of people still using the iPhone 3GS and the 4 that seem to be quite able to function. From what I understand, the App store still has apps that support versions of iOS back to version 4. The devs choose to drop version support. It's not Apple putting a gun to their heads and telling them to cut off older versions.

How many people is that exactly? Less than 5% of iPhones in the wild run something earlier than iOS 7. Apple isn't going to do anything for a handful of people who cling to older versions of iOS mainly for aesthetic purposes.

Look, I loved iOS 6. Maps aside, it was the least frustrating iteration of iOS IMHO. But at some point, you just have to move on whether its to the current iOS or to another platform.

So you're saying that those on iOS 7 or below should update because they are statistically irrelevant? Because everyone else has done it and moved on? Again. Just because?

 

[scaredpoet]

If the consensus in this thread is that updating will improve speeds, then please explain to me why there are many Sprint users with iOS 8.x on their phones that do not enjoy fast to very fast speeds on the Sprint network.

Because it's Sprint's crappy network right? And all of Sprint's problems.

So…the same cannot apply here? AT&T can't have network issues or coverage problems?

In that case, we have two answers the OP doesn't like:

1. He's on an old carrier profile (13.x, current is 18.1). Only way to get current is to get on a current version of the operating system. Is the outdated carrier settings profile the issue? There's only one way to find out.

2. It could be AT&T's network being congested. How can we determine if this is the case, and not the outdated OS version? Again, only one way to find out.

And if it IS AT&T, then the only other solution is to switch carriers. And if he's on an older version of the iPhone 5, pre T-Mobile support (likely if running iOS 6), then he needs to get a new phone to do that.

Oooorrrrrr, he settles for slow LTE.

So now, a decision must be made: which is worse, slow LTE speeds, or using a new version of iOS?

 

[eyoungren]

In that case, we have two answers the OP doesn't like:

1. He's on an old carrier profile (13.x, current is 18.1). Only way to get current is to get on a current version of the operating system. Is the outdated carrier settings profile the issue? There's only one way to find out.

2. It could be AT&T's network being congested. How can we determine if this is the case, and not the outdated OS version? Again, only one way to find out.

And if it IS AT&T, then the only other solution is to switch carriers. And if he's on an older version of the iPhone 5, pre T-Mobile support (likely if running iOS 6), then he needs to get a new phone to do that.

Oooorrrrrr, he settles for slow LTE.

So now, a decision must be made: which is worse, slow LTE speeds, or using a new version of iOS?

Or OP can try his phone in other places. If speed improves while still on iOS 6 then OP has an answer.

 

[NathanA]

Of course. Friends iphone 5s running 8.1 has just as crappy speeds. My wife's iPhone 6 is slightly faster, but still abysmal.

Is your wife's phone on a family share account, or is it billed separately? If it is on the same account as your iPhone 5, then call in to support about HER phone and tell them about ITS crappy speeds. Don't even mention you have an iPhone 5 running iOS 6...make them deal with the speed issue on her current-gen phone running the current OS. If the problem is with the network, and both your phone and her phone are slow on account of a common underlying problem with AT&T, and AT&T isn't willing to listen to you about it when you bring your iOS 6 phone into the discussion, then don't even go there with them on that subject: if you can get them to acknowledge that they have a problem that is causing slow speeds on your wife's iPhone 6, then any fix they implement on their side will also mean improved speeds on your phone, too.

Also, have your friend call into AT&T about his bad speeds on his iOS 8 device. The more logged complaints that AT&T receives from the same geographic region about the same problem, the more obvious it is going to be that they have a problem there, and the harder it is going to be for them to deny it.

1. He's on an old carrier profile (13.x, current is 18.1). Only way to get current is to get on a current version of the operating system. Is the outdated carrier settings profile the issue? There's only one way to find out.

2. It could be AT&T's network being congested. How can we determine if this is the case, and not the outdated OS version? Again, only one way to find out.

As was already established, he has already "found this out" by demonstrating that his wife's iPhone 6, on the same network, running iOS 8 (which it clearly is, since the iPhone 6 shipped with that OS), is nearly as slow as his iPhone 5.

-- Nathan

 

[BeeGood]

There are plenty of people still using the iPhone 3GS and the 4 that seem to be quite able to function. From what I understand, the App store still has apps that support versions of iOS back to version 4. The devs choose to drop version support. It's not Apple putting a gun to their heads and telling them to cut off older versions.

I never said Apple was dropping support, I said that third party app devs will begin to. Yes, you can still find lots of apps that require a min of iOS 6 and even iOS 5, but how long do you think that will be true? How many developers (particularly smaller ones) will continue expending resources designing/coding/testing/supporting for pre-ios7 when 95%+ of users are running post iOS 7?

Most new apps that are released now require iOS 7 at a minimum.

So you're saying that those on iOS 7 or below should update because they are statistically irrelevant? Because everyone else has done it and moved on? Again. Just because?

No. I'm saying that if people are staying on pre-iOS 7 to protest the new aesthetics (which is what the guy I replied to was implying) then they're wasting their time. Apple doesn't care.

I realize that everyone has a different use case and I'm probably assuming that the OP has one that is more like mine, but he could have one that is more like yours. If he does, then it might work out for him if he stays on iOS 6 indefinitely.

 

[scaredpoet]

Or OP can try his phone in other places. If speed improves while still on iOS 6 then OP has an answer.

I'd surmise that OP would've done so by now, at least to the best of their ability. And again the answers are the same: if it IS the OS version, OP has to decide the lesser of two evils. Same if it's AT&T and the only option is to switch networks or upgrade phones (which have newer LTE transceivers that could offer better performance).

----------

As was already established, he has already "found this out" by demonstrating that his wife's iPhone 6, on the same network, running iOS 8 (which it clearly is, since the iPhone 6 shipped with that OS), is nearly as slow as his iPhone 5.

Then he has to switch networks then. /thread

 

[NathanA]

Then he has to switch networks then.

That's one way to play it. The other is to escalate it on up the support chain at AT&T until somebody in engineering deals with it. As long as he is patient, there is no reason to "settle" for this condition on the AT&T network. But, sure, if they won't do anything about it (whether they acknowledge the issue or not), then you are correct: his recourse at that point is to vote with his dollars and go elsewhere.

-- Nathan

 

[JakeT85]

Download the root metrics coverage map app and see what speeds others in your area are seeing. I would think it's a network issue and not the carrier version you are running. The carriers people are trained to blame anything they can other than the network itself, I swear.

 

[imlynxy]

Called AT&T tech support due to horrible LTE speeds. They began troubleshooting and blamed the bad performance on IOS 6 running on my iPhone 5. She's like, "sir you are 2 versions behind and you need to upgrade your device ASAP to 8.2." I said I do not want bright colors and bright. She said older firmware is why I experience slow LTE speeds.

I just found this insulting. I should run any version of IOS I choose too.

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